GEOG NATURAL REGIONS OF THE WORLD

1

GEOG 1301 RESEARCH PAPER: NATURAL REGIONS OF THE WORLD

Each student will compare and contrast the physical geography of a pair of assigned natural regions (such

as the Sahara Desert or the Himalayas, for example). The region pairs are listed below the assignment

instructions. This writing assignment is designed to provide students with a more in-depth understanding

of prominent physical geography features in the two assigned regions. Additionally, the assignment will

provide a more thorough understanding of the human/nature interactions, environmental issues, and

interconnectedness of various components of nature that take place within and around these regions.

Due Date: See syllabus schedule. Late Penalty: As stated in syllabus.

Format:

The paper needs to be at least 5 full pages of writing total. It needs to all be turned in as one single essay,

in paragraph form complete with introduction and conclusion paragraphs and a thesis statement.

No more than 10% of this assignment should be quoted word-for-word (even if in quotation marks).

See Page 3 for the list of questions to answer for the paper.

Papers are to be double-spaced, 12-font (Calibri, Times New Roman, or Garamond) with 1-inch margins.

No cover page is required. Have your name written at the top of the first page, with a title and page

numbers. The intro paragraph needs to have a specific thesis statement that gives a brief-but-specific

overview of your analysis of the material in its entirety (Tip: The thesis is best written AFTER doing all

the research and writing in the body of your paper).

The amount of writing on each of your two countries should be roughly equal in length.

Any photographs, maps, tables, etc., need to be attached at the end of the paper only, and they do not

count as part of the length of the paper. A cover page will not count towards the paper length.

Writing about regions other than the ones assigned to you will result in a 30% reduction of your score.

Grammar, Spelling:

It is expected that these papers are free of excessive grammatical and spelling errors.

Sources:

Needed: At least 5 academic/scholarly sources. Use MLA, APA, or Chicago Manual of Style which you

can Google to find websites with examples of these formats.

Scholarly sources include: Journal articles from college library or college library website. Books

from researchers (at college library). “Dot-gov” websites. Most encyclopedias Do not use

Wikipedia in the paper, as that information will not count as part of the paper.

Non-scholarly sources include: News articles, pop culture websites, magazines, or other forms of

mass media.

In-Text Citations and Bibliography:

To avoid plagiarism, all sources MUST be cited in the body of your paper AND listed in a

bibliography, otherwise you will receive a score of ZERO for the paper and potentially an F for the

2

entire course! Parenthetical citations are to be placed at the end of EACH sentence where you received a

specific quote, idea, or a statistic from one of your sources.

A good rule of thumb is that if you have at least a couple citations in each paragraph, you will probably

not be accused of plagiarizing (unless you often quote word-for-word without quotation marks).

However, you will still lose points if you do not cite ALL of the sentences which need citations.

Examples of in-text parenthetical citations: http://www.aresearchguide.com/sampleparenth.html

Assistance:

Recommended starting points: - HCC Library’s Geography Page:

https://library.hccs.edu/geography/home

- Google Scholar

- World Factbook from CIA.GOV (an online encyclopedia)

- Academic Search Complete (journal database) - JSTOR (journal database)

Library Services: HCC librarians have made a special effort to reach out to students, allowing them to

communicate with a librarian by email, live-chat, Instant Messenger, and phone; to use databases and

ebooks from home; to request transfer of books to a campus closer to the student's home, etc. The link to

the Library is provided on every HCC website at the top of each page: http://library.hccs.edu/home

Libline: One of the links at the above library webpage is called Libline. They call it their "lifeline for

students" because it provides a way for students to contact librarians and to access online databases. See

http://libline.blogspot.com/

Upswing: Online Tutoring HCC offers 24-hour access to tutors online. Students can get free tutoring for a

variety of subjects. Papers can be submitted for advice, with an approximate 24-hour turn-around at

https://hccs.upswing.io/

3 Ways to Avoid an Automatic ZERO (and being reported to the Dean):

1) Use parenthetical citations as needed inside the body of your paper.

2) Include a Bibliography/Works Cited page at the end of your paper.

3) Do not copy multiple paragraphs from other sources without citing. Copying over 20% of your paper directly from another source, especially without providing citations, is

an automatic F.

For those who turn in their paper on time: Any student scoring below a 50 is allowed to revise

the paper (with a 15 point revision penalty) as long as they had turned in their paper on time and

they show proof that they attended a session with the HCC Writing Center. They must turn in the

revised paper a week before the Final Exam.

