Chapter 3 Mapping Texas Regions (pages 44-66)

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Chapter 3Mapping Texas Regions(pages 44-66)

• Essential Question
• How were the regions of Texas identified?

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Objectives

• Compare places in Texas in terms of their
  physical characteristics.
• Compare regions of Texas in terms of their
  physical characteristics.
• Identify the location of each natural subregion
  of Texas..
• Compare the regions and subregions of Texas.
• Analyze geographic distributions and patterns in
  Texas.
• Compare places/regions in Texas in terms of their
  physical and human characteristics.
• Explain ways in which geographic factors have
  affected the political, economic, and social
  development of Texas.

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What States Are Adjacent to Texas?
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(No Transcript)
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Two Kinds of Geography

• Geography land and people
• Things that relate to the land (climate,
  vegetation, rivers, lakes, plains, etc)
• Physical Geography
• Things that people do (how people earn a living,
  customs, settlements, political systems, etc)
  
• Human Geography

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Vocabulary

• Plains a wide area of flat or gently rolling
  land
• Physical Geography physical features of the
  earths surface
• Human Geography features of the earth that are
  created or changed by humans
• Settlement a place where people live

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Weather and Climate

• Weathercondition at a certain time/place
• Climateexpected weather conditions
• Texas has a huge range of climates across the
  state
• How does weather affect human geography?
• See map on page 47

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Landform Regions

• Landforms can include mountains, valleys, rivers,
  seacoasts, lakes, plateaus, and plains
• Read about The Enchanted Rock
• (p. 49)
• Most of Texas is made up of Plains
• (pages 48-49)
• 2 plains regions of Texas also extend into other
  states
• Gulf Coastal Plain
• Great Plains

The Enchanted Rock

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Texas Rivers

• Important to Texas
• Much of Texas border made up of 3 rivers
• Rio Grande between Texas Mexico
• Begins in Colorado, flows 1900 miles into NM,
  enters Texas near El Paso
• 2 dams built Amistad Dam and Falcon Dam
• Water from reservoirs created with dams irrigates
  crops
• Sabine River between Louisiana Texas
• Shorter than Rio Grande
• Toledo Bend Reservoir created
• Water is used for industry and agriculture
• Red River between Texas and Oklahoma
• Begins in eastern NM and flows to Arkansas
• Flows to Gulf of Mexico after flood control
  system put into place

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Texas Rivers, cont

• Other important rivers
• Canadian River
• In Panhandle of Texas
• Begins in NM and crosses Texas to Oklahoma joins
  Arkansas River
• Only major Texas River that does not flow into
  Gulf of Mexico
• Pecos River
• Tributary of Rio Grande
• Starts in NM and flows south to Texas
• Provides irrigation for farms in NM and Pecos, TX
• Others (all flow into Gulf of Mexico)
• Neches, Trinity, San Jacinto, Brazos, Colorado,
  Guadalupe, San Antonio, Neuces
• Many important Texas cities are located along
  these rivers

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Map of Texas Rivers
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Texas Rivers and Cities
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Rio Grande River
The Red River
The Sabine River
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Regions of Texas

• Regions are determined by physical geography
  (landforms)
• Very diverse
• Texas has 4 large natural regions
• Coastal Plains
• North Central Plains
• Great Plains
• Mountains and Basins

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Vocabulary

• Subregion a smaller division of a geographic
  region
• Escarpment a cliff or abrupt break in the
  lands surface
• Growing Season average of days crops grow
  based on weather
• Steppe a vast, treeless plain
• Aquifer underground layer of porous rock,
  gravel, or sand that contains waterwater can
  reach surface of land through springs or wells
• (see page 540This Land of Oursinfo about the
  Ogallala Aquifer)

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Regions and Subregions of Texas
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Balcones Escarpment
The Balcones Fault Zone extends from Dallas to
the north and Del Rio to the southwest. The West
Austin Hill Country is part of a larger
geographical area called the Edwards Plateau.
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Caprock Escarpment
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Where are the Balcones and Caprock Escarpments?
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The Edwards Aquifer
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Coastal Plains Region

