TEXAS GEOGRAPHY
Texas is a big
place can you
handle it?
In your composition book write
the following Rivers
• These are the requirements on your map of Texas
(the cover of your foldable)
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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Rio Grande River
Canadian River
Colorado River
Pecos River
Brazos River
Sabine River
Red River
Guadalupe River
Nueces river
Trinity River
Prairie Dog Town River
San Antonio River
In your composition book, write
the following landforms
• These are the requirements on your map of Texas for
landforms
– High Plains (Great Plains)
– North (Central) Plains
– Mountains & Basins
– Edwards Plateau
– Grand Prairie
– Post Oak Belt
– Gulf Coastal Plains
– West Texas Mountains
In your composition book, write
the following landforms Cities
• These are the cities that are expected to be on your map of
Texas
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San Antonio
Galveston
Houston
Amarillo
El Paso
Dallas
Fort Worth
Austin
Why Geography?
• Geography prepares us for modern
life
• People, businesses, governments
depend on geography everyday to
meet their needs
• Computer software such as GIS
and GPS use geography to help
people
Sizing Up Texas
• Second largest US State
• The area of Texas is 267,277
square miles
• Some parts of Texas are closer to
the capitals of other states than to
Austin.
Sizing Up Texas
• Texas is the combined size of:
New York
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Illinois
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Massachusetts Vermont
New Hampshire New Jersey
Maine
Sizing Up Texas
• El Paso, Texas is closer to the
Pacific Ocean than to Houston.
• Some students in Texas live 4 hrs
from the nearest school
• How could these geographic facts
affect Texas?
6 Geographical Questions
• Location
• Place
• Regions
• Human-Environment Interaction
• Human Systems
• Physical Systems
Location – Where is it?
• Absolute Location – The exact
location of a place on the earth’s
surface
• Relative Location – The location of a
place in relation to other places
• The Absolute location and Relative
location of Texas affect it in many
ways – How has Texas’ relative
location to Mexico affected it?
Using Latitude and Longitude
• The Absolute Location of a place is given
using latitude and longitude coordinates
• Coordinates are written using a numerical
measurement and a directional label.
• Latitude is given first followed by longitude
• (31° N, 97° W) is the approximate location
of Belton on the earth’s surface
Place – What is it like?
• Place refers to the physical and
human characteristics of a location
• Physical Characteristics include:
– Landforms, Climate, plants, animals
• Human Characteristics include:
– Language, Religion, Architecture,
Music, Politics, ways of life
Physical Characteristics
Human Characteristics
Regions –
How does it compare to other places?
• Geographers divide areas into regions
in order to better study them.
• Regions are places that are united
based on common characteristics
• Regions can be based on physical,
human, business and other
characteristics
Natural
Regions
of
Texas
Human-Environment Interaction
How do humans react to their
environment and how does it affect them?
• Ex: Pollution
Deforestation
Hurricanes/Tornadoes
Farming
Damming Rivers to make lakes
Human Systems
• Movement - How people move through
the environment
• Cultural Diffusion - new ideas brought
by migrating people become widely
accepted.
• People bring ideas and goods with them
when they move from one place to
another.
Movement in Texas
Vocabulary-Wow, there are so many words!
absolute
location
exact position of
a place using
latitude and
longitude
relative
location
location of a place
in relation to
another place
What is the absolute location
of Houston?
What is the relative location of
Texas to Mexico?
Precipitation
Drip, drip, drip…
How much rain does
our area receive each
year?
What part of Texas
receives the most rain?
What part receives the
least amount of rain?
Texas Aquifers
Rain slowly fills these
giant underground
lakes. The aquifer
then supplies water
for drinking and
irrigation.
Reservoirs-man-made lakes
Which one
of these is
not a
reservoir?
Lake
Houston
Lake
Livingston
Caddo
Lake
Ahhhhhhhh!
Elevation-height of the land
• What is your elevation? How tall are you?
• West Texas is a tall place with Guadalupe Peak reaching
8, 749 feet.
• The Humble area is about 90 feet above sea level.
Texas mountains that
take a prize!
El Capitan-2nd tallest (above)
Guadalupe Peak-tallest (right)
Escarpment-steep cliff
• Caprock-in
Texas
Panhandle
• Balcones-in
central
Texas
Other Important Terms
Which one is which?
savanna
barrier island
plateau
Most Important Mineral
Resources
Petrochemical Industry
• To turn the oil and
gas into something
useful, you must
refine it at a
petrochemical plant.
• The area around
Pasadena and Deer
Park has many of
these refineries.
• Ever heard of
Stinkadena?
AGRIBUSINESS
• Agribusiness combines farming, ranching
and related businesses.
• It is an important part of the Texas economy.
• Cotton is the number one cash crop for our
state.
TEJANO
• Texas has a very rich
cultural history.
• Much of the Texas
culture is tied to
Mexico such as food,
architecture, and
language.
• A Tejano is a person
of Mexican heritage
who calls Texas
home.