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NorthREGIONS OF America Home Sweet Tundra

A DIVIDED WHERE LANDFORMS FORM

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Regions_of_NA_FC.indd 1 1/30/17 12:48 PM 2 include two (North and ) and 35 countries? The Big Picture People from , Mexico, and even as When someone says “America,” what do far away as Chile and Argentina also live you think of? Probably the in the Americas. The United States shares of America. But did you know that the the continent of with

Geography is the study of Earth’s landscapes, peo- ple, places, and environments. An environment is the surround- ings in which people, plants, and animals live. u IF YOU’RE THINK- Geographers think ing about where about how people things are in and things relate the world, that’s to where they are geography. located on Earth.

r CANADA, OUR neighbor to the north (or east, if you’re in ) is the second- largest country in the world! It’s a little bigger than the United States but has fewer people than the than any other because Canada state of . country. Canada was a French Bordering three has two official colony before it oceans, Canada languages, English became a has more coastline and French. This is British colony.

r MEXICO, OUR neighbor to the south, is about three times the size of . It has just over one-third as many people My Corner as the U.S. Most of the World Mexicans speak Spanish today Can you find the United because Mexico States on this satellite image was once a colony of the Americas? of Spain. Mexico it is today. It spread won its indepen- from what is now dence from Spain California to Texas in 1821. At that and stretched time, Mexico was south through most much bigger than of .

regions_n_america_sp1.indd 16 1/30/17 12:51 PM 3 Canada, Mexico, and the seven smaller countries that make up Central America. Some people also consider the 13 island

nations in the Sea to be a part Alaska of North America. South America contains another 12 countries.

Hawaii

u THE 48 STATES r YOUCAN that touch each describe where a other are called the place is by giving contiguous United its relative location States. Contiguous (its location in rela- means sharing a tion to someplace common border. else). For example, Alaska and Alaska is about are the only states 1,000 miles north- that don’t touch west of the nearest another state state, . of the U.S. This is its relative about 2,400 miles location compared southwest of the to the contiguous nearest point in U.S. Hawaii is California.

d THEREARE continent where seven continents, nobody lives, or large land- except for up masses, on Earth: to 4,500 people North America, working at sci- South America, entific research , , stations there. , , And don’t forget and Antarctica. the penguins! Antarctica is the only

u SCIENTISTSTHINK between 25,000 that the earliest and 13,000 years arrived ago. After the Ice from Asia by Age, the sea level walking across a rose and North land bridge during America was cut the last Ice Age, off from Asia.

regions_n_america_sp1.indd 17 1/30/17 12:51 PM 4 The United States is a big country with many diverse . Landforms such as Landform Regions mountains, valleys, and (flat lands) Picture the landscape where you live. Are are part of what makes each distinct there mountains? Hills and valleys? Maybe from other places. you see flat farmland or rocky shorelines. Landforms also help to explain where

Mountains

u THE ROCKY r THE SIERRA Mountains rise up is a moun- steeply from the tain range east of to the the Central Valley east. The Rockies of California. Its are North America’s name means biggest and “snowy range” in youngest mountain Spanish. More than range, or group of half of California’s mountains. They water supply extend more than u THE APPALACHIANS and wind, in a pro- comes from rivers 3,000 miles from are an old mountain cess called erosion. and streams that all range, about four Just to the east of start in the Sierras. the way to Alaska. times older than the the Appalachians is Many peaks reach Rockies. They were a band of foothills over 13,000 feet in once tall, jagged and valleys called elevation. Elevation mountains. Over the . The is the height of a time they were Piedmont region place measured worn down and stretches from New from sea level. smoothed by rain Jersey to .

Plateaus

l THE the Great Basin is is a plateau (area of surrounded on all high plains). It lies sides by mountains between the Rocky and plateaus. There Mountains and the is nowhere for . In water to flow out most places, rain of it. Rain that falls that falls on the on the Great Basin land drains into either evaporates or streams, lakes, and flows into lakes in rivers. These rivers the basin, such as eventually flow out the Great Salt Lake. to the ocean. But

regions_n_america_sp2.indd 16 1/30/17 12:55 PM 5 people live and how they use the land. Most farmers want to live in the fertile My Corner plains and valleys where crops grow well. of the World What is the most common Mountainous areas are often the last landform where you live? regions to be settled because they are hard to reach and can have harsh climates.

