SECTION

1 Physical
TEKS 3B, 4D, 6B, 6C, 21B, 21C, 22D Geography
What You Will Learn… If YOU lived there...
Main Ideas You live in St. Louis, Missouri, which is located on the Mississippi
1. Major physical features of River. For the next few days, you will travel down the river on an
the United States include
old-fashioned steamboat. The Mississippi begins in Minnesota and
mountains, rivers, and plains.
2. The climate of the United flows south through 10 states in the heart of the United States. On
States is wetter in the East
your trip, you bring a video camera to film life along this great river.
and South and drier in the
West.
3. The United States is rich in
What will you show in your video
natural resources such as about the Mississippi?
farmland, oil, forests, and
minerals.

The Big Idea Building Background The United States stretches from sea
The United States is a large to sea across North America. To the north is Canada and to the south
country with diverse physi-
lies Mexico. Because it is so large, the United States has a great
cal features, climates, and
­resources. variety of landscapes and climates.

Key Terms and Places

Appalachian Mountains, p. 142 Physical Features
Great Lakes, p. 143
The United States is the third largest country in the world behind
Mississippi River, p. 143
tributary, p. 143 Russia and Canada. Our country is home to an incredible vari-
Rocky Mountains, p. 144 ety of physical features. All but two of the 50 states­­—Alaska and
continental divide, p. 144 Hawaii—make up the main part of the country. Look at the
physical map of the United States on the next page. It shows the
main physical features of our country. Use the map as you read
about America’s physical geography in the East and South, the
Use the graphic organizer online to Interior Plains, and the West.
take notes on the physical geogra-
phy of the United States. The East and South
If you were traveling across the United States, you might start on
the country’s eastern coast. This low area, which is flat and close
to sea level, is called the Atlantic Coastal Plain. As you go west,
the land gradually rises higher to a region called the Piedmont.
The Appalachian Mountains, which are the main mountain
range in the East, rise above the Piedmont. These mountains are
very old. For many millions of years, rain, snow, and wind have

142 Chapter 6
 United States: Physical
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Place The western United States is higher in elevation than the east. sea level sea level
1. Locate Where is the highest elevation in the United States located? 0 200 400 Miles
2. Analyze How do you think the Appalachians have influenced settlement 0 200 400 Kilometers
in the United States?
HRW-MS Geography Maps Projection: Albers Equal Area

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U.S. Physical Map-Hawaii inset
Final pass – 7/12/05

e­roded and smoothed their peaks. As a is called the Great Lakes. These lakes make
result, the highest mountain in the Appa- up the largest group of freshwater lakes
HRW-MS Geography M
lachians is about 6,700 feet (2,040 m). in the world. The Great Lakes are also an
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important waterway for trade between the U.S. Physical Map Lege
The Interior Plains United States and Canada. Final pass – 7/12
As you travel west from the Appalachians, West of the Great Lakes lies North
you come across the vast Interior Plains America’s largest and most important riv-
that stretch to the Great Plains just east of er, the Mississippi River. Tributaries in the
the Rocky Mountains. The Interior Plains interior plains flow to the Mississippi. A
are filled with hills, lakes, and rivers. The tributary is a smaller stream or river that
first major water feature that you see here flows into a larger stream or river.

Appalachians The smooth peaks

of the Appalachian Mountains
dominate the landscape of western
North Carolina.

The UniteD States 143

 Along the way, these rivers deposit Rivers east of the divide in the Rockies
rich silt. The silt creates fertile farmlands mostly flow eastward and empty into the
that cover most of the Interior Plains. The Mississippi River. Most of the rivers west of
Missouri and Ohio rivers are huge tributar- the divide flow westward and empty into
ies of the Mississippi. They help drain the the Pacific Ocean.
entire Interior Plains. Farther west, mountain ranges include
Look at the map on the previous page. the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada.
Notice the land begins to increase in eleva- Most of the mountains in the Cascades
tion west of the Interior Plains. This higher are dormant volcanoes. One mountain,
region is called the Great Plains. Vast areas Mount Saint Helens, is an active volcano.
of grasslands cover these plains. A tremendous eruption in 1980 blew off
the mountain’s peak and destroyed 150
The West square miles (390 sq km) of forest.
In the region called the West, several of the Mountains also stretch north along
country’s most rugged mountain ranges the Pacific coast. At 20,320 feet (6,194 m),
make up the Rocky Mountains. These enor- Alaska’s Mount McKinley is the highest
mous mountains, also called the Rockies, mountain in North America.
stretch as far as you can see. Many of the Far out in the Pacific Ocean are the
mountains’ jagged peaks rise above 14,000 islands that make up the state of Hawaii.
feet (4,270 m). Volcanoes formed these islands millions
F OCUS ON In the Rocky Mountains is a line of years ago. Today, hot lava and ash con-
R EADING of high peaks called the Continental tinue to erupt from the islands’ volcanoes.
Into what two
Divide. A continental divide is an area of
categories might
high ground that divides the flow of riv- Reading Check Summarizing What are the
you group the
details on rivers? ers towards opposite ends of a continent. major physical features of the United States?

