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Journal #5
• Tributary – a smaller stream that flows into a larger stream
• Estuary – where a river meets an inlet of the sea
• Wetlands – areas covered by water for at least part of the year
• Industrialization – the process by which manufacturing based
on machine power becomes widespread in an area (this is one
major difference between rich countries and poor countries)
The Hydrosphere
Bonus Questions
• Why does the Upper Peninsula in Michigan get a lot of snow?
• What type of climate does Florida have?
• What is the tallest mountain in the United States?
• What is the tallest mountain in Wyoming?
Surface Water
• Is water located above the ground in a river, lake, or ocean
• The smallest streams are called headwaters
• Any smaller stream or river that flows into a larger stream or
river is called a tributary
• An entire region drained by a river and its tributaries is called
a watershed or drainage basin
• Surface water is also found in estuaries, where a river meets
an inlet of the sea and wetlands which are areas covered by
water for at least part of the year
Estuary
Wetland
Drainage Basin
The Mississippi River
Watershed
The Mississippi River Watershed
• Is the largest watershed in the United States
• Water from 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces drains into the
Mississippi Watershed
• It drains 41 percent of the lower 48 states
• The water from the N. Platte River would end up in the Mississippi
River and eventually the Gulf of Mexico – BUT most of the water is
used for irrigation in Nebraska and Wyoming
Groundwater
• Water that is found beneath the ground
• The level to which the underground water fills all of the available
spaces is called the water table
• When too much water is taken from a water table, it can cause the
ground to settle or collapse, damaging buildings, roads, and other
structures
Groundwater
Groundwater in the United States
The Ogallala
Aquifer
• AKA the High Plains Aquifer
• One of the world’s largest underground
aquifers
• It covers 174,000 square miles and parts
of 8 states
• South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming,
Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, and Texas
• It provides 30% of the nations irrigation
water
• Problem: how do we preserve this
resource?
• Recharge of this aquifer is only 10% of
what is used annually
Ogallala Aquifer
• Some people think
that this will be
gone within 25
years
Edwards Aquifer
• One of the most prolific
aquifers in the world
• Naturally recharges due to the
many rivers that flow into a
fault in the area
• San Antonio was made
possible by this resource and
still gets most of its water
from this aquifer
• Texas Blind Salamander ->
Economic Geography
What Makes Up an Economy?
• Primary Activities use natural resources directly
• Location: at the site of the natural resource
• Examples include wheat farming and iron mining
• Secondary Activities use raw materials to produce or
manufacture something new
• Location: close to the resource or close to the market for the
finished product
• There are labor, energy, and land costs that affect the location
• Examples include processing wheat into flour and manufacturing
steel
Types of Economic Activities
• Tertiary Activities provide services to people and businesses
• Location: near customers
• Examples include bakeries and car dealerships
• Quaternary Activities process and distribute information
• Location: anywhere
• Access to skilled workers, good transportation and
communication systems, and places with a high quality of life
affect location
• Examples include plant genetics research and automotive
engineering
Secondary Activities
Primary Activities
Quaternary
Activities
Tertiary Activities
Economic Systems
• There are 3 basic types of economic systems
• Traditional or subsistence economy
• The most basic type of economic system
• People make goods for themselves and for their families
• Little surplus or exchange of goods
• Market economy
• People freely choose what to buy and sell
• Guided by the free enterprise system which lets competition among businesses
determine the price of products
• Supply and demand
• Capitalism – businesses and resources are privately owned
Economic Systems
• Command Economy
• The government decides what to produce, where to make it, and
what price to charge
• Prices are not based upon the market forces of supply and
demand
• Communism – government owns or controls almost all the means
of production
• Examples include Cuba and North Korea
Level of Development
• Development refers to improvements in a country’s economy
and in its citizen’s quality of life
• We measure development by looking at a country’s GNP,
GDP, level of industrialization, and standard of living
Gross National Product
• GNP is the total value of goods and services that a country
produces in a year. It includes goods and services made by
businesses owned by the country’s citizens but located in
foreign lands.
Gross Domestic Product
• GDP includes only the goods and services created within the
country. GDP can be divided by the number of people living
in the country in order to compare the income levels of
different countries.
Industrialization
• Is the process by which
manufacturing based on
machine power becomes
widespread in an area.
• In industrialized countries,
many people work in
manufacturing, service, and
information industries.
• In other countries, most
people work in primary
economic activities such as
farming.
Standard of Living
• Measured by factors such as the amount of personal
income, levels of education, food consumption,
literacy rate, quality of health care, technology level,
and life expectancy
Developed vs. Developing Countries
• Developed countries are the richest countries and have high
levels of industrialization and a high standard of living. Less
than 25% of the world’s people live in developed countries
• Developing countries are the world’s poorer countries and have
less productive economies and a lower standard of living.
These countries have lower GDP’s, fewer schools, and often lack
electricity