North carolina geography

North Carolina

Geography

Tour Guide:Ms. Gilmore

Flipped Lesson

• Lecture Online• Students view and take

notes. • Completed as Homework• Class time = application

and deeper exploration.• You will need SS notebook

and pen/pencil• Make sure your sound is

on.

Key Terms

• Geography- study of the earth’s landscape, people, places, and environments

• Bonus: What are the five themes of geography?

Key Terms

• Region: Area defined by shared landforms, culture, or climate.

• Sectionalism: Extreme loyalty to one’s own region of the country

US Physical Characteristics: Regions

North Carolina’s Geographic Regions

• Tidewater• Coastal Plain

• Piedmont• Mountains

The Tidewater Region

• 30-50 miles wide strip of North Carolina (NC) along the Atlantic Ocean

• Water affected by tidal shifts, often brackish

The Tidewater Region

• Borders Atlantic Ocean• Barrier Islands-Long chain

of islands off the coast of NC include the most famous, Outer Banks.

• The barrier islands are ever shifting and vary in size due to tides and wind patterns.

The Tidewater Region

• Among the barrier islands are some famous Capes in North Carolina

• Cape-a pointed piece of land that sticks out into a sea, ocean, lake, or river.

North Carolina Capes:Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras

The Tidewater Region• A sound is a wide

inlet of the sea or ocean that is parallel to the coastline; it often separates a coastline from a nearby island.

• Major Sounds in North Carolina:

• Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, Core Sound and Bogue Sound.

• The largest and deepest sound is the Pamlico Sound

• Climate of the Tidewater Region:

• Mild Winters and Moderate Summers make the climate of this area welcoming to visitors.

The Coastal Plain Region

• Stretches from Virginia to South Carolina and is about 100 miles wide

• Covers about 1/3 of the state• Rich soil and flat land make area good for farming

The Coastal Plain Region

• Has some of the best farmland in NC due to rich sandy soil.

• Sandhills, an area of flat rolling hills part of Coastal Plain. Poorest soil in the state.

• Pinehurst is a popular part of the Sandhills due to the golf courses

The Piedmont Region

• Large region of NC known for hills and red clay soil

• Red clay is a subsoil brought up through the black woods dirt as a result of timber loss and plowing fields

• Portion of NC in which we live.• Piedmont: from Latin, means “foot of the mountains”

• Over ½ of region forests

The Fall Line• fall line: divides the coastal plain from the

Piedmont – noted by the last “waterfall” a river hits on its way to the ocean

The Mountains Region• Blue Ridge: more than 1,000 ft above the Piedmont

hills; eastern boundary of the Appalachians• Blue Ridge Parkway: road that runs along the top of

the ridge Cherokee NC to Waynesboro, VA• Asheville is largest city in the region• Mt. Mitchell (6,684 ft): highest point east of the Rockies

NC Weather and Climate

• weather: short-term atmospheric conditions• climate: long-term atmospheric conditions• temperate climate: general climate zone for

NC; known for few extremes of temperature or precipitation

• Day-to-day weather, however, varies

North Carolina’s Geographic Regions

• Tidewater• Coastal Plain

• Piedmont• Mountains