Plains and Valleys

r THE INTERIOR Plains take up a large area of North America between the Appalachians and the Rockies. The eastern part of the Interior Plains includes flat areas and rolling hills. It once supported lush tallgrass prai- rie, or . u CALIFORNIA’S Now it is mostly Central Valley is farmland where one of the most many staple foods, l THE WESTERN PART important farming like corn and soy- of the Interior Plains regions in the beans, are grown. is called the Great country. Farmers Plains. This area there grow a variety once supported of crops like toma- vast herds of graz- toes, almonds, and ing animals. The grapes. The valley also lies between the lived there. Some Sierra Nevada and scientists believe lower mountains that there used to along the Pacific be between 30 and called the Coastal 60 million American Range. bison, or buffalo, on the North American prairies.

r THE COASTAL is a flat area that stretches along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the . The Coastal Plain supports farms, forests, and cities such as Washington, D.C.

regions_n_america_sp2.indd 17 1/30/17 12:55 PM 6 Puget Sound

AN INLET IS A SMALL part of a body of water that extends into the shore- line. A sound is a u large, deep ocean EVEN TODAY THERE the river by boat in inlet. Puget Sound are places in the summer and with in the state of U.S. without many snowmobiles over Washington is roads. In remote the ice in winter. one of the best- Alaskan villages, a Houses often face known sounds river can take the the water instead in the U.S. place of a highway. of a street. Washington People travel on State’s capital city, Olympia, Great and its largest Salt Lake city, Seattle, both lie on Puget Sound. THE GREAT SALT the dry air, Lake is the largest but the salt stays lake west of the behind. The lake Continental River. is four to five The lake is salty times saltier than Divide because rain the ocean. It’s washes salt from very easy to float RAIN THAT FALLS the soil into the in, but don’t get east of this line lake. The water that salty water flows into rivers evaporates into in your eyes! that empty into the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, or Ocean. Rain that falls west of this line flows into other rivers. They drain to the Great Basin or the . Bodies of Water Imagine a time before airplanes, cars, trains, and even paved roads. How would you get around? Travel overland on dirt roads by foot or horse-drawn wagon would be slow and difficult. What if the roads often grew up along major water bodies. were muddy or covered in snow? In bad Nearly four out of every ten people in the weather, travel could be nearly impossible. U.S. live in a that touches the coast. Before paved roads, the easiest and often Many more live along rivers and lakes. Can quickest way to move people and goods was you think of other reasons why people usually by boat. As a result, cities and towns might want to live near a body of water?

regions_n_america_sp3.indd 16 1/30/17 12:58 PM 7

THEFIVE GREAT to each other and Lakes – Superior, then to the St. , Huron, Lawrence River. Erie, and Ontario This forms an – are among the important inland world’s largest waterway linking freshwater lakes. the Midwest to the The lakes connect Atlantic Ocean.

d RAIN THAT FALLS that flow into a on a watershed larger river are flows into small called tributaries. streams, then big- A large river and ger streams, then its tributaries are into a river. Rivers called a river sys- flow into bigger tem. The area of THE MISSISSIPPI early 1800s, the rivers. Eventually, land that drains to is one of the Mississippi River they flow to the a specific river is longest rivers in has been a key ocean. The smaller called a watershed the world. The transportation rivers or streams or drainage basin. watershed of the route for people Mississippi River and goods. system drains 40 percent of the . Since the

Gulf of Mexico

A GULFISALARGE for the United area of ocean or States. Its benefits sea that extends to people include: into the land. The beaches, shipping Gulf of Mexico ports, fish and is an important seafood, and oil ecological and pumped from economic resource underwater wells.

regions_n_america_sp3.indd 17 1/30/17 12:58 PM 8 Climate Regions Is it raining out today where you equator it is. Places near the live? If so, that’s weather. How equator tend to be warmer POLAR Very cold winters; much does it rain in an average because they get more direct lots of snow but summer? That’s climate. The sunlight during the year. Places little rain; summers climate of a place is how the near the poles tend to be cold- are slightly warm- er, but short weather behaves over a long er and to have big differences time. Climate is affected by the between the typical weather in location of a place on Earth, summer and winter. especially by how far from the

