1. North America Geography and Physical Features
© 2014 Tara Fountain

2. Atlas Activity
If you were on the east coast of the US, which direction would you travel to get to the Pacific Ocean?
Look at the map. Which country do you think is larger?
The US & Canada make up most of North America. What other countries are on the same continent?
What countries border the US?
What 3 oceans surround the United States and Canada?
West
Canada
Greenland, Mexico
Canada, Mexico
Pacific on the west, Atlantic on the east and Arctic to the North

3. Mapping Activity How many different types of land use are on this map?
What physical features are close to most manufacturing areas?
Why do you think manufacturing areas are located near these features?
Eight
Manufacturing areas are red on this economic map. They are mostly located around bodies of water or oceans.
Because it makes transportation for raw materials and goods easier

4. FAST FACTS Canada is the second largest country in the world.
The United States is the 4th largest country in the world.
The United States also includes Alaska and Hawaii.
From outer space, the United States and Canada appear as one landmass.

5. What type of map shows landforms?
BRAIN BUSTER
What type of map shows landforms?
Physical Map

6. The Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain system in North America.
LANDFORMS
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain system in North America.

7. Every continent has a continental divide expect for Antarctica
LANDFORMS
Continental Divide
An “imaginary” line that separates the flow of rivers to the oceans.
It runs from northwestern Canada, along the crest of the Rocky Mountains and continues down into Mexico.
Water that drains on the east side flows toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Water that drains on the west side flows toward the Pacific Ocean.
Every continent has a continental divide expect for Antarctica
DID YOU KNOW?

8. Appalachian Mountains
LANDFORMS
Appalachian Mountains
Second largest mountain range in North America
The Mountains become the Laurentian Highlands in Canada.

9. LANDFORMS Great Plains
Huge plain area that lies between the Rocky Mountains
and the Appalachian Mountains
GREAT PLAINS

10. The largest of these basins is Great Basin
FEATURES OF THE UNITED STATES
West of the Rockies lies a region of plateaus and basins.
The largest of these basins is Great Basin
Great Salt Lake is located in the Great Basin. This is the largest lake in the Western Hemisphere

11. BRAIN BUSTER LANDFORMS What is a plateau? What is a basin?
Area of land, with a flat surface (like a tabletop) that is raised above the land that surrounds it.
A large, bowl-shaped depression in the surface of the land or ocean floor.

12. Where is the hottest place
FEATURES OF THE UNITED STATES
Where is the hottest place
In North America?
DEATH VALLEY

13. FEATURES OF Canada
Yukon
Mount Logan, Canada’s
highest peak, is located in
Yukon Territory

14. Region of ancient rock covered by a thin layer of soil
FEATURES OF Canada
Canadian Shield
Region of ancient rock covered by a thin layer of soil
Few people live here
Covers half of Canada

15. How can I remember all this?
Bodies of Water
Great Lakes
Superior
Great Lakes give us the largest supply of fresh water on earth!
Lake Michigan is the only one that lies entirely in the United States
The other four are part of the border between the United Sates and Canada
Huron
Ontario
Michigan
Erie
How can I remember all this?

16. Bodies of Water Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are connected to each other by dams, lakes and rivers.
The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
Today the Great Lakes are important means for shipping in both the US and Canada.
You could travel on the Great Lakes starting at the city of Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior and get all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The trip would cover about 2,340 miles.
DID YOU KNOW?

17. HOW DID THEY FORM? Bodies of Water Great Lakes
About twenty thousand years ago the temperature got very cold and a great ice mass, called a glacier, covered Canada and parts of the United States. The glacier moved down covering over the United States as far as Missouri. As the glacier moved down it would scrape and grind the land, carving out the places where canyons, river, and lakes would later remain. At times the temperature would begin to warm up and the glacier would start to melt leaving water in these areas. This glacier formed the Great Lakes.

18. BRAIN BUSTER Bodies of Water What is a transportation corridor?
Routes by which people can travel by foot, air, vehicle, rail or ship.

