Name, Location, Climate,
Landforms, and Regions of
Pennsylvania
Lesson 1 & 2
5 Themes of Geography
• 1. Location – location of city or your community
• 2. Place – where something is in relation to its
surroundings ex. City in contrast to smaller
communities
• 3. Human-Environment Interaction – how
people depend on the environment or change
land
• 4. Movement – connection between places and
patterns of movement
• 5. Region – ex. Tourist, political, business, rural,
urban, suburban, or even school district
• 1681 – name of state provided by William
Penn and the King of England.
– Penn wanted to call colony “Sylvania” (woods)
– King added Penn in honor of William’s father
• Penn’s woods
• Commonwealth –
• Pennsylvania is one of only four states that
carry title – Massachusetts, Virginia, and
Kentucky
View with surrounding states and waterways
Location
• Pennsylvania is 45,333 square miles
– Square mile –
– 302 miles wide and 158 miles length
– Panhandle –
Climate
• Humid continental –
• Adequate rainfall and is suitable for farming
• Average temperatures
– July – 76 ̊ in southeast, 68 ̊ along Lake Erie
– December – 31 ̊ in southeast, 24 ̊ along Lake Erie
– Record high – 111 ̊
Record low - -42 ̊
Landforms and Regions
• 5 distinctive geographic regions
– Regions –
– Each region has common landforms and
elevations
– Landform –
5 Landform Regions of Pennsylvania
← ATLANTIC
COASTAL PLAIN
Atlantic Coastal Plain
• Along Eastern Coast of United States
• Elevation ranges from 26 feet above sea level
to sea level
• Contains the city of Philadelphia
PIEDMONT
Piedmont
• Southeast region between Philadelphia and
Harrisburg
• Reaches elevation of 600 feet above sea level
• Includes some of the most fertile soil in the
United States
• Allentown, Reading, Lancaster, York
• Farms, fields, and forests
RIDGE AND VALLEY
Ridge and Valley
• Hills –
• Ridges –
• Valleys –
• Contains the Appalachian Mountains –
mountain chain that runs from Georgia to
Maine
• Ridges and valleys have individual names
• Mt. Davis – state’s highest elevation at 3,213
feet above sea level, located in southern
Somerset County
• Pennsylvania mountains are low in elevation
to other parts of the country
ALLEGHENY PLATEAU
Allegheny Plateau
• Covers 60% of Pennsylvania
• Plateau –
– Elevations range from 700 to 2,500 feet
• Pocono Mountains – formed by glacial forces
←ERIE PLAIN
Erie Plain
• Northwest corner of state along Lake Erie
– Only 4 miles wide, stretching from shoreline
• Soil is rich in sand and silt
• Erie – Pennsylvania’s third largest city