Name __________________________________________________ Date ______________________________
Assessment: Geography of the United States
Big Ideas
Circle the letter next to the best answer.
1. Which of these is a cardinal direction on a compass?
A. down
B. west
C. pole
D. northeast
2. Almost three-fourths of Earth’s surface is covered by
A. mountains.
B. plains.
C. rainforest.
D. water.
3. What is located at 0° latitude?
A. the equator
B. the North Pole
C. the prime meridian
D. the South Pole
4. What do meridians of longitude show?
A. how close to an ocean a place is
B. how far north or south a place is
C. how far east or west a place is
D. how high above sea level a place is
5. Where does a delta form?
A. in a river valley
B. at the mouth of a river
C. at the source of a river
D. in the hills above a river
6. Which country is larger in land than the United States?
A. Brazil
B. Mexico
C. Japan
D. Canada
7. What is the most important way that rivers and lakes helped the United States to become a wealthy
country?
A. They provided an environment for many kinds of fish.
B. They made it easy for people to have fun swimming.
C. They provided routes for ships and power for industry.
D. They offered beautiful scenery for travelers to admire.
Social Studies Skills
Use the map and your knowledge of social studies to complete the sentences.
Write your answers on the lines provided.
8. Two rivers that form parts of the United States border are the ____________________ and the
____________________.
9. A tributary flowing into the Mississippi from the east is the ____________________.
10. A physical feature at 25°N, 90°W is the ____________________________________.
11. A land feature of the United States southeast of the Appalachian Mountains is the
____________________.
12. The western tip of Lake Ontario is located at about ______ degrees north latitude and ______
degrees west longitude.
Reading Further
13. You have read about Luzena Stanley Wilson and her family. Using her story and the U.S. map on
the preceding page, name two major landforms the Wilsons had to cross on their trip from Missouri
to the California gold rush.
________________________________ and ________________________________
14. How did rivers bring both danger and safety to the Wilsons on their journey?
Danger: ______________________________________
Safety: _______________________________________
Show You Know
15. Create a landscape that you would like to visit. Draw and label its physical features. Use the
geographic terms you have learned. Use at least eight of the following terms:
bay, gulf, mountain range, sea, cape, island, peninsula, valley, delta, lake, plain