19. CANADA HAS 2 MAJOR RIVERS
Rivers in Canada
The St. Lawrence River connects the Great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
Large locks and canals have been build to enable large ships to navigate the river.
As a result, the St. Lawrence river is one of North America’s most important transportation corridors.
Canadians call the St. Lawrence river the “Mother of Canada”
Canada’s longest river is the Mackenzie.
It forms in the Rockies and flows North into the Arctic Ocean
Why do you think the St. Lawrence River is called the Mother of Canada?

20. Daily vocabulary Navigable-
1. Wide and deep enough for ships or vessels to pass through 2. Able to pass through
Navigable-
Root Word
Navigate- Plan and direct the route or course of a ship, aircraft, or other form of transportation, especially by using instruments or maps

21. A stream or small river that flows into a larger river.
Bodies of Water
BRAIN BUSTER
What is a tributary?
A stream or small river that flows into a larger river.

22. Rivers in the United States
USA HAS MANY IMPORTANT RIVERS
Rivers in the United States
The Mississippi River is largest river in the US.
It begins in Minnesota and flows thru the Central Plains into the Gulf of Mexico.
Two other major rivers in the US are:
Ohio River
Missouri River
These rivers are tributaries to the
Mississippi River.
Rio Grande is the border between Texas and Mexico

23. BRAIN BUSTER Bodies of Water What is a Delta?
A delta is a plain or landform that occurs at the mouth of a river near where the river flows into the ocean or other body of water.
A river creates a delta by laying down sediment or rock debris such as gravel, sand, silt, and clay that it has picked up and carried along its course. Alluvium (pronounced ah-LOO-vee-em) is the general term for sediment deposited by running water. A river's depth, its width, and its speed determine how much sediment it can carry.
Unlike other landforms affected by running water, a delta is not created primarily by water cutting into or eroding the landscape (erosion is the gradual wearing away of Earth surfaces through the action of wind and water). Water does not tear down a delta; instead, it builds up a delta
Deltas are important to human activities, fish and other wildlife because they supply fertile soil as well as a large amount of vegetation.

24. Deltas in the United States
Mississippi River
Deltas in the United States
Where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico, a delta is formed.
This satellite image shows the tri-angler shape of this delta.
Do you think a delta would be a good place to raise crops? Explain!
The main channel carries Alluvium (rock debris, gravel, sand, silt, clay) that has been picked up along it’s course.
The secondary channels, called distributaries, flow into the Gulf.
Mississippi River flows at an average surface speed of about 2 miles (3 kilometers) per hour. Yet it drains between 1.2 and 1.8 million square miles (3.1 and 4.6 million square kilometers), which is more than 40 percent of the total area of the continental United States. Over the course of a year, it moves an average of 159 million tons (144 million metric tons) of sediment.
Yes, it would be because the silt would provide fertile soil for crops.

25. What are some reasons that a river would become non-navigable?
Make a Connection
What are some reasons that a river would become non-navigable?
Obstructions such as rocks, trees, debris
Bridges not having sufficient clearance or being damaged
High water speed
Ice

26. Navigation depends on context
Make a Connection
What does that mean?
Navigation depends on context
A bridge may be navigable by smaller craft
but non-navigable by larger ship

27. What else makes a river navigable?
What is a lock?
What else makes a river navigable?
Shallow rivers may be made navigable by the installation of locks that increase and regulate water depth.
A lock is a place where boats that are travelling on a river can be raised higher or lowered.
Locks are built in places the water level suddenly changes (waterfalls, dams, other things in the way).
The lock is like a big chamber with gates at each end. They have lock gears which empty or fill the chamber with water.
Locks help a river to be more easily navigable.

28. Make a Connection HOW DOES A LOCK WORK? Boat pulls up to gate.
Gate opens
Boat goes into chamber
Gate closes
Water is pumped out to make the level match the other side
Boat drives out

29. Is a dam and a lock the same thing?
DAM vs. LOCK
Is a dam and a lock the same thing?
BRAIN BUSTER
A dam is not moveable. It
stays in place.
Its job is to control flooding.
A lock is moveable. It can serve as a dam.
Once it moves (like you just saw) it becomes a lock.

