Warm up Find the historical figure on your card. Write 3-5 bulleted facts about your person in your journal. When you finish find yesterday’s stopping point

Good Morning, Scholars! How did the FIRST settlers get to America? Look at the map on your desks and decide as a group the route you believe they took. Draw the route with a dry erase marker. Be prepared to share and defend your answer! Put your signed syllabus sheet on your desk for a ticket!

In your table of contents, under the heading “Exploration”, write the title “Geography of the United States”. Table of Contents Unit 1 – Exploration Geography of the United States

Turn to the first page in the “Exploration” section. Write “Geography of the United States” at the top of the left and right hand pages. Geography of the United States Geography of the United States

RIGHT SIDE Notes you take (anything in red!) LEFT SIDE This is where we will glue your map. (Don’t write on this side!) Geography of the United States Geography of the United States

“Sea to Shining Sea” THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES Why start our year with GEOGRAPHY?

Types of Maps

Political Map Focuses on state and national boundaries Shows cities

Physical Map Shows physical features of an area Mountains and elevation changes Rivers and lakes and water is always shown with blue. Elevation changes are usually shown with green as low areas and brown higher elevation.

Historical Map Focuses on an event or theme Examples… –Battle maps –Movement of people over time –Trade routes

Bering Strait Land Bridge How did humans get to North America?? During the Last Ice Age, the water levels of the oceans was lower, exposing land that today is covered. One piece of exposed land connected Asia to North America between modern day Russia and Alaska. It is now covered by the Bering Strait. Most archeologists agree that it was across the Bering Strait Land Bridge, also called Beringia, that humans first came to the Americas.

Features of the United States As we go through the features of the United States, trace/and or label them on your map. Remember that anything you have to write will be in RED.

Mississippi River Missouri River Ohio River Rio Grande River Atlantic Ocean Gulf of Mexico Pacific Ocean RIVERS AND BODIES OF WATER Great Lakes

Missouri River Ohio River Rio Grande River

The Mississippi River: America’s Great River Road The “Big Muddy”, “Mighty Miss” 2,350 miles. Draining all or part of 31 states & 2 Canadian provinces. Covers 40% of the U. S.

The Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. They form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth.

Mountains & Plateaus Appalachian Mts. Rocky Mts..

Appalachian Mountains Initially created a natural barrier which kept early explorers from settling further inland.

Rocky Mountains

WASHINGTON DC…OUR NATION’S CAPITOL Washington DC