The Mississippi River Delta

From its source in Minnesota, the Mississippi River flows south
across the central United States. It ends at the tip of Louisiana,
which is shown here. This satellite image shows the area where
the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico. This area is called
a delta. A river’s delta is formed from sediment that a river carries
downstream to the ocean. Sediment is usually made up of rocks,
soil, sand, and dead plants. Each year, the Mississippi dumps more
than 400 million tons of sediment into the Gulf of Mexico.
The light blue and green areas in this image are shallow areas
of sediment. The deeper water of the Gulf of Mexico is dark blue.
Also, notice that much of the delta land looks fragile. This is new
The river branches out in land that the river has built up by depositing sediment.
several places here as it
tries to find the shortest Making Inferences What natural hazards might people living in the
way to the ocean.
Mississippi Delta experience?

144 Chapter 6
 United States: Climate
Humid tropical
Tropical savanna
Desert
Steppe
Mediterranean
70°N ARCTIC OCEAN Humid subtropical
Marine west coast
HRW-MS Geography Maps Humid continental
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Highland
Final pass – 7/12/05
°W

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140°W

PACIFIC W
OCEAN S 0 300 600 Kilometers
0 500 1,000 Miles
Projection: Albers Equal-Area
0 500 1,000 Kilometers 30˚N
30˚N

ATLANTIC OCEAN
120˚W

PACIFIC
OCEAN Gulf of Mexico
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80˚W

70˚W
HRW-MS Geography Ma
155°W

HRW-MS Geography Maps

160°W

110˚W

U.S. Clim
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lege
20°N U.S. Climate Map
Final pass--7/12
PACIFIC OCEANAlaska inset Regions Western states have drier climates than eastern states.
0 Final200pass--7/12/05
100 Miles 1. Identify What type of climate does the Southeast have?
0 100 200 Kilometers 2. Interpret Which state has the greatest diversity of climates?

Climate
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HRW-MS Geography
Did you know that Mapsthe United States has a
U.S. Climate
greater variety
Hawaiiofinset
climates than any other
country?
Final Look at the map above to see the
pass--7/12/05
different climates of the United States.

The East and South

The eastern United States has three climate With a humid continental climate, New York
City experiences cold winters with snowfall.
regions. In the Northeast, people live in In this climate people can ice skate during
a humid continental climate with snowy the winter.
winters and warm, humid summers.
Southerners, on the other hand, experi-
ence milder winters and the warm, humid
summers of a humid subtropical climate.
Most of Florida is warm all year.

The Interior Plains

Temperatures throughout the year can vary
greatly in the Interior Plains. Summers are
With a humid subtropical climate, most of
hot and dry in the Great Plains. However,
Florida has warm sunny days during most
most of the region has a humid continen- of the year. In this climate people can enjoy
tal climate with long, cold winters. the region’s beaches.

The United States 145

 The West Valuable nonrenewable natural resour­
Climates in the West are mostly dry. The ces are mined in the Appalachians and
Pacific Northwest coast, however, has a Rockies. One resource, coal, supplies the
wet, mild coastal climate. The region’s energy for more than half of the ­electricity
coldest climates are in Alaska, which has produced in the United States. The United
both subarctic and tundra climates. In con­ States has about 25 percent of the world’s
trast, Hawaii is the only state with a warm, coal reserves and is a major coal exporter.
tropical climate. Other important resources include for­
ests and farmland, which cover much of
Reading Check Identifying What types of the country. The trees in our forests pro­
climates are found in the United States? vide timber that is used in constructing
buildings. Wood from these trees is also
Natural Resources used to make paper. Farmland produces
The United States is extremely rich in nat­ a variety of crops including wheat, corn,
ural resources. Do you know that your life soybeans, cotton, fruits, and vegetables.
is affected in some way every day by these
natural resources? For example, if you ate Reading Check Summarizing What are
bread today, it was probably made with important natural resources in the U.S.?
wheat grown in the fertile soils of the Inte­
rior Plains. If you rode in a car or on a bus
recently, it may have used gasoline from   
SUmmary and PReview In this sec­
Alaska, California, or Louisiana. tion you learned about the geography,
The United States is a major oil pro­ climates, and natural resources of the
ducer but uses more oil than it produces. United States. In the next section, you
In fact, we import more than one half of will learn about the history and culture
the oil we need. of the United States.

Section 1 Assessment ONLINE QUIZ

Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and Places Critical Thinking

1. a. Define What is a tributary? 4. Categorizing Copy the graphic organizer below.
b. Contrast How are the Appalachian Use it to organize your notes on physical features,
Mountains different from the Rocky Mountains? climate, and resources by region of the country.
c. Elaborate Look at the U.S. physical map in this
East and Interior West
section to locate the Great Lakes. Why are the
South Plains
Great Lakes an important waterway?
2. a. Describe Look at the U.S. climate map in this
section. What is the climate like in the Northeast?
b. Draw Conclusions What would winter be like in Focus on Viewing
Alaska?
5. Thinking about Physical Geography Jot down
3. a. Recall What kinds of crops are grown in the
key words that describe the physical features and
United States?
climate of the United States. Think of at least three
b. Explain Why is coal an important nonrenewable
objects or images you might use to illustrate physi-
natural resource? Where is it mined?
cal features and climate.
c. Predict What natural resources might not be as
important to your daily life in the future?

146 Chapter 6