1. North American Physical Geography The United States and Canada All images courtesy of Wikimedia and Google Maps

2. Important Physical Features Mountain Ranges Rocky Mountains Appalachian Mountains Sierra Nevada Mountains Alaska Range Bodies of Water Mississippi-Missouri-Ohio River system Great Lakes Columbia River

3. Rocky Mountains Largest mountain range in North America Also the youngest Reaches higher altitudes than the Appalachian Mountains Stretches from Alaska to Mexico

4. Appalachian Mountains Second largest North American range Oldest range in North America Low altitude peaks due to weathering and erosion Stretches from Alabama to Nova Scotia

5. Mississippi-Missouri-Ohio Rivers River system composed of three of the largest rivers in North America System drains 31 states and a2 Canadian provinces All flows to the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans

6. Grand Canyon Carved out by the Colorado River over a 5 million year time period Over a mile deep in some places The canyon itself has been dated at an estimated 17 million years old

7. Great Lakes Consists of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario Largest repository of fresh water in the world – Contains 21% of the world’s surface fresh water Volume of 5,400 cubic miles, and a surface area of 94,000 square miles

8. Canadian Shield A very thin layer of soil on top of bedrock Many bare outcroppings of the bedrock as a result of glaciation Canadian Shield is immensely rich in raw minerals Not many people live here; why?

9. Death Valley 3,000 square miles of desert located in the Mojave Desert Hottest place in North America Driest place in North America Badwater Basin is the lowest place in North America

10. Resources Mineral – Both the US and Canada have immense mineral wealth, stretching from oil to precious metals Vegetation – US has healthy lumber industry, as well as a plethora of agricultural ventures – Canada utilizes their lumber more than the US does as they have a larger supply

11. LACEMOPS of North America Latitude/Air Masses Continentality Elevation (both positive and negative) Mountain Barriers Ocean Currents Pressure systems and Storms? – These are less predictable, but what types of storms are abundant in North America? What about in the locations we are looking at?

12. Cloudcroft, New Mexico

13. Spokane, Washington

14. Cape Canaveral, Florida

15. Alert, Nunavut

16. St. John’s, Newfoundland