30. Name: _______________ North America Power Point Notes
Date: ___________
ATLAS ACTIVITY
1. If you were on the east coast of the US, which direction would you travel to get to the Pacific Ocean? ____________________
2. Which country do you think is larger?___________________
3. The US & Canada make up most of North America. What other countries are on the same continent?______________________
4. What countries border the US?________________________ 5. What 3 oceans surround the United States and _____________ Canada?__________________________________________
MAPPING ACTIVITY
1. How many different types of land use are on this map?_______
2. What physical features are close to most manufacturing areas? ________________________________________________
3. Why do you think manufacturing areas are located near these features? _________________________________________
FAST FACTS
Canada is the______ largest country in the_________________
The United States is the___ largest country in the ____________
The United States also includes _________________________ From ______________, the United States and Canada appear as____ landmass.
LANDFORMS
What type of map shows landforms? _________________.
The _________________________________ are the largest mountain system in North America.
The ____________________________________ is an “imaginary” line that separates the flow of _____________to the oceans.
It runs from northwestern __________________, along the crest of the ________________________ and continues down into ____________________________________.
The water that drains on the ________________ side flows toward the ___________________________________.
Every continent has a continental divide except for ___________________________________________.
The ___________________________________ are the ______________ largest mountain range in North America.
They become the ________________________ in Canada.
The _________________________ are between the __________________________ Mountains and the __________________________________ Mountains.
FEATURES OF THE US
West of the Rockies lies a region of ___________________
and __________________________________________
The largest of the basins is __________________________
© 2014 Tara Fountain

31. BRAIN BUSTER
Plateau: ______________________________________ _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Basin: ________________________________________
The hottest place in North America is _________________
FEATURES OF CANADA
Canada’s highest peak is ___________________________
located in _____________________________________
The ______________________ is a region of ancient rock covered by a thin layer of soil. __________ people live here.
The Canadian Shield covers ________________ of Canada.
BODIES OF WATER
The _____________________ give us the largest supply of fresh water on _________________________________.
______________________________ is the only one that lies entirely in the United States.
The other four are part of the _______________________ between the United States and Canada. They are:
How can I remember all of this?
H – O- M- E- S-
The Great Lakes are connected to each other by ______________, ____________________, and _________________________
The ___________________________________ connects the Great Lakes to the ___________________________________
Today the Great Lakes are important means for ______________ in both the US and Canada.
How did the Great Lakes form? __________________________
Transportation Corridor- ______________________________
_________________________________________________
Canada’s longest river is the ____________________________
The _______________________________ connects the Great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
Large locks and canals have been built to enable large ships to _____________________________ the river.
As a result, the St. Lawrence River is one of North America’s most important _________________________________________
Canadians call the St. Lawrence River the __________________
Navigable- _________________________________________
 Tributary- _________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

32. The _______________________ is largest river in the US.
It begins in ________________________ and flows thru the _______________________ into the Gulf of Mexico.
What rivers are tributaries to the Mississippi? 1. 2.
________________ is the border between Texas and Mexico.
Delta-_________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Deltas are important to human activities, fish and other wildlife because they supply ____________________ as well as a large amount of _______________________________
Where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico, a ______________________________________ is formed.
What is Alluvium? ________________________________
The secondary channels are called _____________________
Do you think a delta would be a good place to raise crops? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________
What are some reasons that a river would become non-navigable? 3. 4.
NAVIGATION DEPENDS ON CONTEXT
A bridge may be navigable by ____________ but non-navigable by ___________________
WHAT ELSE MAKES A RIVER NAVIGABLE?
Shallow rivers may be made navigable by the installation of _____________________ that increase and regulate water depth. 
A ______________ is a place where boats that are travelling on a river can be raised _______________ or _________________
 Locks are built in places the water level suddenly ____________
 The lock is like a big chamber with ______________at each end.
 They have ______________________________ which empty or fill the chamber with water.
 Locks help a river to be more easily ______________________
LOCKS VS. DAMS
A ______________ is not moveable. It stays in _____________
Its job is to control _________________________________
A lock is __________ but it can serve as a ________________
Once it moves (like you just saw) it becomes a ______________