Download Lesson 2 Regions and Trade

61625_C01_L01-L02 7/12/07 3:27 PM Page 7
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Date
CHAPTER 1, LESSON 2
Summary: Regions and Trade
What Is a Region?
Geographers learn more about the world by dividing it into
regions. North America is divided into political regions.
For example, Canada, the United States, and Mexico are
political regions. Canada is divided into smaller political
regions called provinces and territories. The other countries
are divided into states.
Landforms and climate are other ways that North
America is divided into regions. Human characteristics can
also be used to define regions. People in certain regions
speak the same language, have similar cultures, or do the
same work. For example, the Silver Belt is a region in which
people have mined silver for a long time. It is located in
central Mexico.
People’s ideas about regions can change. The Great Plains
region used to be called a desert, but today it has many farms.
Find and underline a form
of each vocabulary word.
region noun, an area that
has one or more features
in common
economy noun, the system
people use to produce
goods and services
specialization noun, the
result of people making
the goods they are best
able to produce with the
resources they have
trade noun, the buying and
selling of goods
interdependence noun,
depending, or relying,
on each other
Regions and Resources
A region can also be defined by its resources. For example,
the Eastern Coal Field region of Kentucky has a lot of
coal. Resources are important for a region’s economy. The
resources in a region help people decide what crops to grow
and what goods to produce.
When a region makes a lot of one product, it is using
specialization. When a region specializes, it usually produces
more goods and services at a lower cost and earns more money.
For example, farmers in the South specialize by growing a
large amount of cotton. However, when a region specializes,
it does not produce all the goods its consumers want.
Trade between regions lets consumers buy goods they
want or need. Countries also specialize in producing goods.
They trade for goods made in other countries. For example,
oil and natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico are sold to other
places. The money earned from selling oil is used to buy
products made in other regions. Regions that rely on
one another for goods and services are practicing
interdependence. Interdependence connects countries
and businesses around the world.
REVIEW What human
characteristics can be
used to define regions?
Circle the sentence
that identifies human
characteristics that can be
used to divide North America
into regions.
REVIEW What problem
does trade between
regions solve? Draw a box
around the sentence that
tells what problem is solved
by trade.
Unit Resources
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7
Use with North America Regions and People, pp. 16–19