Transcript File

Landforms and Physical
Features of North America
Vocabulary
Fourth Grade
Woodward Mill ES
2010-2011
Physical Features of North America
Atlantic Coastal Plain-the area of flat
land, with very few trees, between the
Atlantic Ocean and the Piedmont
Great Plains- a vast area of plains east of
the Rocky Mountains extending from the
valleys of the Mackenzie River in Canada to
southern Texas
Rocky Mountains-The Rocky Mountains (or the Rockies) are a major
mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch
more than 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from the northernmost part of British
Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United
States
Continental Divide- (also called the Great Divide) is the
Rocky Mountains which separates the rivers flowing east
into the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico from
those flowing west into the Pacific Ocean.
Great Basin- a very dry region in the western
U.S. between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky
Mountains that includes most of Nevada and
parts of the adjacent states.
Death Valley- a deep, desert basin below sea
level in part of California and Nevada. It is the
hottest and driest part of North America. It
also contains the lowest point in the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico- part of the western
Atlantic Ocean, bordered by Mexico,
Florida, and Texas
St. Lawrence River- a river in North America
that flows from Lake Ontario (one of the Great
Lakes) along the border between Canada and
the U.S. to the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Great Lakes- a group of five large lakes that border the
United States and Canada. The names of the lakes:
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The Great
Lakes are the largest body of fresh water in the world.
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that travels about 363 miles
(584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New
York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Great Lakes.
The Appalachian Mountains (i/ˌæpəˈleɪʃɨn/ or /ˌæpəˈlætʃɨn/[note 1]), often called
the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The
Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician
Period, and once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky
Mountains before they were eroded.
New York City- New York is the most populous city in the
United States of America. It is located on one of the world's
largest natural harbors at the junction of the Hudson River
and the Atlantic Ocean.
Boston, Massachusetts- Boston (pronounced is
the capital of Massachusetts and its largest city. It is
one of the oldest cities in the United States and
grew rapidly because of trade.
Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania
and is located on the Delaware River. It was an
important trading city in Colonial times.
The Mississippi River is the chief river of the largest river system in North
America.[3][4] Flowing entirely in the United States (though its drainage basin
reaches into Canada), it rises in northern Minnesota and meanders slowly
southwards for 2,530 miles (4,070 km)[5] to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf
of Mexico