From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide
Preparation for the state of Virginian SOL ("Standards of Learning") History test
Released tests can be found here:
Major Regions of North America
BIG IDEAS
Native American tribes and language groups were divided into these basic geographic regions
File:NorthAmerica-sel-regions LCPS VA-Edu..jpg Major regions of North America from the Virginia Dept. of Education SOL framework document
BIG IDEAS
A) Coastal Plain
B) Appalachian Mountains
mountain range that extends along the Coastal Plain from Georgia to New England
includes sub-regions
the Piedmont, Low Plateaus and Mountains
the Appalachian Mountains served as a barrier between
early American colonies (to the east of the Appalachians along the Coastal Plain)
and French and Indian lands (to the west of the Appalachians)
C) Canadian Shield
D) Interior Lowlands
E) Great Plains
F) Rocky Mountains
high mountain range above and to the east of the Great Basin
the "Continental Divide " is in the Rocky Mountains, marking the point at which the land descends to the east or the west
important rivers flow from origins in the Rocky Mountains
G) Basin and Range
the "Great Basin" = a geographic depression (low area) that was once under the sea
no rivers flow out of the Great Basin
the Range
H) Coastal Ranges
western slope of mountains that border the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains
and that produce important rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean
and the coastal lowlands of modern California, Oregon and Washington
Cultural areas of North America at time of European contact
The Atlantic coastal plain
ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN
lowland coast region along Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico
the 13 American colonies were settled in the Coastal Plain from modern Georgia to Massachusetts
note that Massachusetts is part of the Appalachian region, but it was settled along with the Coastal Plain
the western barrier to the Coastal Plain is the eastern slope of the Appalachian Mountains
AppalachianLocatorMap2 Appalachian region of United States
APPALACHIAN REGION
the eastern slope of the Appalachian mountains marked the border between British American colonies (the 13 colonies) and French and Indian territories
all rivers from the eastern slope flow towards the Atlantic Ocean
all rivers from the western slope flow towards the Mississippi River
after Britain defeated France in the 1854-63 French-Indian War, the entire Appalachian
INTERIOR LOWLANDS
Satellite image illustrating the Great Plains Great Plains region
GREAT PLAINS REGION
RockyMountains-Range
ROCKY MOUNTAINS REGION
One of various geographical definitions of the Province The hydrographic Great Basin (magenta outline), distinguished from the Great Basin Desert (black), and the Basin and Range Geological Province (teal).[3] Great Basin map
BASIN AND RANGE
the Great Basin
the VA & US SOL refers to the "Great Basin" as "t
the Range includes mountains from which water flows into the Great Basin or beyond it, such as the Colorado River
Northern and Southern Coast Ranges and other major mountain ranges of California
Map of Major Rivers in US
BIG IDEAS
rivers start in mountains and flow downhill
thus they mark the major regions
US map - rivers and lakes3
Mississippi River Watershed Map Mississippi river map
Indigenous peoples/ Native Americans [ edit | edit source ]
pre-1492 (pre-Columbian)
1748
Map showing French possessions in North America just before the French-Indian War (1754)
BIG IDEAS
red = British colonies in red, including 13 American
striped red = British territory in Canada ceded (surrendered) by France to Britain in 1713
blue = French territory, called "New France"
orange = Spanish territory, which includes Florida and parts of modern Southwest US (an area that belonged to Mexico after Mexican independence from Spain)
the red (British) and blue (French) territories are separated by the Appalachian Mountains
1775
Map Thirteen Colonies 1775
BIG IDEAS
after the French-Indian War (1754-1763), the lands that had belonged to Franch became British
Canada
all lands east of the Mississippi River
France gave control of Louisiana to Spain
= lands west of the Mississippi River
English King George prohibited colonies from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains
he reserved that land for Native Americans ("Indian Territories")