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How do people
adapt to where
they live?
United States and
Canada Geography
Unit 1 United States and Canada
Geography
Lessons
Lesson 1
Major Landforms
Lesson 2
Major Waterways
Lesson 3
Natural Resources
Lesson 4
Climate Regions
Lesson 5
Environmental Challenges
Lesson 6
Hurricane Katrina and
New Orleans
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Lessons
Lesson 1
tundra
megalopolis
prairie
Continental Divide
canyon
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Contrast
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Major Landforms
Vocabulary
Reading Skill
Review
What are some
of the major
landforms of
North America?
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Major Landforms
The United States and Canada
U.S. and Canada share most of North
America.
In the north, tundra covers Arctic lands
where only grasses and mosses can grow.
In the South, lush grasses grow on the
Gulf of Mexico coast.
Canada is divided into 13 provinces and
territories and is the second largest
country in the world after Russia.
U.S is the world’s third largest country.
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Major Landforms
Lowlands and Highlands
The Atlantic Coastal Plain runs along
the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Gulf Coastal Plain lies along the
Gulf of Mexico.
Natural harbors along the Atlantic coast
have led to the growth of shipping ports.
The Appalachian Mountains run from
eastern Canada to Alabama and divide
the Northeastern states from the
Midwestern states.
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Major Landforms
Interior Lowlands
The Canadian Shield wraps around
Hudson Bay. It has rocky hills, lakes,
and evergreen forests, poor soil, and a
cold climate.
The Central Lowland lies south of the
Canadian Shield and west of the
Appalachian Mountains. It has grassy
hills, rolling flatlands, thick forests, and
fertile farmland.
The Great Plains are west of the
Mississippi River. In some parts,
farmers grow grains in their fertile soil.
In other parts, ranchers raise cattle on
the land.
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Major Landforms
Mountains and Plateaus
The Rocky Mountains begin in
Alaska and run south to New
Mexico. They are divided into the
Canadian Rockies and Northern
Rockies, the Middle Rockies, the
Southern Rockies, and the
Colorado Plateau.
The Continental Divide is an
imaginary line in the Rockies.
East of the divide, rivers drain
into the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic
Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
West of the divide, rivers flow
into the Pacific Ocean and the
Gulf of California.
In the Colorado Plateau lies the
Grand Canyon. It was carved out by
the Colorado River during the last 6
million years.
Lessons
Lesson 2
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Major Waterways
Vocabulary
navigable
tributary
glacier
wetland
Reading Skill
Compare and
Contrast
Review
How do people
use some of the
region’s major
waterways?
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Major Waterways
The Mississippi River
Native Americans were the
first to travel and trade on the
North American waterways.
Mississippi River Basin
drains over 1 million square
miles of land and the
surrounding land is suitable
for farming.
Products from port cities such
as St. Louis and Memphis
are shipped down the river to
other ports because the river
is easy to navigate.
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Major Waterways
The Great Lakes and the Everglades
The Great Lakes are the world’s
largest group of lakes.
St. Lawrence Seaway – a series of
canals that helps ships navigate
from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic
Ocean. It carries raw materials and
manufactured goods from cities like
Chicago, Cleveland, and Toronto to
the rest of the world.
The Everglades are a large area of
wetlands in southern Florida that
depend on both water and land to
support diverse, sometimes
endangered, plant and animal life
including alligators.
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Lessons
Lesson 3
Vocabulary
renewable
resources
scarcity
economy
irrigation
Compare and
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Natural Resources
hydroelectric
power
Reading Skill
Review
How do the
United States
and Canada use
natural
resources?
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Natural Resources
Mineral and Energy Resources
Iron ore is used to make
steel and is found in parts
of eastern Canada and
the northern United
States.
The Rocky Mountains
have gold, silver, and
copper. The Canadian
Shield (also called
Canada’s Storehouse)
has iron ore, copper,
nickel, and gold.
U.S. uses nearly three
times the amount of oil
that it produces.
Canada’s oil and natural gas reserves lie in or near
the province of Alberta (second largest oil reserves
of oil in the form of oil mixed with sand).
Renewable energy resources include ethanol (a fuel
made from corn), solar energy, and wind power.
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Natural Resources
Scarce Resources
Renewable resources such as trees and
fish can become scarce resources.
Forests used to cover much of the United
States and Canada but today cover less
than half of Canada and about a third of
the United States.
Lumber and wood products, such as paper,
are major exports of Canada.
Great Banks, located off Canada’s
southeast coast, were once one of the
world’s richest fishing grounds, but
because these waters were overfished, the
number of fish decreased.
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Natural Resources
Soil Resources
Canada’s heartland is known
as the “Prairie Provinces.”
