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Vegetation: Forests
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Vegetation: Orchards
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Interpreting a Chart: State Symbols
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Climate: Four Seasons
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Climate: Temperature and Precipitation ( Lake Effect)
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Vegetation: Forests
•
Vegetation: Orchards
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Interpreting a Chart: State Symbols
•
Climate: Four Seasons
•
Climate: Temperature and Precipitation ( Lake Effect)
Unit One: Lesson Four
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To study a place geographers ask the question: What is the
place like?
To answer that question geographers study the natural
(physical) characteristics of the place.
Natural characteristics include landforms, bodies of water,
vegetation and climate.
Special purpose maps can be used to learn about these natural
(physical) characteristics.
Forests and orchards are important types of vegetation in
Michigan.
Michigan’s climate has four seasons and is influenced by the
Great Lakes.
different kinds of land on the Earth
Example: Mountains, hills and islands are
different landforms.
the plants of an area
Example: The vegetation of Michigan includes
apple trees, white pines and many different
wildflowers
 Michigan
has many important types of plants,
or vegetation.
 Vegetation
is another type of natural
(physical) characteristic.
 Special
purpose maps can be used to study
vegetation as well as landforms and bodies of
water.
◦ National forests are managed by our nation’s
government. They are recognized as being
important to our whole country.
◦ State forests are managed by our state
government. Michigan has the largest state forest
system of any state except Alaska.
◦ If you were to overlay the maps of the national
forests and the state forests you would see that
much of the Upper Peninsula is forest.
Source: Michigan Forests Maps. 30 June 2009
<http://mff.dsisd.net/Recreation/Ownership.htm>.
 Commercial Forests refer to
forests that are used to harvest
and sell trees for paper, lumber
and other tree products.
 What do you notice about the
location of the commercial
forests?
 They are all located in the
Upper Peninsula.
 Later this year we will learn
about Michigan history and
about the growth and
development of lumbering in
Michigan.
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How the location of orchards in Michigan
differs from the location of forests?
What might we conclude about the
location of orchards and the Great Lakes?
Orchards are often found along the
shores of the Great Lakes.
<http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mhc_
mhm_statesymbols2002_47909_7.pdf
Reading A Chart – Answer Sheet
1. What symbol has been a state symbol the longest?
Apple blossom
2. Which is the newest symbol to be chosen?
Mastodon
3. Which two things involved students working to make them symbols?
painted turtle and white-tailed deer
4. Which two symbols are both related to fossils?
the Petoskey Stone and the Mastodon
5. Which three symbols are examples of the natural characteristic of vegetation, or
plants?
apple blossom, dwarf lake iris and white pine
6. Besides being a beautiful flower, what is another reason you think the apple
blossom was chosen as the state flower?
Answers will vary but should center on the idea
that apples are an important Michigan crop
We have now explored important
landforms, bodies of water, and
vegetation of Michigan.
We have seen how these natural
(physical) characteristics are reflected
in our state symbols.
weather over a long period of time
Example: Michigan’s climate has four different
seasons.
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Geographers explore the climate of a place by
studying the different seasons.
Geographers also explore climate by studying
the temperature and precipitation of a place.
how hot or cold the air is
Example: Temperatures in the Upper Peninsula
are often colder than in the Lower Peninsula.
water that falls to the ground as
rain, sleet, hail or snow
Example: Areas near the Great Lakes often get
more precipitation than other areas.
The warmest places
are in red and the
coldest in blue.
The Lower Peninsula is warmer than the
Upper Peninsula.
The northern part of the Lower Peninsula
is colder than the southern part.
There are a couple of places in the Lower
Peninsula that are as cold as the Upper
Peninsula.
The colors on this
special purpose
map move from
blue to brown
areas get less and
less precipitation.
Identify the areas of Michigan that get
the most precipitation.
The
southwest part of the Lower Peninsula
Along
the Lake Huron shore of the “thumb” of
Michigan
In
the far western part of the Upper Peninsula
Being near large bodies of water
can impact both temperature and
precipitation.
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Michigan has a lot of forests.
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Michigan has both National and State forests.
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In some forests trees are grown to sell to make
things like paper.
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There are a lot of forests in the Upper Peninsula.
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There are a lot of orchards in Michigan.
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Orchards are often found along the shores of the
Great Lakes.
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Michigan has four seasons
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The Great Lakes affect Michigan’s climate
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Higher areas have colder temperatures.
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The Upper Peninsula tends to be colder than the
Lower Peninsula.
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Different parts of Michigan have different
temperatures and different amounts of
precipitation.
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Michigan has many state symbols.
The state symbols stand for the natural
characteristics.
The robin and the apple blossom are state
symbols.
There are a lot of different kinds of maps.
Natural
Characteristics of
Michigan
Forests
Orchards
Vegetation
(Plants)
Natural
Characteristics of
Michigan
Lake Effect
Precipitation
Temperature
Forests
Four Seasons
Orchards
Vegetation
(Plants)
Natural
Characteristics of
Michigan
Climate
Lake Effect
Precipitation
Temperature
Forests
Four Seasons
Orchards
Vegetation
Climate
(Plants)
How special
purpose maps
help us locate
them
Natural
Characteristics of
Michigan
Our
State
Symbols