Geographic regions of the United States. As we look at a physical map of the United States, you will notice various elevations and land features highlighted as we scan the map from east to west, from sea to shining sea. Notice that the lower land is in shades of green and the higher elevation is shown in shades of browns, tans, and yellow. In this video, we will explore the geography in the United States and break up the land features into distinct and distinguishable regions. As we move through the following slides and pictures, have your passport handy and add on to your notes, making sure that you wrote down the main ideas we will cover for each of the eight geographic regions. In this video, we will answer the following guiding questions. What are the geographic regions in the United States? What does the land look like in these regions? And why might travelers visit various locations within these regions? As you begin brainstorming for your plan and trip project, consider the different regions and what they have to offer visitors. Suggestions will be given for each of the regions that may spark an idea to inspire your trip planning for the upcoming project. So let's get started. The coastal plain stretches along the eastern seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean. These lowlands start in Massachusetts and make their way down the right side of many states that board of the ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. This region abounds with hundreds of bays and harbours with calmer water as you make your way inland, which make exceptional sheltered areas for ships to dock and anchor. Port cities like Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia's Hampton Roads with the large shipbuilding plants, the outer banks and the Carolinas, Savannah, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Sandy beaches with warmer temperatures along the ocean provide vacation getaways for many tourists in the summer months and half for hundreds of years. If you have not yet drawn a picture of people playing on a sandy beach, please add that to your passport page on the coastal plain region. Marshlands and swamps provide homelands to thousands of wetland animal species and the soil along the coastline is very fertile for farms. Formed over a billion years ago, these mountains are North America's oldest. Old and eroded, the Appalachian Mountains are located west of the coastal plain and often share the same states that form the coastal plain. They are rounded peaks covered with thick forests. The Appalachian Highlands run from Maine down through Georgia, depending on where you are in these states, the Appalachian Mountains, mountain ranges, share different sections and have various names. The Appalachian Mountains in Vermont are called the Green Mountains. In New York, the mountains are called the Adirondack Mountains and the Cat Skill Mountains. In Maryland and Virginia, they are referred to as the Blue Ridge Mountains. In North Carolina, in Tennessee, the mountains are called the Great Smokies. If you have not yet drawn rounded mountains on your passport for this section, now is the time. The Appalachian Highlands are the perfect spot to take a family vacation to enjoy the outdoors, sightseeing, hiking, canoeing, camping, fishing and other recreational activities. They would make a trip very memorable. Go in the winter months when there is snow on the ground and enjoy skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and snow tubing together. Created by giant glaciers, the rivers of ice and rock from the ice age left behind a rock shield known today as a Canadian shield, as most of it is located in Canada, wrapping around the Hudson Bay. But a small portion of it dips down into the United States at the tops of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. This large curved area of very old rocks has very little soil underneath the ground from these ancient rock forms. Lakes Superior is located in this region and the area experiences frigid winters that start early in the season and end late. The area has thousands of lakes that have been made by glaciers over time. In fact, Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes because of how many of them are located there. The only time of year to visit this geographic region and enjoy the outdoors would be in the summer months, enjoy rock climbing and canoeing in the summer months. In the south of the Canadian shield and west of the Appalachian Mountains, these rolling flatlands are home to many rivers, vast river valleys and grassy hills, known as the interior lowlands. Miles and miles of corn fields are evidence that the interior lowlands are great for farmland. Traveling right through this geographic region is the mighty Mississippi River and from it flow all of its many, many tributaries that water the crops that grow there. It is also the home to many cities like Chicago, Illinois. Many people like to visit these cities like Chicago to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city, including Willis Tower, one of the highest skyscrapers in the world. Cloud Gate, Adler Planetarium and Lake Michigan. And don't forget to enjoy a slice of Chicago deep dished pizza. It's time to draw some pizza folks. The interior lowlands is the neighbor to another Midwest geographic region, the Great Plains. Just a tad bit west, this region suffers from tornadoes, just like the interior lowlands, making these two regions known as tornado alley. This land is flat, flat, flat, so you can see for long distances. Grasses cover the plains also called the prairie. Very few trees grow in this region, but many farms use the flat lands to grow crops. And one of the major crops grown in the Great Plains is wheat. Wheat farmers have been growing wheat out here for hundreds of years. It's no wonder that this area is called America's Bread Basket. Have you drawn a wheat field in your passport yet? If so, now is the time. Bison used to graze on the prairie grass and was a common natural resource for Native Americans living in this region. The flatland gradually increases in elevation as you head west, and that's where you can find Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. For those going on a trip here, some famous sites, maybe some of the places that Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie lived with her pioneer family during the 1800s. The Rocky Mountains are located west of the Great Plains. These rugged mountains are home to the big horned sheep and steep, rugged mountains that stretch from Alaska almost to Mexico. A jagged series of snow capped peaks, these mountains don't have trees growing on their summits. Along to the continental divide, the Rocky Mountains are for experienced mountain climbers. Be careful not to run into a grizzly bear though. Have you included one in your passport for the Rocky Mountains page yet? Winter sports are also a huge draw to visitors from all over the country. Check out one of these Colorado ski resorts. The Rocky Mountains are located west of the Rocky Mountains. This geographic region includes low valleys and deserts. It's called the Basin and Range. The low valleys and deserts are the Basin part and the high elevated areas like Platoes and Dry jagged mountains are the range part. Home to desert animals like coyotes, jackrabbits and rattlesnakes, there's very little rain that frequents the area. Some of the low desert spots include the Great Basin and California's Death Valley, the lowest place on earth. Visitors may come to this region for various reasons, many come to see the sites like Arches National Park and the huge Saguaro Cactus. Others like to spend the day riding on all terrain vehicles or ride horses at a free-range cattle ranch. Others come to this area to hang out in cities like Las Vegas, Nevada or Albuquerque, New Mexico. The coastal range is known because it has mountain ranges that but ride up against the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This geographic region lines the west coast of the United States and has portions in Washington State, Oregon and California. Keep in mind though that all of these states also have portions of them in the basin and range geographic regions too. We are just talking about geography, what the land looks like with these regions. Notice the cliffs and the high elevated land drops dramatically at the shoreline. No wide sandy long beaches. If they are visible, it's only at low tide when the water has receded a bit to expose the sand underneath the water. The coastal range is known for mountains that are sometimes active volcanoes like Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier. The land features in the foot-hills of this range are home to the tallest trees in the world called the Great Sequoias or Redwoods. The land is fertile and is a great place for growing grapes, so vineyards around this region as well as citrus fruit abound. People love to visit the coastal range, whether going to Seattle, Washington, Hollywood or San Francisco, California.