Download The Shape of Our Land

The Shape
of Our Land
Fascinating Facts
• American writer Mark Twain described the shape
of the Mississippi River as “a long, pliant [easily
bent] apple-paring [peeling].”
• Each of the Great Lakes ranks among the
fourteen largest lakes in the world.
• Rain forests grow in parts of the West near the
Pacific coast.
Genre
Nonfiction
Comprehension Skill
Compare and
Contrast
Text Features
• Maps
• Captions
Scott Foresman Social Studies
ISBN 0-328-14841-5
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by Ann Rossi
The United States is a country that has many
different areas and a variety of natural features,
such as bodies of water. In this book you will learn
about some of the natural features found in the
regions of the United States.
The Shape
of Our Land
Write to It!
Write a paragraph for a travel brochure
persuading people to visit one of the waterways
or landforms in this book. Include at least
three reasons why people should visit it. Use
persuasive language and details to make the
waterway or landform appeal to others.
Vocabulary
region
prairie
desert
Write your paragraph on a separate sheet of paper.
landform
mountain
erosion
volcano
plain
wetland
waterway
glacier
Maps
MapQuest, Inc.
Photographs
by Ann Rossi
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply
regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd)
ISBN: 0-328-14841-5
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Opener: ©David Edwards/NGS Image Collection
2 ©David Edwards/NGS Image Collection
4 ©David Muench/Corbis
6 (T) ©Corbis, (C) ©DK Images
7 ©Transparencies, Inc.
8 ©Jake Rajs/Getty Images
Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York
10 ©Digital Vision
11 ©Iain Davidson Photographic/Alamy
Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois
13 ©NASA/Corbis
Coppell, Texas • Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona
14 ©Getty Images
15 ©Scott Smith/Index Stock Imagery
Although each region has distinct features, it may also
have a type of landform that exists in other regions.
Almost every region has a mountain range. Regions
across the United States have many different landforms.
This book will explore some of the varied landforms of
the United States.
Regions of the United States
CA
CANADA
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Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
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The United States is composed of many different
regions. Some people divide the United States into
the following regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest,
Southwest, and West. Each region has its own unique
features. Say “Midwest” to someone and he or she
often thinks of a prairie stretching toward the horizons.
When people think of the Southwest, they might picture a
desert or dramatic rock formations. The combination of
landforms in each region helps make that region unique.
400 Miles
RO
The Different Areas of
the United States
0
WA
o
D
A
R.
AK
M ississip
pi
Dramatic rock formations such as this are common in many
parts of the Southwest.
FL
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Gulf of
Mexico
400 Miles
200 400 Kilometers
This map shows the five regions of the United States.
3
Mount Elbert, Colorado, is the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains.
Mountains and Volcanoes
Mountains are landforms that usually have steep slopes
and sharp or slightly rounded peaks. Forces deep within
Earth cause mountains to form. Other natural forces, such
as erosion caused by wind and rain shape them.
The Rocky Mountains are more than 3,000 miles
(4,800 kilometers) long and stretch from New Mexico in
the Southwest up to Alaska in the West, passing through
Canada on the way. They are the largest mountain system
in North America. Several smaller mountain ranges make
up this vast mountain system. The highest mountain
peaks in the Rocky Mountains are in Colorado, where
numerous peaks are more than 14,000 feet (4,267
meters) high.
4
The Cascade Range is another of the many mountain
ranges in the West. It is part of the Pacific mountain
system that runs parallel to the Pacific coasts in
California, Oregon, and Washington for thousands of
miles. The Sierra Nevada is part of the Cascades. This
range is in eastern California.
Most of the peaks that are part of the Cascade Range
are volcanoes. Many are dormant, or have not erupted
for a long time. Mount St. Helens, however, is at times
active. This volcano erupted violently in 1980 after
being dormant for more than 120 years. After a period
of activity, the volcano again lay dormant. Mount St.
Helens erupted again in October 2004.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
can view Kilauea (key-law-WAY-aw), one of
Earth’s most active volcanoes. Kilauea has
been erupting fairly steadily since 1983.
5
Mount St. Helens is located in Washington.
Inside a Volcano
Like the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains
are part of a large mountain system in North America.
Unlike the Rockies, they are in the eastern part of
continent, stretching for about 1,500 miles (2,400
kilometers) from Alabama in the Southeast up through
the Northeast and into Canada.
Although the Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain
system in North America, the Appalachians are the
oldest. They are made up of several mountain ranges,
including the White Mountains, the Green Mountains, the
Catskills in the Northeast, and the Black Mountains and
the Great Smoky Mountains in the Southeast. The tallest
peak of the Appalachians is Mount Mitchell. It measures
6,684 feet high (2,037 meters).
Ash cloud
Mount Mitchell is located in the Black Mountains.
Lava
Feeder pipe
Magma chamber
A volcano may erupt when magma, or melted rock,
gathers underground in a magma chamber. Pressure
from within Earth forces the magma upward through
the feeder pipe. The volcano then erupts, spewing out
lava and clouds of steam, ash, and gases. Lava is the
term for magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface.
6
7
Plains
A plain is a large area of flat or fairly flat land. Plains
are part of several regions of the United States. The
Atlantic Coastal Plain lies along the East Coast of the
United States. In parts of the Northeast the Atlantic
Coastal Plain is fairly narrow, but it widens in the
Southeast and covers much of North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
In parts of the Southeast, barrier islands lie off the
shore of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. In Florida alone
barrier islands make up more than seven hundred miles
of the coastline and protect the mainland from pounding
ocean waves.
