Download OGT Benchmark: Explain the social, political

OGT Benchmark: Analyze the
cultural, physical, economic, and
political characteristics that
define regions and describe
reasons that regions change over
time.
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Regions of the United States
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s)
Urban and Suburban Regions
Farmland and Wilderness Regions
Centers of Industry and Technology
The Rust Belt and the Sun Belt
I. Regions of the United States
• Geographers study how people live on and see the surface of
the Earth
• Regions help them conduct that ongoing study
• Regions based on…
• a. landforms (mountains, plateaus)
• b. relative location (Northeast, Southwest)
• c. where people live (urban, rural)
• d. topography (desert, wetlands)
• e. economy (farming, industrial)
• f. religion (Amish)
• g. economic specialization (Corn Belt, Silicon Valley)
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s)
1. consists of a central city with at least 50,000
people
2. the county it is located
3. the surrounding counties in which jobs or
commercial activity are are linked
significantly to the central city
4. there are 400 MSA’s in US
5. Some are big: New York City, Chicago
6. Some are small: Dayton, Erie
III. Urban and Suburban Regions
 1. vast majority of people live in MSA
 2. Not always this way
 a. 1870: 75% lived in rural
 b. 1890: 65% lived in rural
 c. 1920: 51% lived in rural
 Why?
 1. jobs in cities
 2. better technology for farmers
 3. immigrants moved into cities
3. The move to suburbia
• 1. improved transportation
• 2. increased disease and crime in the city
• 3. GI Bill of Rights: paid for veterans to
buy homes in the suburbs
• 4. Recently: people moving back to the
city--revitalization of the cities
IV. Farmlands and Wilderness
Regions
• 1. These areas have been decreasing
• 2. housing developments
• 3. legislation passed to save some of these
areas
V. Centers of Industry and
Technology
1. Example: Silicon Valley. Near Stanford University in
Palo Alto, California
a. high-tech revolution
b. many people moved to this area
c. 1976: Apple created the first computer chip and Intel
created the first microprocessor
2. other examples: Seattle, Portland, Austin, Phoenix, and
Boston
V. The Rust Belt
• 1. Midwest U.S.: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois
• 2. for many years, industrial hub of the U.S.
• 3. steel mills, auto factories, heavy industry
• 4. Economic problems changed things
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d.
e.
foreign competition
shift to service industry
aging factories
many moved out of this region
some cities revived recently: new businesses
VI. The Sun Belt
• 1. South and West U.S.
• 2. Florida, Georgia, Carolinas, Arizona
• 3. many have moved here for work and
because of the nice climate
• 4. these states more important, politically
1. OGT Short Answer
• Why do geographers categorize
places into regions? (2 pts.)
2. OGT Short Answer
• What has been the most significant
population change in the U.S. since the late
1800’s? (2 pts)
3. OGT Short Answer
• What made the process of suburbanization
possible in the United States? (2 pts)
4. OGT Short Answer
• What factors have influenced people to
move back to cities? (2 pts)