The Land

Ch. 1, Lesson 2

Lesson Objectives Identify and describe the landform regions of the

United States. Locate the landforms of North America on a map.

Vocabulary

• Landform region• Climate• Mountain range• Erosion• Prairie• Environment

Landform Regions• To better study the land of the United States, we

divide our country into landform regions, or regions that have similar landforms throughout.

• Dividing the country into landform regions makes it easier to compare and contrast different parts of the country.

• Robert Louis Stevenson – early explorer of the United States. Stevenson studied the landforms of the country and its climate, or the kind of weather a place has over a long time.

The Coastal Plain• The Coastal Plain is a broad, tree lined plain

along the Atlantic Ocean that stretches from Massachusetts to Florida.

The Appalachians• West of the Coastal Plain lay the Appalachian Mountain Range, which

stretches from southern Canada to central Alabama. • A mountain range is a group of connected mountains. • The Appalachians are the oldest mountains in the United States, but

their peaks have been worn down by glaciers, rain, and wind. This gradual wearing away of Earth’s surface is called erosion.

• The Appalachians are made up of many smaller mountain ranges, including:– Great Smoky

– Blue Ridge – Catskill

– White

The Interior Plains• West of the Appalachian Mountains lay the Interior Plains, a large

area of land stretching across the middle of our country from the Appalachian Mountains in the East to the Rocky Mountains in the West.

• The Interior Plains can be separated into two different areas; the Central Plains and the Great Plains.

• In the Central Plains the land is mostly flat or rolling, and is sometimes called a prairie because it is covered by grasses.

• In the Great Plains the land becomes even flatter, and there are few rivers and almost no trees.

The Rocky Mountains and Beyond• The Rocky Mountains are the country’s largest and longest

mountain range, and stretch from Mexico through Canada and into Alaska.

• The Rockies are much younger than the Appalachians and because of this, their peaks appear sharp and jagged due to a shorter period of erosion.

• The Intermountain Region a large area of dry land that is between the Rocky Mountains on the east and other mountains farther west.

• Part of this land is the Great Basin. A basin is a low, bowl-shaped land with higher land all around it.

Intermountain Region

Great Basin

Death Valley

More Mountains and Valleys• Just inside California is the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. • The Cascade Mountain Range is north of the Sierra Nevada in

Washington and Oregon. • West of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges are three

large, fertile valleys. • Along the Pacific Ocean in California, Oregon, and Washington

are the Coast Ranges, which are low mountains that give the Pacific Coast a rocky, rugged look.

Beyond the Rockies

Sierra Nevada Mts.

Central Valley

Cascade Mts.