Download Unit 1 Geography - Physical Features of Georgia

Unit 1 Geography
Georgia Performance Standard (GPS)
SS8G1: The student will describe
Georgia with regard to
physical features and location.
c. Locate and evaluate the importance of key physical features on the
development of Georgia; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp,
Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and
barrier islands.
 The Fall Line
 Separates the Piedmont
and Coastal plain
 a boundary about 20
miles wide that runs
across Georgia.
 Called Fall Line due to its
many water falls.
 Major Cities along Fall
Line:
 1. Augusta
 2. Macon
 3. Columbus
 4. Milledgeville
c. Locate and evaluate the importance of key physical features on the
development of Georgia; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp,
Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and
barrier islands.
 Okefenokee Swamp




Located in the
southeast corner
of Georgia
It is the largest
swamp in North
America. (Almost
covers 700 miles)
Home to more than
400 species of
animals.
Became the
Okefenokee
National Wildlife
Refuge in 1937
c. Locate and evaluate the importance of key physical features on the
development of Georgia; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp,
Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and
barrier islands.
 Appalachian
Mountains


Southernmost part of
the Appalachian
Mountains are the
Blue Ridge
Mountains.
GA’s highest and
wettest areas (over
80 inches of annual
rainfall)
Appalachian Mountains (cont.)

The crest (top) of the
mountains form the
Continental Divide.
 Divides the
direction in which
rivers drain
 West flowing
rivers empty
into the Gulf of
Mexico
 East flowing
rivers empty
into the Atlantic
Ocean
c. Locate and evaluate the importance of key physical features on the
development of Georgia; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp,
Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and
barrier islands.
 Chattahoochee River
 Begins in the Blue Ridge
Mountains
 Flows southwest
towards Alabama and
into the Gulf of Mexico
 Important for Georgians
for:
 1. Drinking Water
 2. hydroelectric power
 3. recreation
c. Locate and evaluate the importance of key physical features on the
development of Georgia; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp,
Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and
barrier islands.
 Savannah River
 Natural boundary
between Georgia and
South Carolina
 Flows southeast into
the Atlantic Ocean
 Important for
Georgians for:
 1. Drinking Water
 2. hydroelectric
power
 3. recreation
c. Locate and evaluate the importance of key physical features on the
development of Georgia; include the Fall Line, Okefenokee Swamp,
Appalachian Mountains, Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers, and
barrier islands.
 Barrier Islands
 Barrier islands are
found along nearly the
entire eastern
seaboard of United
States.
 They protect the
mainland from storms.
 Important for tourism,
fishing, and paper
production
d. Evaluate the impact of climate on
Georgia’s development.
 Weather – The day to day change of the
earth’s atmosphere in regard to
temperature, moisture, wind velocity and
pressure.
 Climate – the average of weather patterns
measured over a long period of time.
 1. Georgia’s climate can be described as
mild, temperate, or humid subtropical.
 2. Winters in Georgia are cool while summers
are warm to hot.
 3. Both the Piedmont and Coastal Plain
regions have longer and hotter summers
because of their location near/in between the
warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the
Atlantic Ocean.
 Georgia's climate varies from the forested
elevations of the mountains to the Coastal
Plain beaches. It is generally temperate,
and is influenced by Georgia's proximity to
the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
as well as wintertime blasts of cold Arctic
air coming southward from Canada.