I remember having to draw a map of South America and get the country’s location right and include the major products from each country when I was in the sixth grade. I loved learning it!
The Golden Book Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Book_Encyclopedia I read when I was a kid had sections on each state with a map of the resources of the state.
The test seems to be biased in favor of children learning about natural resources in the land around them and exploiting them. This isn't the sort of thing modern children would be taught.
That reminds of my mother. She was born and raised in Australia and she used to talk about her school days. She said that when she took geography she not had to know facts and figures; she had whole maps too.