Download Our Country`s Geography

Our Country’s Geography
Mr. Thompson’s
5th Grade Social Studies
Land and Regions
• A landform region is a region that
has similar landforms throughout.
• Landforms are physical features
on the Earth’s surface, such as
plains, mountains, hills, and
valleys.
Plains
• The two largest landform regions in the United
States are plains—the Coastal Plain and the
Interior Plains.
• Plains are broad, nearly level stretches of land
that have no great changes in elevation. Plains
are generally lower than the land around them;
they may be found along a coast or inland.
Coastal plains generally rise from sea level until
they meet higher landforms such as mountains
or plateaus. Inland plains may be found at high
altitudes.
Plains
(Cont.)
• Plant life on plains is controlled by the
climate. Thick forests usually thrive on
plains in humid climates, grasslands cover
fairly dry plains such as the Great Plains in
the United States. Plains are usually well
populated because the soil and terrain are
good for farming, and roads and railways
are easily built between rural towns and
cities.
Plains
(Cont.)
• A coastal plain is
a stretch of
lowland along a
seacoast which
slopes toward the
sea.
Mountains
• Mountains are high, steeply sloped areas
formed by the upward movement of rock.
Mountains can be found on land or in the
ocean.
Hills
• Hills are raised areas or mounds of land
created by faulting or erosion of a
mountain. Hills are usually no more than
30 meters from base to peak.
Valleys
• Valleys are low areas between hills
and mountains where a stream often
flows.
America’s Largest Mountains
• The two largest mountain ranges in the
United States are the Appalachian
Mountains and the Rocky Mountains.
• A mountain range is a group of
connected mountains.
• The Appalachian Mountains cover much of
the eastern United States.
• The Rocky Mountains cover much of the
Western United States.
Piedmont
• The area of high land
on the high land on the
eastern side of the
Appalachians is called
the Piedmont.
• A Piedmont is an area
at or near the foot of a
mountain.
Sea Level & Plateau
• Sea level is the level of the surface of the
oceans. It is used as a starting point in
measuring the height and depth of
landforms.
• A plateau is a broad area of high, mostly
flat land.
• Between the Rocky Mountains and other
mountain ranges farther west is a large
area sometimes called the Intermountain
Region.
• Intermountain means “between the
mountains.”
• A basin is low, bowl-shaped land with
higher ground all around it.
Volcano
• A volcano is an opening in the Earth
through which hot lava, gases, ash, and
rocks may pour out. When this happens, a
volcano is erupting. Sometimes the lava
and ash build up to form a mountain.
Elevation Maps
• Different maps provide different kinds of
information. If you want to know how high
or how low the land is, you need to use an
elevation map.
• Elevation is the height of the land in
relation to sea level.
• The elevation of land is measured from
sea level, usually in feet or meters.
• The elevation of land at sea level is 0 feet
(0 m).
• A contour line connects all points of equal
elevation.
The End!