1. THE PALOUSE
We’ve seen this region over and over again throughout this course. I’m sure there are other places that can accomplish the same ends, but to me it is the Palouse biome of southeastern Washington and western Idaho that best exemplifies and is explained by almost every aspect of the social science that is geography. This is the only comprehensive section of the Final Exam and is meant to assess how well you’ve come to understand the interplay of elements in the social science of geography that makes a place like the Palouse so fascinating to a geographer.
What you’ll be asked to do is to is describe the processes and factors that the slides below illustrate. Go back in your notes and review the context of each of these slides and how they illustrated a geographical phenomenon or process that made the Palouse what it is. Hint: the geomorphology of Washington created the conditions necessary to create the erosive process and weather patterns that makes the Palouse the best place in the world for a certain type of agriculture, which in turn impacts the human geography of the region.

2. CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY
Continent vs. Oceanic crust
Cascade Range
IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER!
GEOMORPHOLOGY
Palouse biome
Olympic Range
Mt. Rainier
Views from Seattle
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Hood
Three Sisters
Mt. Shasta
Crater Lake
D. Hardin

3. WIND Loess Palouse EROSION IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER! D. Hardin winds
Palouse biome
winds
D. Hardin

4. WEATHER Uplift & Precipitation Orographic uplift Loess deposits
Farmville, VA
44” rain
27.4% days clear/43.8% cloudy
Orographic uplift
IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER!
Loess
deposits
Spokane
17” rain
23.6% days clear/
52.3% cloudy
Forks
119” rain
14% days clear/65.5% cloudy
58.1% days with some rain
Seattle
37” rain
15.9% days clear/61.9% cloudy
Palouse Biome
Pullman
21” rain
Yakima
8” rain
29.9% days clear/
44.9% cloudy
D. Hardin

5. WEATHER Uplift & Precipitation Orographic uplift Loess deposits BIOMES
IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER!
BIOMES
Palouse Biome
D. Hardin

6. GRAIN FARMING
Palouse
IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER!
AGRICULTURE
D. Hardin

7. GRAIN FARMING Palouse Population density Loess deposits Fewer than 5
IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER!
POPULATION
Loess
deposits
Palouse Biome
Fewer than 5

8. GRAIN FARMING Palouse Population decline Loess deposits POPULATION
IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER!
Loess
deposits
Palouse Biome
D. Hardin