NORTHERN TEMPERATE Long, cold winters with lots of snow; moderate rainfall

Olympia

WASHINGTON

MAINE

Salem Helena Bismarck Augusta Montpelier TEMPERATE Boise Concord Warm summers St. Paul Albany and cold winters; Pierre SOUTH Hartford Providence DAKOTA MICHIGAN moderate rain- Lansing fall, with snow in Madison winter Carson City Trenton Cheyenne Des Moines Harrisburg Sacramento Salt Lake City Dover Columbus Annapolis CLIMATE Lincoln NEVADA Indianapolis UTAH Washington D.C. Polar Springfield Topeka Charleston Northern Temperate Frankfort WEST Richmond Jefferson City VIRGINIA Temperate Mountain CALIFORNIA Raleigh Coastal MOUNTAIN Colder than nearby Santa Fe Nashville Tropical areas; snow is Subtropical NEW MEXICO City common; rainy or Phoenix Arid OKLAHOMA Little Rock Atlanta Columbia dry depending on Semiarid Mediterranean local conditions MISSISSIPPI Montgomery Jackson ALABAMA

TEXAS Baton Rouge Tallahassee Austin

ALASKA HAWAII

COASTAL Honolulu Smaller seasonal and day-to-night Juneau temperature changes than in inland areas

regions_n_america_sp4.indd 16 1/30/17 1:00 PM 9 d CLIMATE AFFECTS arid (dry) climates the types of plants are. Climate even and animals that affects transpor- can live in an area. tation. In cold It also helps shape climates, rivers can the way people become highways use the land. Areas when they freeze with mild tempera- in the winter. In TROPICAL tures and plenty dry climates, river Very hot and humid of rain are much travel might be most of the year; u LANDSCAPE nearby valleys. better for farming limited to the very high rainfall features can affect Mountains can than very cold or wettest season. climate. Places also affect rainfall near oceans or patterns. In the large lakes tend western U.S., the to be cooler in western sides of summer and most mountain warmer in winter. ranges are much High plateaus and wetter than the SUBTROPICAL mountains are eastern sides. Hot and humid usually cooler than summers; high rainfall; drier, cooler winters

Olympia

WASHINGTON

MAINE

Salem Helena NORTH DAKOTA MONTANA OREGON Bismarck Augusta IDAHO VERMONT Montpelier NEW HAMPSHIRE ARID Boise Concord St. Paul NEW YORK Boston Very low rainfall; Albany Pierre MINNESOTA MASSACHUSETTS big day-to-night SOUTH Hartford Providence DAKOTA WISCONSIN MICHIGAN WYOMING RHODE ISLAND and summer-to- Lansing CONNECTICUT Madison winter temperature IOWA PENNSYLVANIA changes Carson City Trenton Cheyenne NEW JERSEY NEBRASKA Des Moines Harrisburg Sacramento Salt Lake City OHIO ILLINOIS Dover INDIANA Columbus Annapolis CLIMATE Lincoln DELAWARE NEVADA Denver Indianapolis UTAH Washington D.C. MARYLAND Polar Springfield Topeka Charleston Northern Temperate COLORADO Frankfort WEST Richmond KANSAS VIRGINIA Jefferson City VIRGINIA Temperate KENTUCKY Mountain MISSOURI CALIFORNIA Raleigh Coastal NORTH CAROLINA Santa Fe Nashville Tropical SEMIARID ARIZONA ARKANSAS TENNESSEE Subtropical Low rainfall; NEW MEXICO Oklahoma City SOUTH CAROLINA Phoenix Arid moderate day- OKLAHOMA Little Rock Atlanta Columbia Semiarid to-night and Mediterranean MISSISSIPPI GEORGIA summer-to- Montgomery Jackson winter temperature ALABAMA LOUISIANA changes

