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Sample Questions

What questions are used in the NAEP geography assessment?

Explore sample questions from the geography assessment, and see how the NAEP geography questions relate to student performance.

 

Test Yourself in Geography

Select one of the grade tabs below to try out questions from the 2010 NAEP geography assessment. After answering all the questions, compare your score with that of students nationally. A very limited number of geography items were released at Grade 8 so no sample items are available.

Grade 4
Grade 12

 Grade 12 Sample Questions

Question 1 of 5 :

Which of the following map projections provides the most accurate representation of the shape and area of major landmasses?

  1.    map of Mercator
  2.    map of Gall-Peters
  3.    map of Robinson
  4.    map of Azimuthal
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The correct answer is: C
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Question 2 of 5 :

Worldwide, the greatest number of people who emigrate from one country to another today do so because they

  1.    believe that moving will help them economically
  2.    believe that moving will give them greater religious freedom
  3.    like the climate better in their new country
  4.    have been expelled from their native countries
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The correct answer is: A
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Question 3 of 5 :

In East Africa the process of desertification causes greater hardship for women than for men mostly because

  1.   women consume more water than do men
  2.   women are primarily responsible for collecting the fuelwood and water for their families
  3.   in times of drought family size usually increases
  4.   there are proportionately more women than men in this area
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The correct answer is: B
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Question 4 of 5 :

The diagram shown is a profile of a content from West to East (shown in miles) and elevation (showed in feet or height off of the ground). In the West, the elevation starts at 0, and quickly rises to its maximum elevation of 23,000 feet approximately 750 miles inland. After the this high point, the elevation drops steadily back to 0 at the most easternmost point of the continent, approximately 3,260 miles from the westernmost point of the continent.

The diagram above shows a profile of which continent?

  1.   Europe
  2.   South America
  3.   Antarctica
  4.   Africa
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The correct answer is: B
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Question 5 of 5 :

The map shows the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. Point A is located slightly northwest of Lake Superior (the westernmost lake). Point B is located east of Lake Huron and west of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

In early December the air masses that cross the Great Lakes from point A to point B are

  1.   colder than the water in the lakes
  2.   nearly the same temperature as the water in the lakes
  3.   blocked from moving south by mountains around the lakes
  4.   cooled by their passage over the lakes
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The correct answer is: A
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The chart below shows the percentage of questions that you answered correctly, as well as how students at each of the achievement levels performed on this set of questions. For instance, twelfth-grade students at Proficient had a percentage correct of 73% on average.

[Overall|57],[Below Basic|45],[Basic|58],[Proficient|73] Twelfth-grade percentage correct on selected geography questions: 2010
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Twelfth-grade percentage correct on selected geography questions: 2010

Overall = 57. Below Basic = 45. Basic = 58. Proficient = 73.

NOTE: No bar for Advanced appeared on the graph because reporting standards were not met.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2010 Geography Assessment.

View this set of questions in the NAEP Questions Tool to see student performance.