Wheat is a major farm crop.
Dairy farms are also
important.
United States produces corn,
soybeans, and grains in the
Midwest. Dairy products and
livestock are also important to
the economy of the Midwest.
In the South’s warm, wet
climate, farmers in Louisiana
and Arkansas grow rice and
sugarcane. Farmers in Florida
and Texas grow citrus fruits
such as oranges and lemons.
Central Valley of California is located between
two mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada and
the Coast Ranges. Irrigation brought water to
the dry land through ditches and pipes.
Lessons
Lesson 4
temperate
climate
current
precipitation
drought
arid
Compare and
Contrast
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Climate Regions
Vocabulary
Reading Skill
Review
How does
climate affect
how people live?
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Climate Regions
Cold Climates
Climate is mainly determined by
latitude, but also by landforms
such as mountains and large
bodies of water.
Most people in Canada and the
United States live in a temperate
climate.
In Northern Arctic parts of Alaska
and Canada, winters are long and
cold while summers are brief and
cool.
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Climate Regions
Warm Climates
Ocean currents in the South
and the Pacific Northwest
provide humid, warm, or even
tropical climates.
Air over large bodies of water
is warmer in winter and cooler
in summer.
In the Pacific Northwest,
ocean currents keep this
area’s climate mild and wet,
whereas southern California
has a climate of warm, dry
summers and mild, wet
winters.
Areas near the Tropic of Cancer are warm all
year round.
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How are the arctic and sub arctic
different?
• The arctic is so cold that it prevents the
growth of most trees and other plants,
while in the sub arctic there are dense
forests of evergreens that have adapted to
the cold weather.
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Climate Regions
The Desert West and Midwest
The desert of the
southwestern United
States gets less than
10 inches of
precipitation each year.
The Great Plains
receive moisture from
the Gulf of Mexico and
from the Arctic.
The Dust Bowl was
caused by poor farming
methods and drought.
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Climate Regions
The East
North America’s climate is
divided into arid and humid
areas of precipitation.
Northeast experiences a
humid continental climate.
Southeast has a humid
subtropical climate.
Forests in the Northeast have
two types of trees: broadleaf
trees that change color in
autumn and needleleaf
evergreens that stay green all
year.
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Lessons
Lesson 5
tornado
hurricane
blizzard
global warming
Reading Skill
Compare and
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Environmental Challenges
Vocabulary
plate tectonics
Review
What
environmental
challenges do
people in the
region share?
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Environmental Challenges
Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Blizzards
Tornado Alley is an area where
tornadoes are common from Texas
north to Nebraska.
Hurricanes generally develop from
June to September and often
strike along the southeastern
Atlantic coast and the Gulf of
Mexico.
Blizzards are severe winter storms
that last for hours and combine
high winds with heavy snow that
limits how far people can see.
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Environmental Challenges
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Plate tectonics is a theory that
states that the surface of the
Earth is made up of moving
parts. Movements take place
along faults, and shifts can
cause earthquakes or
volcanoes to erupt.
Along the coast, earthquakes
can cause huge waves called
tsunamis.
Volcanoes are found in the
Pacific Coast Mountains,
southern Alaska, and Hawaii.
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Environmental Challenges
Global Warming
Global warming is the
overall rise in the
temperature of the Earth.
Greenhouse effect is
heat that is trapped in
the Earth’s atmosphere
by greenhouse gases
(water vapor, carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide,
methane, and ozone).
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Lesson 6
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Hurricane Katrina and
New Orleans
Vocabulary
levee
water table
Reading Skill
Compare and
Contrast
Review
Why was New
Orleans heavily
damaged by a
hurricane?
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Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans
The Storm
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane
Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of
the United States.
Wind, waves, and rain caused
flooding from Louisiana to
Mississippi and Alabama.
Katrina killed 1,800 people and
caused $81 billion of property
damage.
Katrina is considered one of
the worst natural disasters in
U.S. history.
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Vocabulary
1. A long period without rain is a _________.
drought
2. A treeless plain where only grasses and mosses can grow is called
_______.
tundra
3. A ________
levee is a high wall built to protect areas from flooding.
4. A _________
glacier is a giant blanket of ice.
5. _______________
Global warming is the overall rise in the temperature of the
Earth.
tundra
levee
glacier
global warming
drought
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Review
6. Name two ways in which the United States and Canada are alike.
7. Why did the U.S. and Canada build the St. Lawrence Seaway?
8. Name two renewable resources and why they are renewable.
9. Name two nonrenewable resources and why they are
nonrenewable.
10. What causes earthquakes and volcanoes to occur?
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