TEXAS Baton Rouge Tallahassee Read the map! Austin Are there any U.S. Imagine you’re ALASKA HAWAII FLORIDA state capitals in planning a visit tropical climate to the capital of Honolulu zones? What Indiana in January. about the north- What climate zone Juneau ern temperate is it in? What does zone? that tell you about MEDITERRANEAN the type of clothes Hot, dry summers; you should pack? cool, wet winters

regions_n_america_sp4.indd 17 1/30/17 1:00 PM Katharine Lee Bates wrote the words to “America the Beautiful” after traveling from Massachusetts to Colorado in 1893. Her trip across the country took her through the , the Great Plains, and the . Do you think her trip inspired the words to the song?

regions_n_america_sp5.indd 16 1/30/17 1:02 PM O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!* *Katharine Lee Bates. America the Beautiful and Other Poems. Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1911.

regions_n_america_sp5.indd 17 1/30/17 1:02 PM 12 When European settlers first arrived in North America, one Vegetation of the first things they noticed was the vegetation. In the East, forests were everywhere. The trees provided wood that settlers used to build houses, to cook, and to keep warm. Regions The American Indians who lived in the forests of the East

l A FORESTISA Forest large area full of trees and under- brush. Forest is the natural vegetation in areas with plen- ty of rain. This includes most of the eastern U.S. and large areas of the West, especially r THE TALLEST dles, like pines. in the mountains plants in forests Other forests are and the Pacific are the trees. mostly broad- Northwest. But many other leaved trees, like Hawaii and the CANADA plants, such as oaks. The forests southern part grasses, shrubs, of North America of Alaska also Pacific and moss, also support a rich support forest Ocean grow in forests. variety of wildlife, vegetation. Some forests including bears, include evergreen , and many trees with nee- other species.

d THEGRASSLANDS Grassland of North America support herds of UNITED Atlantic grazing animals, Ocean like bison, elk, STATES and antelope. Other animals that depend on include prairie dogs and many grassland birds.

0 500 km. u GRASSLAND Plains. The Eastern occurs where Plains support MEXICO 0 500 mi. there is not taller grasses Desert enough mois- because they get ture to support more rain. The Grasslands trees. In the U.S., drier Great Plains Forests grasslands are are dominated by found on the shorter grasses. Tundra Great Plains and Some grasslands Polar desert and ice the western part include shrubs and of the Eastern even a few trees.

regions_n_america_sp6_v3.indd 16 1/30/17 1:03 PM 13 farmed in small clearings. But early settlers cut down whole forests so they could grow crops in the European way. An area’s natural vegetation is the plants that grow naturally there. Those plants reflect the landscape, soils, and climate of that area.

Desert

r DESERT IS FOUND inches of rain in the driest parts per year. Desert of the world, gen- plants include erally in the arid cactuses, shrubs, climate zone. In and grasses. They the United States, can survive very this includes parts hot and very cold of the Southwest. temperatures, as Most deserts get well as extreme less than four drought.

l LIKE DESERT plants it eats. plants, desert Other animals, animals are like the desert CANADA adapted to living tortoise, can store in dry, harsh water inside their Pacific conditions. The bodies to use Ocean kangaroo rat later. Many des- never needs to ert animals are drink water. It active at night to gets all the water avoid the extreme it needs from the daytime heat.

l TUNDRAIS Tundra found in cold, UNITED Atlantic dry areas where Ocean the ground is STATES always frozen. The landscape is usually flat, and the plants are mostly short, hardy shrubs. These plants can survive extreme cold and drought. 0 500 km. r DESPITETHE winter conditions. They can even go MEXICO 0 500 mi. extreme con- The arctic fox is months without Desert ditions found a good example. sunlight. Although in the tundra Compared to the tundra zone Grasslands vegetation zone, other foxes, it can be snowy, Forests many wildlife has shorter ears, plants can’t use species live there. to reduce the the water in Tundra These animals amount of skin the snow and Polar desert and ice are adapted to exposed to the soil, because tundra’s cold, dry, cold air. It also it’s frozen most and often dark has very thick fur. of the year.