• About 1/3 of Texas
• Extends east south from Balcones Escarpment to
  Gulf of Mexico
• Most of Texas largest cities here
• Subregions
• Piney Woods
• area of pine forests
• Extends from Texas-Louisiana border west for
  about 125 miles
• Extends from Oklahoma state line south to where
  coastal prairies beginabout 25 miles from coast
• Rainiest part of Texas
• Elevation 100-400 feet above sea level
• Caddo Lake is in Piney Woods
• Only natural lake in Texas
• Giant cypress trees, floating lotus, and lots of
  fish

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Coastal Plains Region, cont

• Subregions, cont
• Post Oak Belt
• West of Piney Woods
• Long, narrow zone
• Has oak, hickory, and other hardwood trees (not
  pine)
• Elevation 250-500 feet above sea level
• Blackland Prairie
• Long, narrow area15-70 miles wide, 300 miles
  wide
• Runs from Balcones Escarpment near OK border
  through San Antonio to Texas/Mexico border
• Elevation 400-800 feet above sea level
• Soil not good for growing treesmost vegetation
  is prairie grass with a few hardwood trees

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Coastal Plains Region, cont

• Gulf Coastal Plain
• Forms a large arc that follows the coast of Gulf
  of Mexico from Sabine River to Kingsville
• Goes inland about 30-60 miles
• Elevation below 100 feet, humid climate
• South Texas Plain
• Runs from about San Antonio south to Rio Grande
• 270 miles long 250 miles wide
• Elevation sea level to 1000 feet above sea
  level
• Climate warm year round

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Coastal Plains Cities and Ways of Making a Living

• Cities
• Brownsville, Harlingen, Corpus Christi, San
  Antonio, Houston, Beaumont, Waco, Austin, Tyler,
  Texarkana, Dallas, Galveston
• Ways of Making a Living
• Agriculture, tourism, timber industry, oil/gas,
  shipping, commercial fishing, manufacturing, food
  and food products

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North Central Plains Region

• Begins at Balcones Escarpment and goes west to
  Caprock Escarpment
• Area of rolling plains covered by small oak
  trees, mesquite trees, brush, and scattered grass
• Subregions
• Grand Prairie
• Long narrow belt extends from Red River south to
  Temple and Killeen
• Elevation 800-1700 feet above sea level
• Vegetation tall grasses and a few hardwood
  trees by streams

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North Central Plains Region, cont

• Subregions, cont
• Cross Timbers
• Area surrounds Grand Prairie
• Eastern Cross Timbers and Western Cross Timbers
• Good area for growing treespost oak, hickory,
  pecan, elm
• Elevation 900-1500 feet
• Rolling Plains
• Largest subregion of North Central Plains
• Begins west of the Cross Timbers and ends at
  Caprock Escarpment
• Elevation 900 feet in east 2000 feet in west
• Region is a steppe (vast, treeless plain)
• Vegetation short grasses, brushy plants, some
  mesquite trees
• Mostly used as grazing lands for large ranches

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North Central Plains Cities and Ways of Making a
Living

• Cities
• Ft. Worth, Abilene, Wichita Falls, San Angelo,
  Arlington
• Ways of Making a Living
• Agriculture, Oil/Gas, Tourism

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Great Plains Region

• Made up of 3 subregions
• 2 are large plateaus (High Plains and Edwards
  Plateaus)
• 1 is different than any other part of Texas
  (Llano Basin)
• Subregions
• Llano Basin
• Almost in center of Texas
• Egg-shaped area south of North Central Plains
  west of Balcones Escarpment
• Made up of granite (very hard rock formed when
  molten rock cools slowly under earths surface)
• Pink granite from Llano Basin was used to build
  Texas Capitol Building
• Elevation 1000-1800 feet above sea level
• Vegetation mesquite, live oak post oak trees,
  short grasses. Pecan and oak trees grow along
  streams

