Texas Today

1
Texas Today

• Fourth Grade
• Fall 2006

2
Location

• Texas is in the Northern and Western Hemisphere
  north of the equator.
• Texas is in the United States that borders
  Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.
• The Gulf of Mexico, Rio Grande, and Sabine River
  also make natural borders.

3
Landforms

• An escarpment is a line of steep slopes or
  cliffs.
• A plateau is a high, level stretch of land.
• A plain is a large area of flat land with grasses
  and few trees.

4
How Landforms Are Formed
5
Waterways

• A waterway is a body of water such as a river,
  lake, or gulf.
• An aquifer is an underground layer of spongy rock
  that holds water. People use wells to pump water
  from aquifers.
• A spring is a place where underground water comes
  to the surface.

6
Lakes, Rivers, Underground Water
7
Natural Resources

• Natural resources are materials that help people
  meet their needs.
• Renewable Resources are soil, lumber, water.
• Nonrenewable Resources are minerals and fossil
  fuels.
• Solar and wind energy may replace fossil fuels.

8
Fossil Fuels
9
Water as a Natural Resource

• Texas water comes from aquifers and reservoirs.
• Long periods with no rain are called droughts.
• Pollution occurs when harmful substances enter
  the environment.
• Droughts and pollution threaten our water supply.

10
Pollution
11
Climate/Weather

• The Galveston hurricane killed more than 6,000
  people in 1900.
• Severe Texas weather are blizzards (snow and ice
  storm), tornadoes, hurricanes, and northers
  (powerful blast of cold air).
• Texas has a fairly warm climate because its
  close to the equator.

12
Climate/Weather

• Three things that affect Texas temperature are we
  lie close to the equator, differences in
  elevation, and close to the Gulf of Mexico.
• The eastern part of Texas receives the most
  rainfall.

13
What Is Climate?
14
Temperature/Precipitation

• Texas is close to the equator.
• Differences in elevations cause different
  temperatures. (higher-colder)
• Bodies of water make milder temperatures.

• Precipitation is rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
• More precipitation falls in the east along the
  Gulf Coast.