regions_n_america_sp6_v3.indd 17 1/30/17 1:04 PM 14 People and the Land Imagine you’re an immigrant to the U.S. in the 1800s. You left a poor village or crowded city in Europe in search of a better life in America. Where would you want to go? Would you choose a brand-new kind of place, or would you look for somewhere that reminded you of home? Most likely, you’d look for a place where you could make a living using skills you brought from home. If you were a farmer, you’d look for a place with good soils and plenty of water. If you wanted to build a sawmill and make boards, you might look for a place where you could use waterpower from a river.

r PEOPLECHANGE the environment through their activities. When the British colo- nists arrived in Massachusetts and Virginia, the landscape was covered in for- est. The settlers cleared the trees to grow crops. That made the landscape look u MANYIMMIGRANTS skills in the new more like the open look for new homes places. For exam- countryside of in areas that are ple, many people Britain. These open like the places they from cold-weather fields and wood- came from. That countries like lots were home to way they don’t Norway and different types of need to change Sweden moved to wildlife than the their way of life cool northern states forests where the too much. They like Wisconsin and American Indians can use their old Minnesota. lived.

l NATURAL trees from a resources are forest, new trees anything we use may grow to from nature. replace them. Renewable But if we cut too resources, like many trees at water, wind, or once, there may a forest, can be not be a forest in used again and the future. Planting again, if they are new trees is one managed wisely. way to manage When people cut the forest wisely.

regions_n_america_sp7.indd 16 1/30/17 1:06 PM 15 l NONRENEWABLE resources, like , oil, and min- erals, are found in limited amounts on Earth. Once they are used up, there will not be any more of them. The natural resources found in an area can deter- mine how many people move there and also how they use the land. After gold was discovered in California in 1848, thousands of people moved to the area. San Francisco grew from a small town into a city.

r WATER IS AN important resource that affects land use, or the way people use and change the natural environment. Early European settlers in America had to live near water sources. In most places, farming was limit- My ed by the amount Corner of rainfall. Then engineers invented of the ways to store water World in large dams and to move it over What landscape long distances. features or natural This allowed people resources made to use land in new people want to set- ways. tle where you live?

l THE CENTRAL Valley of California HOOVER DAM has fertile soils, but it is very dry. In ers in the Central from far away. the 1930s, people Valley grow fruits Conflicts can arise found a way to and vegetables between farming bring water there that people eat all areas and cities. from northern over the U.S. When That’s even more California. They did cities develop in likely during dry that to irrigate, or dry areas like the periods when there water the crops. Southwest, they is not enough Nowadays, farm- also need water water for everyone.

regions_n_america_sp7.indd 17 1/30/17 1:06 PM 16 Maybe it’s your local sports team. Or maybe your state has a rich history full of interesting States and Capitals people and stories. Your state is one of 50, Think about the state you call home. What and each one has something that makes it makes it special to you? Maybe it’s a city that special. Every state has a capital, and each of you live in or visit. Maybe it’s a natural fea- those is unique, too. Have you visited your ture, like a lake, mountain, park, or beach. state’s capital? What do you know about it?

WASHINGTON Olympia

MONTANA Salem NORTH DAKOTA Helena

OREGON Boise IDAHO

WYOMING

u A CITY BUILT ON the hills nearby. Gold: Sacramento, California became Sacramento Cheyenne Carson City the capital of a state in 1850. Salt Lake City NEBRASKA California, grew Sacramento was NEVADA up during the adopted as its UTAH Denver California Gold capital in 1854, COLORADO Rush, which began when the city was CALIFORNIA in 1848 after gold only about five was discovered in years old.

Santa Fe ARIZONA

Phoenix NEW MEXICO

ALASKA

Honolulu

Juneau HAWAII

u Rhode Island could fit into the biggest state, ALASKA, about 430 times. JUNEAU is the only state capital not acces- sible by road. Alaskan lawmakers arrive by boat or plane when the state legislature meets.

regions_n_america_sp8.indd 16 1/30/17 1:07 PM 17

DENVER, r The wettest the capital of state is WISCONSIN: Colorado, is called 17 percent of its the Mile High City surface is covered because it is locat- by freshwater bod- WISCONSIN ed about one mile ies, such as lakes, (5,280 feet) above rivers, and streams. sea level. This includes Madison The smallest state, But Santa Fe is portions of two of RHODE ISLAND, has the highest state the Great Lakes: the longest official capital, at about Lake Superior and name of any of 7,000 feet. Lake Michigan. the states: “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAINE NORTH DAKOTA VERMONT Augusta Bismark MINNESOTA Montpelier