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Great Plains Region, cont

• Subregions, cont
• Edwards Plateau
• Southern part of Great Plains region
• North and west of Balcones Escarpment
• Elevation 1000-3000 feet above sea level
• Mostly made of limestonesome limestone has
  dissolved and formed caves and underwater streams
• Has Edwards Aquifer which supplies water for San
  Antonio and other towns
• See Texas Tidbits on page 56

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Great Plains Region, cont

• Subregions, cont
• High Plains
• Extends west from rolling plains to Pecos River
  in NM
• Also known as Llano Estacado
• One of flattest places on earth
• Very dry climate
• Elevation 3000-4000 feet above sea level
• Vegetation short grasses, like a steppe
• Major farming area in Texas

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Great Plains Region Cities and Ways of Making a
Living

• Cities
• Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, Amarillo
• Ways of Making a Living
• Agriculture, Oil/Gas

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Mountains and Basins Region

• No subregions
• Made up of tall mountains separated by basins or
  closed valleys
• Vegetation in Mountains forests of oak, pinon,
  and ponderosa pine trees
• Vegetation in Basins (desert like area) cactus,
  shrubs, short grasses
• Very little rain
• Elevation variedfrom 2500-8700 feet above sea
  level
• Guadalupe Peak highest point in Texas

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Guadalupe Peak
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Mountains and Basins Cities and Ways of Making a
Living

• Cities
• El Paso
• Ways of Making a Living
• Manufacturing, Oil/Gas, Agriculture

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Where People Live in Texas

• Most Texans live in cities or urban areas
• Largest cities in TexasHouston and Dallas
• Most of largest cities are east of Balcones
  Escarpment
• Separates Central and East Texas from West Texas
• Out of 27 major cities in Texas, only 7 of them
  are west of Balcones Escarpment

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Vocabulary

• Metropolitan Area a city and all the areas
  around it that depend on the central city
• Suburb smaller community just outside a city
• Industry making or preparing products to sell
• Per Capita Income average amount of money a
  person makes a year in a certain area
• Heritage beliefs and customs that people get
  from their ancestors

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Why Cities Grow

• People go where there are jobs
• Houston oil industry, space program
• Dallas financial, telecommunications,
  electronics, fashion, DFW airport,
• Ft. Worth cattle town, airplane/helicopter
  production
• San Antonio military base, tourism
  Alamo/River Walk
• Austin state capital, UT (largest state
  university), computers (Dell)

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Why Havent Other Areas Grown?

• Attracted less industryexcept for Oil
• West Texas further away from major
  citieshigher transportation, shipping, labor,
  and living costs
• Dry climate
• Not much farming (not as much water)
• Land mostly used for ranching
• Workers dont make as much money

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Farming in Texas

• Agriculturestill major industry in Texas
• Texas has 2nd largest farm income in US (CA has
  more)
• Approximately 225,000 farms
• Rice (Houston), Citrus fruit and sorghum (Rio
  Grande Valley),
• Texas produces more cotton than any other state
• High Plains largest cotton growing area in US

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Rich and Poor in Texas

• Per Capita Income
• Highest incomes in Texas? Big Cities
• Oil industry helps Texas per capita income
• Lowest incomes in Texas? Along Rio Grande River,
  inner cities

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Diverse Names of Texas Cities and Towns

• Names can reflect states heritage
• Spanish or Mexican influence
• Names of Settlers
• Native Americans
• Heroes of Texas Revolutions
• Politicians
• Immigrants and immigrant groups of people

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Picture Sources

• blog.travelpod.com
• care2.com
• innerenergies.org
• thefullwiki.org
• outdoors.webshots.com
• tpwd.state.tx.us
• city-data.com
• texasescapes.com
• blog.oregonlive.com
• resortbay.com
• pubs.usgs.gov
• esi.utexas.edu
• http//www.beg.utexas.edu/UTopia/contentpg_images/
  central/central_7708.jpg
• http//www.freeworldmaps.net/united-states/texas/m
  ap.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caprock_Escarpment