The Geography of Michigan

Michigan Studies

Chapter 1

Read pages 10-35 in your Michigan textbook.

Name______

As you complete this unit, draw symbols on this map of Michigan to represent the things that you learn about its geography, regions, and climate.

Read pages G2-13. Then look at the maps on pages A2-13.

FOCUS LESSON 1: Read pages 12-17. Answer the questions that follow. (CS) means that you have to answer in a complete sentence with a capital letter and a period.

1. What were formed as melted rock when volcanic eruptions cooled?

______

2. List three Michigan landforms that were made by glaciers.

______

3. What are the names of three of the longest rivers in Michigan?

______

4. Unscramble the words below, which tell the many ways that people use Michigan’s lakes and rivers. taceeronir______imwignsm______anogbit______hignifs______aedrt______naporstanttrio______pignipsh______srurocee______nikrndgi______eoprw______mirganf______

5. Fill in the blanks.

Michigan’s geography is defined by the ______that surround it. It is divided into two ______separated by the

______of ______.

6. Match each word with its definition. Write the letter of each definition on the line beside the vocabulary word.

_____boundary b) a line that shows where one place ends and another begins _____ecosystem c) land that has water on three sides _____glacier d) a narrow channel of water that connects two larger _____peninsula bodies of water

_____strait e) a huge sheet of slowly-moving ice

_____drumlin f) a small egg-shape hill that was left by a melting glacier

g) a community of the living and non-living things that make up an area a)

7. Why do you think so many of Michigan’s cities developed on rivers? (CS)

______

8. Why do you think it is important to remember that people are part of ecosystems? (CS) ______

______

1. Michigan is divided into two regions. Name them.

______

2. Name four minerals that are mined in the Upper Peninsula.

______

3. Besides mining, what are the two other major industries in the Upper Peninsula today?

______

4. Name five fruits that are grown today in the Lower Peninsula.

______

5. Which peninsula has a larger population? Why? (CS)

______

6. Why is Detroit known as “Motown?” (CS)

______

7. Complete the chart below. Write at least five items on each side of the chart. Circle products that are natural resources.

Michigan’s Agricultural Products Michigan’s Industrial Products

8. When were the Soo Locks built? ______

9. What two bodies of water did the Soo Locks connect for travel by ship?

______

10. In what year was the Mackinac Bridge finished? ______

11. What two bodies of land does the Mackinac Bridge connect?

______

Did you know?

The Mackinac Bridge is over 5 miles long! The bridge’s nickname is the

Mighty Mac or the Big Mac. It is one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. It takes 7 years to repaint the bridge, and when the crew has finally finished, it goes back to the other side and starts painting all over again!

The ______Peninsula is a mountainous, mostly rural region with rich forests. The ______Peninsula is flat and has many farms. The

______part of the Lower Peninsula has large cities and many industries.

_____industry b) an area with common features that sets it apart from other areas _____population c) things found in nature that people can use _____region d) all of the businesses that make one kind of _____tourism product or provide one kind of service

_____natural resources e) the business of providing services to people on vacation

f) the number of people who live in a place a)

14. The ______Peninsula is rich in minerals.

15. How do people in each region use Michigan’s natural resources? (CS)

______

1. Usually the temperature in the Upper Peninsula is ____˚F ______than in the Lower Peninsula.

2. “Lake Effect” describes Lake ______’s impact on Michigan’s weather. The lake effect makes Michigan’s climate cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter but also causes lots of snow. The news channels talk about “lake effect snow” in the winter a lot! Lake Effect snow is snow that falls after warm lake air blows over the ______land. The western part of the Lower Peninsula and the whole Upper Peninsula get a lot more snow that we do in the Metro Detroit area.

3. How does water form clouds? (CS)

______

4. In the summer, are the temperatures of the lake water warmer or cooler than the land? ______

5. Look at the bar graph on page 33. Detroit gets about _____ inches of snow in an average year. Hougton (a city in the northwestern part of the Upper Peninsula) gets about _____ inches of snow in an average year.

6. **Fourth graders: About how many times greater is the annual snowfall in Houghton than in Detroit? about ____ or ____ times greater

8. Michigan’s climate affects the ______that can be grown as well as the patterns of farm work. People adjust to cold, ______winters. The climate also contributes to the ______industry, affecting the kinds of recreation that are available in Michigan.

_____adapt a) how Lake Michigan is important to the climate in Michigan _____climate b) the pattern of weather an area has over time _____precipitation c) when people change to fit the environment _____lake effect d) water that falls as rain, snow, sleet, or hail

10. Name a Michigan industry that is affected by the climate.

______

GEOGRAPHY UNIT REVIEW

Fill in each blank with a word from the word box. climate drumlin peninsula population strait tourism

1. Michigan’s two regions are separated by a ______.

2. A ______is a body of land that is surrounded by water on three sides.

3. The ______of Detroit is about 900,000.

4. The average weather conditions of a region make up its ______.

5. ______is the business of providing services to people on vacation.

6. A ______is a small egg shaped hill.

7. How were the Great Lakes formed? (CS)

______

8. Name three products grown in Michigan.

______

9. What are some natural resources found in the Upper Peninsula?

______

10. Name one kind of Michigan ecosystem and list three members of that ecosystem.

______

11. Name the five states other than Michigan that make up the Great Lakes states.

O______I______

W______M______

I______

12. What other country shares the Great Lakes with the United States?

______

13. Name the five Great Lakes.

Lake H______

Lake O______

Lake M______

Lake E______

Lake S______

14. Why does most of Michigan’s population live in the Lower Peninsula? (CS)

______

15. Look at the elevation map on page 21. Which part of the Upper Peninsula has a higher elevation, the western part or the eastern part?