Concord St. Paul NEW YORK MASSACHUSETTS Pierre Albany Boston Providence SOUTH DAKOTA MICHIGAN

Lansing RHODE ISLAND Trenton IOWA PENNSYLVANIA NEBRASKA Harrisburg l Des Moines OHIO Dover During its first Lincoln ILLINOIS INDIANA Annapolis century as a state, Columbus WEST ONNECTICUT NEW JERSEY C had Indianapolis VIRGINIA MISSOURI Springfi eld two capitals. The Topeka Charleston DELAWARE Richmond state legislature VIRGINIA KANSAS Jefferson City Frankfort MARYLAND met twice a year, KENTUCKY once in New Nashville NORTH Haven and once in CAROLINA Raleigh Oklahoma City TENNESSEE Hartford. Hartford Little Rock OKLAHOMA Columbia became the sole capital in 1875. ARKANSAS SOUTH Atlanta CAROLINA ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI GEORGIA l Montgomery GEORGIA Jackson LOUISIANA has changed its TEXAS capital 12 times Tallahassee Austin Baton Rouge since becoming a state.

FLORIDA

r ALASKAISTHE biggest state by far, more than twice the size of the next big- gest state, Texas. The United States bought Alaska from in 1867 for less than two cents per acre.

regions_n_america_sp8.indd 17 1/30/17 1:07 PM 18 Activities

Learn to win! Work with a partner to make STATES AND 50 game cards using index cards or squares of construction paper. Write the name of a state CAPITALS GAME on one side of a card and the state’s capital on the other side. Study the states and capitals before playing the game. Place all the cards under a cloth. Take turns drawing a card. If your partner names a state, you name the capital, and vice versa. Each correct answer is worth one point.

WHERE THE RIVER RUNS What is the river nearest to where you live? Study a map to find out. Make a poster or a model that shows the river’s path and the surrounding landforms. Label the river, its tributaries, and nearby cities.

regions_na_18-19.indd 18 1/30/17 1:10 PM 19 MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH THESE RELATED TITLES

Exploring the Americas Early Settlements America 1492 The Age of Exploration – a fascinating America – a newly discovered land The place was America. The year was time when European powers such with robust resources and new 1492. A rugged, unspoiled land where as Spain and Portugal set out to dis- opportunities. European nations such native farmers and hunter-gatherers cover the . Meet as Spain and Britain were eager to killed only the animals they needed characters like Christopher Columbus settle this land and claim it as their to survive. Learn about the Native and Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, own. Discover the early settlements of American tribes and their way of life, and learn about technological devel- New Spain and , as well just before European nations began opments, such as the compass, that as colonies such as Jamestown. building settlements and claiming made their discoveries possible. this vast mass of land.

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS

HSS 5.7 Students describe the peo- ple and events associated with the development of the U.S. Constitution and analyze the Constitution’s sig- nificance as the foundation of the American republic. 5.7.6 Know the songs that express American ideals (e.g., “America the Beautiful,” “The Star Spangled Banner”). LEARN HSS 5.9 Students know the location MORE of the current 50 states and the ONLINE! names of their capitals.

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills: • At different Chronological and Spatial Thinking times, parts of grant named is the wettest • Patterns of 4. Students use map and globe skills North America John Muir vis- area of the U.S.? settlement in to determine the absolute locations of were colonies ited the Sierra the U.S. were places and interpret information avail- controlled by Nevada. Read • People build affected by cul- able through a map’s or globe’s legend, scale, and symbolic representations. Britain, France, an excerpt from dams for many ture and religion, and Spain. his book The reasons. Which as well as the Which two Yosemite, pub- dam was land. Which states in the U.S. lished in 1922. regarded as region in the were once sepa- an engineering U.S. was settled rate countries? • Precipitation marvel when by members of includes rain, it was the Mormon • In 1868, a snow, sleet, constructed in religion during Scottish immi- and hail. What the 1930s? the late 1800s?

