Physical and Man-Made Features of the United States

Physical and Man-Made Features of

the United States

Fourth Grade

Standard• SS4G1 The student will be able to locate

important physical and man-made features in the United States.

• a. Locate major physical features of the United States; include the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Great Plains, the Continental Divide, the Great Basin, Death Valley, the Gulf of Mexico, the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes.

• b. Locate major man-made features; include New York City, NY; Boston, MA; Philadelphia, PA; and the Erie Canal.

The Continental DivideThe Continental Divide is a ridge of high ground that runs irregularly north and south through the Rocky Mountains and separates eastward-flowing from westward-flowing streams. The waters that flow eastward empty into the Atlantic Ocean and those that flow westward empty into the Pacific Ocean. Every continent with the exception of Antarctica has a continental divide.

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contdiv.htm

http://continental-divide.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_of_the_Americas

Gulf of Mexico • The Gulf is called the arm

of the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by the coast of the United States from Florida to Texas, and the east coast of Mexico. Cuba is near the Gulf's entrance. Warm water from the Caribbean enters the Gulf through the Channel, forms a loop current off the U.S. and Mexican coasts, and then exits through the Straits as the Florida Current, becoming the Gulf Stream.

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/gulfofmexico.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico

http://www.gulfbase.org/facts.php

Erie Canal• The Erie Canal is a man-made

waterway, 360 miles long, connecting New York City with the Great Lakes. After the American Revolution, the need for an all-American water route between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast was needed. The Erie Canal contributed to New York City's financial development, opened trade to Midwest farm products and encouraged immigration to that region, and helped to create numerous large cities.

http://www.canals.ny.gov/cculture/history/

http://eriecanal.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal

Great Plains• Great Plains is an extensive

grassland region on the continental slope of central North America. In the United States the Plains include parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Great_Plains.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_Indians

Death Valley• Death Valley is in the

southeast part of California and the southwest part of Nevada. It is a deep, arid basin with some of the world’s highest temperatures (134F) and less than 2 inches of rain each year. It is the lowest point in the Americas. It got its name from gold seekers in 1849 on their way to California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Death_Valley.aspx

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-the-death-valley.html

Great Lakes• The Great Lakes are a

group of five freshwater lakes, in central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world. From west to east they are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, out of which flows the Saint Lawrence River. The lakes are connected to each other by straits, short rivers, and canals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/greatlk.htm

http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/basicinfo.html

Great Basin• Great Basin is a semiarid

plateau region that lies mostly in Nevada and extending into California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. It is bordered by the Sierra Nevada on the west, the Columbia Plateau on the north, the Rocky Mts. on the northeast, the Colorado Plateau on the east, and the Mojave Desert on the south.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Basin

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Great_Basin.aspx

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/GreatBas

Atlantic coastal plain• The Atlantic coastal

plain covers parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. It is a low, flat land that is generally wet including many rivers, marsh, and swamplands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_coastal_plain

http://www.ehow.com/info_8586597_atlantic-coastal-plains.html

Boston, Massachusetts• Boston is the state capital and the

largest city in Massachusetts. It is located in the eastern part of the state on Massachusetts Bay. It was incorporated as a city in 1822. No city in the U.S. is richer in historical associations than Boston, and no city has retained more of its original buildings as memorials to America's past. The first European settler was Rev. William Blackstone, who arrived in 1623; just three years after the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth in 1620. He was joined by Puritans from England in 1630. They named their new town Boston.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Boston

http://www.oceanviewpress.com/id8.html

http://www.nps.gov/bost/historyculture/rev-war.htm

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania. It was settled in 1681 by Capt. William Markham, with a small band of colonists that had been sent by his cousin William Penn who wanted to create a settlement for Quakers. In 1774–1776, the First and Second Continental Congresses met in Philadelphia, and, from 1781–1783, the city was the capital of the United States under the Articles of Confederation. In 1790, it became the nation's capital under the Constitution until it moved to Washington in 1800. Philadelphia is home to branches of the U.S. Mint, the Federal Reserve System, and the Internal Revenue Service. It has landmarks of early American history, including Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Liberty Bell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia

http://www.phillywired.com/pages/funfacts

http://www.ushistory.org/Philadelphia/philadelphia.html

New York, New York

• New York City is the largest city in the United States. In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name. “The Big Apple” is a major world capital and a world leader in finance, arts, business, fashion, and communications. It is the home of the United Nations. In Sept. 2001, terrorist hijackers crashed two commercial jets into the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, causing the complete destruction of the twin towers and major loss of life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

http://www.50states.com/newyork.htm

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0108570.html

Saint Lawrence River• The Saint Lawrence

River is a large river in North America connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It forms part of the boundary between Canada and New York

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence_River

http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=StLawrSwy

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/517561/Saint-Lawrence-River-and-Seaway