Wednesday, 10/28/09 W Geo

1. Wednesday, 10/28/09 W Geo • Finish 5.3 notes • Chapter 5 Study guide and maps. • Due 10/30/09 as take-home test.

2. 5.3 Human-Environment Interaction, 127 A Human Perspective: The American Southwest was a harsh environment for early inhabitants.

3. The Pueblo peoples • Made good use of available resources. They took clay and stone building materials from the land and built multi-room, apartment-like dwellings in cliffs. This gave protection against daytime heat, nighttime cold, and human and animal enemies. From plants and animals, early settlers got food and clothing.

4. They survived because they adapted to their environment.

5. Settlement and Agriculture Alter the Land, 1. • Before humans, North American landforms were changed only by natural forces, such as weathering and erosion.

6. Settlement • First inhabitants of the area of North America now known as the United States and Canada were nomads, people who move from place to place. • They probably migrated from Asia over Beringia, a land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska.

7. Water was necessary for survival, so these first Americans • Hunted game, fished, gathered edible wild plants; • Made temporary settlements along coastlines and near rivers and streams. • Adjusted to extremes of temp and climate • Adapted to mountains, forests, plains, deserts.

8. Agriculture • Settlements became permanent after agriculture replaced hunting and gathering as the primary method of food production 3,000 years ago. • To grow crops, people change the landscape. • They cut down trees for lumber and to burn as fuel.

9. They plowed river valleys • And flood plains using hoes of wood, stone, and bone. • They dug ditches for irrigation. • The vegetables they first cultivated—corn, beans, squash—are now staples around the world.

10. The US and Canada • Are leading exporters of agricultural products.

11. Building Cities, 2. • Where a city is built and how it grows depends a great deal on physical setting. • Living near water was crucial to early settlers. • Other factors: • Landscape • Climate • Weather • Availability of natural resources.

12. Montreal – Adapting to the weather. • Montreal, Quebec, is Canada’s second largest city and a major port. • Its temperature is below freezing more than 100 days each year. • Montreal’s location on a large island where the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers meet made it appealing to early French explorers.

13. The French built a permanent settlement there in 1642. • The city was founded at the base of Mount Royal and grew by spreading around the mountain. • Because of the city’s severe winters, people went inside and underground. • Large areas of Montreal have been developed underground, including a network of shops and restaurants.

14. Los Angeles – Creating Urban sprawl • Los Angeles, California has a mild climate year-round. • It has a desirable location on the Pacific coast. • Hundreds of thousands of people were pouring into this once small Spanish settlement—they spread into surrounding foothills and valleys.

15. Expansion brought problems: • Pollution • Inadequate water supplies • Construction on earthquake-threatened land. • Building cities was just one way humans interacted with their environment. • Another was constructing transportation systems to move from place to place.

16. Overcoming Distances, 3. • Native people and Europeans faced obstacles when they moved across the land. • Huge distances • Large bodies of water • Formidable landforms • Harsh climates But they spanned the continent and changed the natural environment forever.

17. Trails and Inland Waterways • Some of the early peoples who came across the land bridge from Siberia blazed trails eastward; • Others followed the Pacific coast south toward warmer climates. • Other remained in the northwest, in what are now Alaska and northern Canada.

18. Europeans from England and France • Crossed the Atlantic to North America and set up colonies along the coast. • Then they moved inland. • They carved overland trails, including the National and Wilderness roads and the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. • They used inland waterways: Mississippi and Ohio Rivers

19. To connect bodies of water, they built a network of canals. • Erie Canal across upstate New York opened in 1825 and made the first navigable water link between the Atlantic and the Great Lakes.

20. North America’s most important deepwater ship route: • The St. Lawrence Seaway, was completed in the 1950s as a joint project of the United States and Canada. • The seaway connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the St. Lawrence River. • Ships are raised and lowered 600 feet by a series of locks.

21. Locks • Sections of a waterway with closed gates where water levels are raised or lowered. • The seaway enables huge, oceangoing vessels to sail into the industrial and agricultural heartland of North America.

22. Transcontinental Railroads • The marriage of the steam locomotive and the railroads made crossing the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific quicker and easier. • Railroad building began in North America in the early 19th century. • Many physical features presented natural barriers. • To make way, RR workers had to:

23. Cut down forests, • Build bridges over streams • Blast tunnels through mountains.

24. The first transcontinental railroad • was completed across the US in 1869. • A trans-Canada railroad, from Monteal to British Columbia, was completed in 1885. • These railroads carried goods and passengers cross-country, promoting economic development and national unity.

25. Today, the US has the world’s largest railway system, • And Canada has the third largest.

26. National Highway Systems. • Before the railroads, there were roads that connected town and cities and provided pathways to the interior • Auto developed in early 20th century and spurred roadbuilding. • Today, both US and Canada have extensive roadway systems. • US – 4 million miles or roads • Canada has 560,000 miles.

27. Much of Canada’s population is concentrated in the south. • Canadians built their major highways east to west in the southern part of the country, connecting principal cities. • The Trans-Canada Highway, Canada’s primary roadway, stretches 4,860 miles from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia.

28. In US, the interstate highway system is a network of more than • 46,000 miles of highways that crisscross the country. • Begun in 1950s, it connects the US with Canada on the north and Mexico on the south. • Also runs east-west across the country.

29. 5.3 Assessment • 1. Places & Terms. • Identify and explain where in the region these would be found. • Nomad • Lock • Beringia • St. Lawrence Seaway.

30. 2. Taking Notes • Movement • Why are railroads important to a nation’s development? • In what ways did settlers in Canada and the US move across the continent?

31. 2. Railroads move people and goods across the country • They promote economic development and national unity. • Settlers in the US and Canada moved westward using inland waterways, transcontinental railroads and trails.

32. 3. Main Ideas • A. What factors affect the choice of location of a city. • B. Why is the St. Lawrence Seaway important? • C. How did methods of moving people and goods across the continent change over time?

33. Main Ideas • A. The factors include landscape, climate, weather, water, and availability of natural resources. • B. It allows oceangoing vessels to sail into the industrial and agricultural heartland of North America. • C. First there were simple trails and waterways; then railroads and highway systems.

34. Geographic Thinking • Making Inferences. In what ways have transportation systems crossing the continent altered the environment?

35. Building canals and railroads required cutting down forests, digging up land, building bridges and locks. • Cities grew along the transportation routes. • The natural environment changed.

36. Reading a Highway Map, 131.1-3.