GULF OF MEXICO

FEATURES

• The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Body of water.

DESCRIPTION

• It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean (with which it forms the American Mediterranean Sea) via the Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba. With the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges.

INTERESTING FACTS

• It is the ninth largest body of water in the world, covering about 600,000 square miles, and is bordered by five US states in the north, five Mexican states in the west, and Cuba in the southeast.

STATES IT’S IN

• Florida. Alabama. Mississippi. Louisiana. Texas.

GREAT PLAINS

FEATURE

• The Great Plains region has generally level or rolling terrain; its subdivisions include Edwards Plateau, the Llano Estacado, the High Plains, the Sand Hills, the Badlands, and the Northern Plains. The Black Hills and several outliers of the Rocky Mts. interrupt the region's undulating profile.

DESCRIPTION

• The Great Plains (sometimes simply "the Plains") is the broad expanse of flat land (a plain), much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland, that lies west of the Mississippi River tallgrass prairie states and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada.

INTERESTING FACTS

• The Great Plains extend from the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, through w central USA to Texas. The plateau slopes down and e from the Rocky Mountains. It is a sparsely populated region with a semi-arid climate, prone to high winds. The chinook wind warms the bitter winter.

STATES IT’S IN

• Parts of 10 states of the United States (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico) and the three Prairie Provinces of Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) and portions of the Northwest Territories are within the Great Plains proper.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

FEATURES

• Body of water.
• second-largest drainage system on the North American continent.
• Very long path for it.

DESCRIPTION

• The Mississippi River is one of the world's major river systems in size, habitat diversity and biological productivity. It is the second longest river in North America, flowing 2,350 miles from its source at Lake Itasca through the center of the continental United States to the Gulf of Mexico.

INTERESTING FACTS

• Name: The name Mississippi comes from the Anishinaabe people who called the river 'Misi-ziibi' which means 'great river'. It is also known as the Mississippi-Missouri. Mouth: The river flows into the Gulf of Mexico via a delta shaped like a bird's foot!

STATES IT’S IN

• Minnesota to Louisiana, and was used to define portions of these states' borders, with Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi along the east side of the river, and Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas along its west side.

GREAT LAKES

FEATURES

• Mountains.
• Waterfalls.
• Rocks and body’s of water & land.

DESCRIPTION

• Minnesota to Louisiana, and was used to define portions of these states' borders, with Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi along the east side of the river, and Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas along its west side.

INTERESTING FACTS

• The 5 Great Lakes include Lake Erie, Michigan, Superior, Huron and Ontario.
• The Great Lakes are part of the St. Lawrence Seaway shipping route, allowing boats to travel from the Great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The Great Lakes border 7 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario

STATES IT’S IN

• Four of the top 10 states for new plant and equipment investment in 2014 are in the Great Lakes region, according to Site Selection Magazine: Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. For generations the Great Lakes has been hemorrhaging people to the rest of the country, mainly the South and West.

ROCKY MOUNTAINS

FEATURES

• The Rocky Mountains stretch some 3,000 miles from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and down to New Mexico in the U.S. The range offers dramatic wilderness, diverse wildlife and alpine lakes. Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park.

DESCRIPTION

• The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States.

INTERESTING FACTS

• Rocky Mountain National Park spans 265,769 acres of pristine wilderness (358 square miles), making it one of the largest national parks in the United States.
• Trail Ridge Road (which connects Grand Lake and Estes Park)
• Approximately 11 miles of the drive along Trail Ridge Road are above timberline.

STATES IT’S IN

• The word "Mountain" refers to the Rocky Mountains, which run north-south through portions of the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS

FEATURES

• The Appalachian Mountains, 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

DESCRIPTION

• The Appalachian Mountains are the oldest mountain chain in North America. They sweep from Newfoundland to Alabama. The Appalachian Mountains are made up of mountains, ridges, and valleys. The Great Smoky mountains are in this region.

INTERESTING FACTS

• The Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains in the North American continent. This mountain range derives its name from the Apalachees - an Indian tribe inhabiting this region. Mount Mitchell, with a height of 6,684 ft is the tallest mountain in the Appalachian range.

STATES IT’S IN

• The term is often used more restrictively to refer to regions in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, usually including areas in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and North Carolina, as well as sometimes extending as far south as northern Alabama, Georgia and western South.