3

The parts of the course paper (also include an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement):

Be sure to support any of your own opinions with research that you cite in the paper itself.

Part 1: Lithosphere

- For each region, what is one major geologic feature found there (can include mountains, mountain

ranges, deserts, plains, coasts, etc)? Briefly describe these features and how they came to look like how

they do today. How have they formed, been shaped over time, etc?

- What do you see as some pros and cons for how are humans using these features (tourism, nature

reserves, sacred land, mining, etc)? In other words, how has the human impact been beneficial or harmful

to people and the natural environment in the region?

Part 2: Atmosphere

- For each region, describe the year-round climate found in the majority of the region (climate charts

called “climographs” will help with this). If there is a wide variety of climate types in one region, just

pick one city and describe its climate. Be sure to include information about temperature, precipitation,

and seasonal changes.

- Aside from warmer temperatures, what are two ways long-term climate change has impacted each of

your assigned regions (such as changes in weather, seasons, wildlife, landforms, people, etc)? What is

being done about it (either local efforts or global efforts to help reduce the impacts)?

Part 3: Hydrosphere

- What is one major body of water found within, or adjacent to, each of your assigned regions? Briefly

describe them and where they are found within your regions.

- What do you see as some pros and cons for how are humans using these hydrologic features (fishing,

boating, shipping, drilling, etc)?

Part 4: Biosphere:

- What are the most widespread biomes in your assigned regions? (Check a biome map!) Briefly describe

these biomes and where they are found within your regions.

- What are a few of the most common species of wildlife (plants or animals) in your assigned regions?

- Which major species are native to your regions, and which ones came from elsewhere (called “exotic”

species)?

- What are some of the species listed as endangered in each region? Why are they endangered?

Part 5: Putting It All Together / Concluding Paragraphs

- All four spheres of physical geography are interconnected. For each of the assigned regions, what are

two ways that one sphere of physical geography impacts another sphere of physical geography? For

example, how does the atmosphere affect the biosphere, or how does the hydrosphere impact the

lithosphere? Be brief but provide specific examples from your two regions based on your research.

- What do you see as the two most urgent environmental concerns for each of the two regions to address,

and why? Explain your logic, citing information you researched to support your opinion. What types

of programs/efforts exist to improve these issues (if you wrote about the programs earlier in the paper,

just briefly mention them again, but you do not need to explain about them again)?

4

Student Assigned Regions

Alvarado, Allan Madagascar, Maldives

Angel, Ra' Shad Caucasia (Caucasus), Arabian Desert

Ansatbayev, Dinmukhamed Sahara Desert, The Serengeti

Castillo, Silvia Ethiopian Highlands, Swahili Coast

Chaverria, Maria Great Lakes (USA), African Great Lakes

Cooney, Maria Horn of Africa, Congo Basin

Dean, Mya Scandinavian Mountains, Pannonian Steppe

Delagrange, Maxime Dolomites (Italy), Scottish Highlands

Delgado, Dominique Iceland, Canary Islands

Espinoza Escalera, Roxxen Azores, Svalbard

Flores, Cesar The Outback (Australia), South Shetland Islands

Fogo, Donald Tahiti, Tasmania

Gomez, Elidhet Fiji, Papua New Guinea

Hernandez, Valerie Japanese Alps, Gobi Desert

Jeffery, Elizabeth Himalayas, Ganges River Basin

Jiwani, Moaiz Tibetan Plateau, Kamchatka Peninsula

Khan, Abdul Siberia, Sundarbans

Levias, Brandon Llanos, Altiplano (both regions in South America)

Maknojia, Alim Atacama Desert, Tierra del Fuego

Marediya, Zaineef Falkland Islands, Galapagos Islands

Munguia, Andy Brazilian Highlands, Amazon Basin

Percastre, Heriberto Patagonia, Pampas (both regions in Argentina)

Phan, Bao Yukon (Canada), Cascade Mountains (USA)

Pineda, Jerlyn Mojave Desert, Canadian Shield

Ramirez, Joana Canadian Rockies, Great Plains (USA)

Ramos, Paulina Kodiak Island, Brooks Range (Alaska)

Reyes, Ariana Aleutian Islands, Kenai Peninsula (Alaska)

Rodriguez, Isabel National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA), Alaska Range

Schooley, Cameron Greenland, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

Tagese, Gedion Sierra Nevada Mountains, Atlantic Coastal Plain

Ventura, William Rocky Mountains (USA), Appalachian Mountains