Geography The USA Pupil Workbook Year 4, Unit 5 Name: Formative Assessment Scores Knowledge Quiz 5.1 Knowledge Quiz 5.4 Knowledge Quiz 5.2 Knowledge Quiz 5.5 Knowledge Quiz 5.3 Notes: Geography The USA Pupil Workbook Year 4, Unit 5 Geography: The USA Knowledge Organiser Glossary What are the 50 states of the USA? 1 North America A continent in the northern hemisphere 2 USA A country in North America — The United States of America 3 Climate The typical weather patterns in a place over time 4 State An area in a country with its own government 5 State Capital The capital city of a state in the USA 6 State Governor The individual in charge of a state in the USA The USA is separated into fifty 7 President The individual in charge of all states in the USA different states – forty-eight of the states are part of the mainland and 8 Mainland The main body of land of a country e.g. not including islands the other two (Alaska and Hawaii) are not. Alaska is separated from 9 Population The number of people living in a place the mainland USA by Canada and Hawaii is an island. The stars on the USA flag represent each of the 10 Land Mass The amount (area) of land in a place 50 states. 11 Landmark An important or significant feature Each state has its own state capital and state government. They are all 12 Human Feature A feature created by or the result of human activity part of the USA but have different rules and laws as well as their own 13 Natural Feature A feature created or occurring naturally individual flags and nicknames. The culture in each state can also be very different. 14 National Park Land that is protected 15 Land Use How land is used 16 Skyline An outline of land and buildings defined against the sky 17 Skyscraper A very tall building with many different storeys 18 Tourist Someone who visits a place but does not live there 19 Border An invisible line separating two countries or areas 20 Coastline Where the land meets the sea Significant Places North America Austin, Texas Juneau, Alaska Sacramento, California and the USA North America is one of seven Texas is one of the 5o states Alaska is one of the 50 states California is one of the 50 world continents. The USA of the USA. It is the second of the USA. It is the largest states of the USA. It is third (United States of America) largest state in terms of land state in terms of land mass largest in terms of land mass is a country within North mass and the second largest in and is actually separated from but the largest in terms of America. It is one of the terms of population. The state the mainland USA by Canada. population. The state capital largest countries in the world capital of Texas is a city called The state capital of Alaska is a of California is a city called and is separated into 50 Austin. city called Juneau. Sacramento. different states. Where in the world is the USA? The USA is a country located in the continent of North America. It is the third largest country in the world — after Russia and Canada. To the south of the USA you have the country of Mexico and the continent of South America. To the north of the USA you have Canada (which is also in North America). To the east of the USA you have the Atlantic Ocean and if you crossed that ocean you would reach parts of Europe and Africa. To the west you have the Pacific Ocean and if you crossed that ocean you would reach Russia and other parts of Asia. Can you see the USA on this map? Significant Places The Statue of Liberty Golden Gate Bridge Yosemite National Park Grand Canyon The Statue of Liberty is a The Golden Gate Bridge Yosemite National Park is an The Grand Canyon was carved statue located in New York is a bridge located in San area of protected land located out of rock by the Colorado City, New York. It was a gift Francisco, California. It is one in California. The park is River millions of years ago. to the American people from of the most famous landmarks classed as a world heritage site It is located in Arizona. The the French. She carries a torch in the USA. Despite being and has cliffs, streams, lakes, canyon is 277 miles long and above her head and wears a called the Golden Gate Bridge, mountains, meadows, glaciers in places is 18 miles wide. crown. She symbolises liberty the bridge is actually more of and beautiful waterfalls. At some points the canyon is and freedom. an orange/red colour. over a mile deep. Knowledge Record like there? like is the USA the and is what is the climate climate the what is Where the world in the USA? the the physical the physical characteristics of of characteristics What some are of of the USA? the What are the states and state capitals andstate USA? manmade What are the most significant landmarks in the the in landmarks is it like in California? Statestudy: What York? is it like in New Statestudy: What Existing Knowledge What do I know about the United States of America? Session 1: Where in the world is the USA and what is the climate like there? Key Knowledge Key Vocabulary • The USA stands for the United States of America • North America • The USA is the third largest country in the world • USA • The USA is located in the continent of North America • Climate Zone • It is in the northern hemisphere • Subpolar • Alaska is part of the USA but it is separated from the mainland • Temperate by Canada • Mediterranean • The USA has four main climate zones – it has so many climate zones because it is such a large country • Arid This is a map of the world. Can you label the 7 different continents? Do you know which continent the USA is located in? Where in the world is the USA? The USA (United States of America) is a very large country located within the continent of North America. In fact, there are only two countries that are larger than the USA and they are Russia and Canada. When you look at the map below you may also notice that Canada splits the USA into two parts. North America is found in the northern hemisphere of planet Earth. To the south there is Central America, where we know the Ancient Maya lived and further south again is the continent of South America where we know the Amazon is. If we travel east, we reach parts of the continents of Europe and Africa and if we travel west (remembering the earth is round), we reach the continent of Asia. Answer the following questions: Which continent is the USA located in? _______________________________________ Which hemisphere is the USA located in? _____________________________________ Which continent is to the south of the USA? ____________________________________ Which continents are to the east of the USA? ___________________________________ Which continents are to the west of the USA? ___________________________________ Use the map of the world to investigate some of the countries located in each direction from the location of the USA. Use the compass to help you decide which countries are north, south, east, west, north-west, north-east, south-west and south-east. Canada North South East West North-East North-West South-East South-West Describe the location of the USA in relation to other continents and countries: __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ What is the climate like in the USA? Climate is the typical pattern of weather over a period of 30 years. When we talk about the climate of a place we are talking about the patterns of temperature (how hot or cold) and the rainfall (how much rain falls) across the year and in the different seasons. There are seven different climate zones across the world and four of those seven are found in the USA: subpolar, temperate, Mediterranean and arid. One of the climate zones not found in the USA is polar and this is because the USA is too far south from the Arctic Circle. The other climate and zones not found in the USA are the tropical and equatorial zones. One of the main reasons for this is because the USA is too north of the equator. The subpolar climate zones have long and very cold winters. They then have short cold to mild summers. There is very little rainfall all year and when it does rain, it is usually in the summer. The temperate zones rarely get too hot or too cold. Winters are cold and summers are warm and there are four clear seasons. The rain is unpredictable which means it can rain at any time. The Mediterranean zones have dry, very warm summers and cool to mild, wet winters. They only really have two seasons – a longer summer and a shorter winter. The arid zones have a hot desert climate. They are hot during the day all year around but at night the temperatures do drop drastically and it can be very cold. There is rarely any rain at all – ever. Complete the table to show the different climate zones found in the USA and what the climate is like in each of them: Climate Zone Temperatures Rainfall Subpolar Describe the climate in the USA.