Transcript Warmup: Examine the map below. Explain what New York State is like.

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Discuss and answer the following questions:
write down your responses.
What created many of the physical landforms
in New York State?
What bodies of water connect New Yorkers
with each others and other Americans?
Where do you think most New Yorkers live?
Explain your answer
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To understand and to appreciate the
geography of New York State, you first must
know something about the physical landscape.
The location of our lakes, rivers, mountains,
and coastal lowlands has determined the
pattern of settlement in the state, as well as
history and cultural development.
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What can the landscape of New York tell us
about its past?
How does geography impact how New
Yorkers live?
Why do New Yorkers live where they do?
First Question to Answer
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These rocks are made
of very thick deposits
of various material
formed at the bottom
of water hundreds of
millions of years ago;
the resulting rock
layers are visible in
many places – such as
the Niagara Gorge,
seen to the right.
A-2
Sandstone:
A clue to our
past.
Sandstone is a
sedimentary rock made
up mainly of sand-size
(1/16 to 2 millimeter in
diameter) debris made
from the breakdown of
larger rocks.
Environments where
you can find large
amounts of this debris
include beaches, deserts,
flood plains and deltas.
A-3
Limestone:
A clue to our past.
Limestone is a sedimentary
rock made up of the
mineral “calcite.” It most
commonly forms in clear,
warm, shallow waters. It is
usually an organic
sedimentary rock that
forms from the
combination of shell, coral,
algal and other debris.
It can also be formed by the
precipitation, such as rain,
sleet, or hail, hitting
calcium carbonate from
lake or ocean water.
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Up until 8000 years ago, the Ice Age covered
New York with glaciers about one to two miles
thick across almost all of the state.
These ice sheets grew and shrunk as the
weather changed, causing glacial erosion. This
created the basins (giant holes) that filled with
water and became the Great Lakes (and the
hundreds of smaller lakes in NY) and carved
and rounded many of the mountain ranges.
When the
glaciers finally
receded for
good, they left
behind
deposits of
rocks and dirt
filling many
valleys with
rich, fertile soil.
What can the landscape of New York
tell us about its past?
The second question to answer.
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The skyscrapers of
Manhattan are anchored in
these ancient mountain
cores.
The soil on the island of
Manhattan is perfect for
building skyscrapers. In
midtown Manhattan,
BEDROCK is only about
10 feet or 3 meters deep.
However, at the location
of the Twin Towers in
the lower part of
Manhattan BEDROCK is
about 100 ft or 30 meters
deep.
How does Geography influence how
New Yorkers live?
Third Question to answer.
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Let’s examine the
highlands of New York.
The highland (mountainous)
regions stand out very clearly.
What color are they?
There are three different
mountainous regions:
The Adirondacks (in Northeast
New York)
The Allegheny Plateau/ Catskills
(along the southern border with
Pennsylvania),
The Taconic Mountains/ Hudson
Highlands (along the border with
New England). w
C-3
These form natural barriers
for transportation and
settlement.
However, these barriers of
mountains are breached by
some very important lowlands,
that form a giant sideways “T”.
What color are they on the
map?
Where do most New Yorkers
live? How do you know this?
C-4
Why do New Yorkers live where they
do?
What is the land around us like?