Our Nations Geogroaghy Lessons 1-5 Flashcards
What degree is the equator labeled?
0°
What is United States northern neighbor?
Canada
In terms of population what is the order of the largest countries in North America?
United States number one, Mexico number two, Canada number three
Lines that run east and west are called what?
Lines of latitude or parallels. They are measured in degrees north and south of the equator. Langton north of the equator are marked N for North latitude. Lines south of it are marked S for South latitude
Name two ways to measure the size of a nation
Land area and population
What is United States southern neighbor?
Mexico
Next to each other
Contiguous
In terms of land area what is the order of largest countries in North America?
In land area Canada is number one, United States is number two in Mexico is number three
What are the lines that run north and south from the poles?
Lines of longitude or meridians. They are measured in degrees east and west of the prime meridian the primary is labeled 0° Lines west of the prime meridian or labeled W for west longitude and lines east of it are marked E for east longitude
A region that has similar landforms throughout
Landform region
What are landforms?
Landforms are physical features such as planes, mountains, plateaus, Hills, and valleys
In the late 1800s a well-known writer traveled across the United States. He did not realize how much his trip across the United States would teach him about the nations landforms and climate. Who was this writer?
Robert Louis Stevenson
Climate
The kind of weather a place has over a long time
The coastal plain
Flat, low and along the Atlantic Ocean.
Begins along the coast of Massachusetts as a strip of land no more than 10 miles wide it gets much wider father south near Florida. From Florida the coastal plain expands west into Texas in the country of Mexico
The Appalachains
Wide valleys and hills. The eastern side of the Appalachian is called the piedmont which means at the base of the mountain.
Mountain range
Group of connected mountains that runs from southern Canada central Alabama
Erosion
The gradual wearing away of earths surface
The interior plains
Stretch across the middle of the country from the appalachains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. The central Plains land is mostly flat rolling there are many streams and rivers this area is sometimes called a tall grass prairie.
Prairie
An area of flat rolling land covered mostly by grasses
Environment
Surroundings in which people, plants, and animals live
The great plains
Includes part of 10 state and stretches from southern Texas and into Canada
The Rocky Mountains
Covers most of the western United States. They are the countries largest and longest mountain range.
The Rockies stretch from Mexico through Canada and into Alaska. The peaks of the Rockies appear sharp and jagged
because they have not been eroded for a long time like the Appalachians have
Great basin
A basin is a low, Bowl shaped land with higher land all around it. At the edge of the great basin lies Death Valley California this is the lowest land in North America
Sierra Nevada
Spanish for snowy mountain. Cascade range is included in the Sierra Nevada
Inlet
An area of water extending into the land from a larger body of water
Gulfs
The largest inlets. The largest gulf bordering United States is the Gulf of Mexico
Sound
A long inlet that separates offshore islands from the mainland
Great lakes
The largest lakes in the knighted states and all of North America are the Great Lakes.
They are located along the border between the United States and Canada. These 5 lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.
They are freshwater lakes
Great Salt Lake
Is a lake in Utah and it is the salty like the ocean
Tributary
stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river
River system
A river system drains or carries water away from the land around it
Drainage basin
The land drained by a river system
Mississippi river
The largest river system United States. It drains most of the land between the Rocky & Appalachian Mountains.
Fall line
A place for the land drops sharply,causing Rivers to form waterfalls or Rapids
Continental divide
An Imaginary line runs north and south along the highest point of the Rocky Mountains
Elevation
The height of the land in relation to the sea level
Natural vegetation
Plant life that grows naturally in a place
Arid
Dry climate. Only plants that grow in an air dry climate can grow in deserts.
Tundra
A cold dry region where trees cannot grow
What causes the change in seasons?
Earths orbit around the sun. Because earth is tilted on its axis as it orbits the sun, places get different amount of sunlight and heat different times of the year
Land use
How the land is used. In the United states about half of the land is used as farmland. Most farming takes place on the coastal plain or the interior plains in the valleys in the west
Natural resource
Something found a nature that people can use
Renewable resources
Resources that can be made again by people or nature. These include water, trees and sources of energy such as light and wind
Nonrenewable resources
Resources that cannot be made again by people. These resources include ores, minerals, oil and gas that people remove from the earth
Modify
Change the land
Irrigation
Irrigation is the use of canals, ditches are pipes to move water
Efficiency
Using less energy to do the same tasks. Many of the cars people drive today use less gas in cars made years ago. Some appliances such as refrigerators use less electricity
Mapmakers use a system of imaginary lines to form a grid system on maps and globes you can use this grid grid system to find what ?
Absolute Location which is the exact location of a place
An area in which many features are similar
Region
A place where it is compared to other places
Relative location
North America is one of earths seven largest land masses or
Continents
Name the five regions of the United States
West, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast,