______

OPTIONAL Extension/Enrichment/Challenge Activity Choices

Choose one or more of these activities that interest you! On this page, please circle the activities that you have done. Staple all of your work to the end of this packet. If you do a project using technology, please print your final product. This is due to your teacher by: ______

**Many of these activities include research. You MUST include the source of your information; that is, you must write where you found your information. It is as simple as writing “Bibliography” and then writing the website address, book (title and author) or encyclopedia (name of encyclopedia, name of article, and author of article if listed). You will be learning more about listing your research sources throughout the year.**

1. Think of a Michigan plant or animal. Do research to find out how it plays a part in an ecosystem. What does it feed on? For what animal does it provide food?

2. Write a letter to a friend or relative describing the beauty and importance of lakes, rivers, and other water features in Michigan.

3. Write an advertisement convincing people to move to Michigan to enjoy its wide variety of glacier and volcano-carved landforms and soil types.

4. Make a list of minerals mined in the Upper Peninsula. Then do research to find at least two things each is used for.

5. Do some research and tell the story of how the automobile business came to dominate Detroit.

6. Design a series of four postal stamps showing Michigan’s varied climate. You may draw people doing certain activities or you may show landscapes. You might show all four seasons. You may draw your illustrations by hand or you may use the computer to design them digitally.

7. Choose one city in the Lower Peninsula and one city in the Upper Peninsula. Prepare a weather report for one week for both cities, including the amount of precipitation, measured in inches. You can present your data using words, pictures, and charts. www.weather.com is a great resource for this activity. Make sure to tell the source of your data.

8. Choose a place in Michigan (maybe the Upper Peninsula) and write a persuasive letter to your parents asking them to take you there for a vacation. Include details about the geography and climate of the place.

MAKE AN ELEVATION MAP OF MICHIGAN!

Make an elevation map of Michigan using your salt dough. Your goal is to make a three dimensional (3D) map that is ACCURATE. Your teacher will provide maps for you to use as a resource. Your goal is to “copy” or reproduce the real map in salt dough.

1. Cover the areas of both peninsulas in a thin layer of the dough. (About half of an inch thick—you may check yours by measure it using a ruler.)

2. Use more dough to build Michigan’s mountains, hills, and plains. Try to be proportional—that is, building your map to scale.

3. Use a toothpick to carve out grooves to show Michigan’s rivers.

4. Your teacher will give you each your own set of sticky labels that have cities, rivers, and natural resources printed on them. Use toothpicks and your labels to show where the cities, rivers, and natural resources are located in Michigan. (attach each sticky label around a toothpick like a flag)

5. Write on the paper to label each of the Great Lakes. Spell them correctly and capitalize them!  Lake Huron  Lake Michigan  Lake Erie  Lake Superior

Dear 3/4 Families,

As an essential part of our current Michigan unit, which focuses on the geography of Michigan, each child will be building a three-dimensional elevation map of Michigan in class. Your child will make a map that shows our state’s elevation, cities, lakes, rivers, and natural resources. When completed, the map will be coming home as a keepsake for your family.

In order to make these maps, we need a bit of help from you! Each child will need to make homemade play-dough at home and bring it to school on ______.

This is NOT a homework assignment for parents. This is an assignment for students, but they will need an adult’s help to make the dough. This assignment is worth 10 points toward this map-making assignment. The remainder of the points for this assignment will be earned in class.

The recipe is printed on the back of this letter. Please follow THIS recipe exactly!!

If you would like to make a double-batch of play-dough, you may do so for extra credit on this assignment.

Thank you for your help!

The 3/4 Team

HOMEMADE PLAY-DOUGH RECIPE

Please follow THIS recipe exactly. Do NOT add food coloring. We will need to work with uncolored dough.

(Recipe from: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/ It has great, detailed photos showing the heating process!)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour 2 cups warm water 1 cup salt 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (found in the spice isle)

PROCEDURE:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a saucepan. Stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your dough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer! Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like play- dough.

When cool, store the dough in a Ziplock bag. This dough will stay workable for a long while if it is left in the air-tight bag, so it can be made ahead of time.

OPTIONAL Extension/Enrichment/Challenge Activity Choices

Choose one or more of these activities that interest you! On this page, please circle the activities that you have done. Staple all of your work to the end of this packet. If you do a project using technology, please print your final product. This is due to your teacher by: ______

**Many of these activities include research. You MUST include the source of your information; that is, you must write where you found your information. It is as simple as writing “Bibliography” and then writing the website address, book (title and author) or encyclopedia (name of encyclopedia, name of article, and author of article if listed). You will be learning more about listing your research sources throughout the year.**

9. Think of a Michigan plant or animal. Do research to find out how it plays a part in an ecosystem. What does it feed on? For what animal does it provide food?

10. Write a letter to a friend or relative describing the beauty and importance of lakes, rivers, and other water features in Michigan.

11. Write an advertisement convincing people to move to Michigan to enjoy its wide variety of glacier and volcano-carved landforms and soil types.

12. Make a list of minerals mined in the Upper Peninsula. Then do research to find at least two things each is used for.

13. Do some research and tell the story of how the automobile business came to dominate Detroit.

14. Design a series of four postal stamps showing Michigan’s varied climate. You may draw people doing certain activities or you may show landscapes. You might show all four seasons. You may draw your illustrations by hand or you may use the computer to design them digitally.

15. Choose one city in the Lower Peninsula and one city in the Upper Peninsula. Prepare a weather report for one week for both cities, including the amount of precipitation, measured in inches. You can present your data using words, pictures, and charts. www.weather.com is a great resource for this activity. Make sure to tell the source of your data.

16. Choose a place in Michigan (maybe the Upper Peninsula) and write a persuasive letter to your parents asking them to take you there for a vacation. Include details about the geography and climate of the place.