regions_na_18-19.indd 19 1/30/17 1:10 PM hmhco.com

EDITOR: Jennifer Dixon FACT-CHECKER: David Stienecker ART DIRECTION: Brobel Design DESIGNERS: Ian Brown, Ed Gabel, AUTHOR: Colleen Ryan David Ricculli, Jeremy Rech AUTHOR TEAM LEAD: Barak Zimmerman PHOTO RESEARCH: Ted Levine, Elisabeth Morgan PRESIDENT AND CEO: Ted Levine ACTIVITIES WRITER: Marjorie Frank CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER: Mark Levine PROOFREADER: Margaret Mittelbach

GRADE 5 TITLES McHugh: p.13 center (kangaroo rat); Volkmar K. Wentzel: p.14 middle left (descendants of Scandinavian immigrants). iStock Images: Ken Babione: p.4 middle right (Sierra Nevada); mihailomilovanovic: p.8 middle left (person in snowsuit); Peter Burnett: p.8 Regions of North America George Washington middle left (hiker); XiXinXing: p.8 bottom left (coastal weather); p.9 middle right (boy in Eastern Woodland Indians Thomas Jefferson desert); HoogzPhoto: p.12 center middle (black bear); Dmitry Deshevykh: p.13 bottom Plains Indians Benjamin Franklin right (arctic fox); Carson Johnson Photography: p.15 bottom left (California irrigation). North Wind Pictures Archive: pp.14–15 (New England logging); p.14 bottom left Southwest Peoples The Constitution (lumberjacks), p.15 top right (coal train), p.16 top right (gold miner), p.19 top left Northwest Coast Peoples The New Nation (Columbus’s ships). Science Source: Gary Hincks: p.3 bottom right (Ice Age coastline). Shutterstock: Artgraphixel: p.2 middle left (Canadian flag), p.2 bottom left (Mexican America 1492 Lewis and Clark flag); Larry Lindell: p.5 top left (cornfield); robert cicchetti: p.5 middle left (prairie); Ken Exploring the Americas Westward Expansion Wolter: p.5 top right (California Central Valley); Zack Frank: p.4 bottom left (Sagebrush Plateau); Peter Bardocz: pp. 6–7 (map showing bodies of water); Joy Prescott: p.6 top Early Settlements Pioneers right (Alaskan homes on water); Eugene Sergeev: p.8 middle left (girl in sweater); jorome: 13 Colonies Immigration p.8 top left (polar weather); p.9 middle right (biking in desert); Claudio Del Luongo: p.9 bottom left (snowy mountain peaks); David Fossler: pp.10–11 (Great Plains sunrise); Declaration of Independence Industrial Revolution (in America) Marina Poushkina: p.13 center middle (tundra); Roger Siljander: p.12 middle left Civil Rights (grasslands); M. Niebuhr: p.12 top left (forest); Wolfkamp: p.12 bottom center (prairie dogs); Anton Foltin: p.13 top right (desert); Timothy OLeary: p.15 right (Hoover Dam); Revolutionary Women Tupungato: p.19 bottom (Hoover Dam); Backyard-Photography: p.18 bottom (Smith River).

ON THE COVER: Magnificent Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Canada. Shutterstock: kavram. ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS: Brobel Design: Map of Contiguous United States, p.3; Locator Maps, pp.4–5; PICTURE CREDITS: Alamy: NASA / Worldspec: pp.2–3 center (Americas from space); Watershed, p.6; Map of Climate Regions, pp.8–9; Map of Vegetation Regions, Richard Cummins: p.19 top center (Jamestown Settlement Museum); Peter J. Hatcher: pp.12–13; Rain Gauges, pp.12–13; States and Capitals, pp.16–17. p.19 top right (Potawatomi Indians). Getty Images: Patricia Toth McCormick: p.5 bottom right (Coastal Plains); Jon Mullen: p.4 top (plains of Colorado); Tony Barber: p.4 center Michael Kline Illustration: Home Sweet Tundra, A Continent Divided, cover; middle (Appalachian Mountains); Paul Nicklen: p.9 top right (Hawaii climate); Tom Geography Professor, p.2; Eskimo, p.3; Relative Location, p.3; Kayaker, p.9.

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