CHAPTER 1 SECTION 2: Lands & Climates of the United States In this section we will: identify the main physical regions of the United States. Describe how climates vary across the United States. Brain Buster Who knows the difference between climate & weather?? 1
Key terms for this section: isthmus elevation erosion tributary weather climate precipitation altitude 2
Ever hear of Woody Guthrie??? Famous American folk singer who lived from 1912-1967. He wrote and sang a song that would become an anthem for our wonderful nation. Anyone know the name of it??? Let's look at the video!!! 3
Physical Regions of the United States North America is the 3rd largest continent. surrounded on three sides by oceans; Atlantic Ocean to the, Pacific Ocean to the and the Arctic Ocean to the. to the south, an isthmus, or narrow strip of land, connects North America to South America. 4
Geographers divide the United States into 9 different physical regions marked by contrasting landforms & physical features. let's open our text to page 12 to look at each physical region. 5
1) Pacific Coast- westernmost region of America. Come up and locate on the map! 6
2) Intermountain Region-lies east of the Pacific coast range. 7
3) Rocky Mountains-contain some of the highest elevations (or height above sea-level) in North America. ever heard this song? Take a listen... Rocky Mt. High 8
FYI: Mt. McKinley in Alaska is the highest mountain in both North America & the United States, standing over 20,300 feet!!! That's nearly 4 miles high! 9
4) Interior Plains-this regions lays between the Rockies in the West and the Appalachians Mountains in the East. 10
5) Ozark Highlands-extend across southern Missouri,northern Arkansas and into eastern Kansas. How about a volunteer to point out on our map the area of the Ozark Highlands? 11
6) Appalachian Mountains- run along the eastern part of the United States, from Maine to Alabama What part of the Appalachians run through New York state? Let's look at p. 13 of our text! 12
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Chapter 1 Section 2 Lands and Climates of the U.S. Bear Mountain Bridge, downstate NY 14
7) Canadian Shield-lowland area that lies mostly in eastern Canada, with the Southern part extending into Michigan,Wisconsin and Minnesota.,,. Name the capitals of each state above!! 15
8) Coastal Plains-easternmost region of the United States. Made up of two sub-regions, the Atlantic Plain & the Gulf Plain. Note the green area on your map on page 12...these are the Coastal Plains!!! Coastal Plains 16
9) Hawaiian Islands-lie far out in the Pacific Ocean, 2,400 miles from California. 17
Let's read about American rivers and lakes on page 14 of our text. List the two major American river systems below: 1) 2) 18
What do we call a stream or river that flows into a larger one??? A tributary! 19
The 5 Great Lakes: HOMES H: Lake Huron O: Lake Ontario M: Lake Michigan E: Lake Erie S: Lake Superior 20
Climate & Weather Let's look at the difference between climate and weather on page 15 of our textbook. Climate: Weather: 21
Climates of the United States ten major climate zones in the USA. 1) Marine 2) Mediterranean 3) Highland 4 & 5) Desert & Steppe 6) Humid Continental 7 & 8) Tropical & Humid Subtropical 9 & 10) Tundra & Subarctic Let's look at our map on page 16. 22
What climate zones are these areas? Highland Mediterranean Marine 23
These??? desert steppe subarctic 24
and these??? tundra humid continental humid subtropical peanut farmer 25
Chapter 1 Section 2 Lands and Climates of the U.S. How about this last one?? What climate zone is pictured below? Where might you find it? 26