The Gulf Coastal Plain curves along the Gulf of Mexico
from Florida to southern Texas. Both the Gulf Coastal
Plain and the Atlantic Coastal Plain have many wetlands,
including swamps and marshes. Rivers flow from inland
areas through the coastal plains to the ocean water.
Along the way the rivers pick up soil and then deposit it
in the low-lying plains, making coastal soils richer.
A prairie is a fairly flat plain covered mainly by tall
grasses. Prairies stretch across the Midwest and south
into Texas.
Different types of grasses grow in different parts of
the rich prairie soil. The types of grasses that grow in
the wetter, eastern parts of the prairie grow taller than
the grasses that grow in the drier, western part. In the
eastern parts of the prairie are grasses that grow more
than 6 feet (1.8 meters) high, whereas in the drier
western area, the grasses grow only about 2 feet (61
centimeters) high.
The Great Plains is a dry grassland in North America that
stretches from Texas and New Mexico north into Canada.
8
9
The Mississippi River is a busy waterway.
Bodies of Water
The Mississippi River is the largest river in North
America. The Mississippi River begins in Minnesota
and travels south. It forms the border between several
states in the Midwest and in the Southeast before
reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way the Missouri
and Ohio Rivers feed into the Mississippi River, making
it an important waterway in the United States.
10
Although the Rio Grande’s source is in Colorado, it
is an important river used to irrigate, or bring water
to, crops in the dry Southwest. The Rio Grande flows
through New Mexico and forms the border between
Texas and Mexico.
Another major river
in the United States is
the Colorado River. It,
too, begins in Colorado.
It then cuts through
southern Utah and
flows into Arizona
before forming the
border between Arizona
and California. Like the
Rio Grande, the waters
of the Colorado are
used to irrigate part of
the dry Southwest, but
it is also an important
source of water for
southern California.
The Rio Grande begins in the
West and flows to the Southwest.
11
Rivers are one important kind of waterway and lakes
are another. The Great Lakes are a chain of five lakes in
the northern United States. Four of the lakes form part
of the border between the United States and Canada.
Sheets of moving ice called glaciers created these lakes
long ago.
The lakes are part of a major waterway that connects
the Midwest with other areas. For example, the Great
Lakes could be part of a boat’s route from the St. Louis
River in Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Finger Lakes in New York State as seen from
above almost look like fingers on a hand.
The Great Lakes
250 Miles
n
125
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Lak
125
250 Kilometers
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National border
State border
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Bottomless Lakes
OH
IN
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River
The Great Lakes, rivers, and canals combine to form
a network of waterways.
12
RI
ie
PA
IA
MA
The Finger Lakes are much smaller than the Great
Lakes. Unlike the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes are not
linked. Long ago the Finger Lakes were actually rivers.
Sheets of ice then reshaped the earth, cutting deep
holes in the river valleys and creating the Finger Lakes.
There are few natural lakes in New Mexico,
but the Bottomless Lakes are well known. The
greenish-blue color of the lakes makes them
appear bottomless, but they really range in depth
from 17 feet to 90 feet.
13
Long ago the Pacific Ocean covered the Mojave
Desert. The soil is sandy, and extinct volcanoes are
some of the landforms in this area.
All these landforms and waterways—deserts,
volcanoes, rivers, lakes, mountains, plains, islands,
and wetlands—are just a small number of the
extensive natural features that are found in the varied
regions of the United States. From the mountain peaks
to the coastal plains, they are part of what shape the
United States.
The Mojave Desert is part of the North American Desert.
Deserts
Unlike lakes, which are wet, deserts are dry. In the
United States, deserts are located in the West and
Southwest regions. The Mojave (moe-HA-vee) Desert in
southeastern California and parts of Nevada, Arizona,
and Utah is part of a larger desert area called the North
American Desert. Although the Mojave is extremely
dry—getting only 2 to 6 inches (50 to 150 millimeters)
of rain each year, the weather is not always hot. Frost
occurs in the winter.
14
The Atlantic Coastal Plain is located on the East Coast.
15
Glossary
The United States is a country that has many
desert an area that gets very little rain
different areas and a variety of natural features,
erosion
thebodies
wearingofaway
ofIn
rock
water
and
such as
water.
thisbybook
you
willwind
learn
abouthuge
some
of theofnatural
features
found in the
glacier
sheets
ice that
cover land
regions of the United States.
landform a natural feature of the earth’s surface
Write to It!
Write a paragraph for a travel brochure
persuading people to visit one of the waterways
or landforms in this book. Include at least
three reasons why people should visit it. Use
persuasive language and details to make the
waterway or landform appeal to others.
mountain a very high landform, often with steep sides
Vocabulary
plain an area of flat land
that often is covered with
region
grass or trees
prairie
prairie an area where grasses
grow well, but trees are rare
desert share similar
region an area in which places
characteristics
landform
volcano a mountain with
an opening through which ash,
mountain
gas, and lava are forced
erosion
waterway a system of rivers, lakes, and canals through
volcano
which ships travel
plain
wetland land that is covered with water at times
wetland
waterway
glacier
Write your paragraph on a separate sheet of paper.
Maps
MapQuest, Inc.
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply
regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd)
ISBN: 0-328-14841-5
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
16
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Opener: ©David Edwards/NGS Image Collection
2 ©David Edwards/NGS Image Collection
4 ©David Muench/Corbis
6 (T) ©Corbis, (C) ©DK Images
7 ©Transparencies, Inc.
8 ©Jake Rajs/Getty Images
10 ©Digital Vision
11 ©Iain Davidson Photographic/Alamy
13 ©NASA/Corbis
14 ©Getty Images
15 ©Scott Smith/Index Stock Imagery