North America: United States Student Lead Presentations

A. Due to the vast land mass and diverse topography, the US and Canada are a part of a region rich in natural resources

Since the United States lies over many geographically diverse regions such as forests, mountains and plains, we are rich in naturals resources such as lumber from forests, mineral deposits from mountains, and the Ranching Industry which exists due to places like the Southern Plains.

B. European colonialism has had a lasting impact on the culture and social structures of the region

The coming of Europeans started, what historians call, the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange is the exchange of diseases and goods that we still have today.

Europeans in 1492 brought America technology. Until the Europeans came horses weren’t though t be used as transportation. Common farm animals were unknown because Native Americans hunted for wild bison or deer. The Europeans brought an official language.

C. Diversity brings many benefits and challenges to this region Overall Growth of Population The projections, based on assumptions about future

childbearing, mortality, and international migration, are leading to a potential cultural shift. The U.S’ Hispanic and Asian populations are expected to triple by 2050. The non-Hispanic whites are expected to slowly represent about one-half of the nation's population. By 2050 the population of Hispanics will increase from 36 million to 103 million. The Asian population is projected to triple, from 11 million to 33 million.

C. Continued This will slightly more than double their population share,

from 4 percent to 8 percent. This could become a problem as America’s cultural identity begins to mix with that of the Hispanic and Asian population. The African Ame (Scommegna)rican population is projected to grow from 36 million to 61 million in 2050, an increase of 71 percent. That change will increase their share of the nation's population from 13 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2050.

C. Continued Challenges Such diverse populations can cause many troubles for the origin

species of the country as their ideas are matched to meet the general public of the U.S which includes the people who have been born and raised elsewhere where their way of life is different and the way they think the country should be run. Eventually if the population increases each culture will have different needs from the land and its resources, in a worst case scenario the land might meet its carrying capacity and exceed it.

Another problem might that these cultures would begin to clash with each other and cause the United States not to remain so much “united”. For example the crusades that occurred between the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish cultures clashed with each other. Such also has occurred in India with many Hindus and Muslims.

C. Continued Benefits Some advantages might come with cultural diffusion. For example some

ideas that helpful and useful might be adopted by different cultures. In the U.S there are many diverse cultures such as Chinatown (place where many Chinese cultures are very dominant). These ideas are slowly spreading in to today “American” society and are slowly changing it into a more efficient society and an overall better place.

Diversity also affects the way one thinks. It allows us as Americans to be closer to those from other countries and get a true feel and understanding of that person’s culture (which in most cases can also allow us to learn about the person’s home country. Once we understand their culture we can gain a broader outlook on life. It gives us the chance to view any situation from a different perspective unlike our own or more similar than we thought. This is only possible because the U.S. is such a diverse place (the melting pot). America truly is the place where cultures, ideas and ways of life are melted into one pot.

D. The major landforms and bodies of water in the US and Canada

olympic mts.coastal rangescascadessan joaquin valleysierra nevadamt. whitneymojave dessertdeath valleycrater lakegrand canyonsalt lakepainted dessertwhite sandscolumbia riverbitterroot mts.rocky mts.

lewisbig horn mts.black hillslaramie mts. llano estacadoguadelupe mts.rio grandesonoran dessertbrazos riveradriondack mts.ozark plateumississippi rivermissouri riverlake superiorlake huronlake michagan

lake erielake centariomississippi river deltaohio riversmokey mts.blue rige mts.lake okeechobeeappalachian mts.naigara fallsevergladesgreen mts.white mts.

E. The climate zones of the US and Canada There are several different climate zones in

the United States, due to it being such a large country. Some examples of these climate zones are humid continental, and polar climates. But the main cause of the weather in the United States is the Polar Jet Stream. Which brings pressure systems from the pacific ocean, effecting our weather here. 

F. The major historical events and cultural groups that have shaped both the US and Canada Discovery of America- Christopher Columbus discovers America by

accident in 1492. Originally he was in search of India but came across America instead.

Independence Day- On July 4th, 1776, the thirteen original colonies declared independence from Great Britain.

Civil War- the American Civil war was fought from 1861 until 1865. It was under Abraham Lincoln’s presidency that this war occurred. The eleven southern “slave states” formed the Confederacy. The remaining 25 states formed the Union. The union won the war and slavery was abolished.

World War II- World War II lasted from 1939 until 1945. Although America originally refused to get involved in the war, we joined the Allies, which included Greece, Australia, Syria and Chile, after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan on December 7th, 1941. This had terrible effects for Japanese-Americans, they lost land, had their homes and shops closed, were often beaten and moved to concentration-camp like facilities. America dropped two atom bombs on the Japanese cities on Nagasaki and Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.

F. Continued Little Rock Nine- Many years after cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson and

Brown v. Board of Education, the government said the schools were to be de-segregated. However, not many schools did so. Nine African-American students were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957. Only eight of these students graduated, the 9th decided to leave the school because of constant bullying and discrimination. Though none of them lived to see what they accomplished, it’s because of kids like them that schools are not separated today.

September 11, 2001- Regarded as one of the darkest days in modern American history, 9/11 was when the twin towers were attacked by hijackers. Soon after, officials traced the bombings back to Al-Qaida, a terrorist group based in Iraq. In response, America waged war on Iraq and increased the number of troops in Afghanistan. Ten years later, we still have troops stationed in those countries in addition to many others.

Hurricane Katrina- On August 28th, a category 5 hurricane hit the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 2000 people died in the actual hurricane but the aftermath caused much more havoc and devastation. Entire neighborhoods in New Orleans were destroyed. FEMA stepped in and tried to help but many people claim that they didn’t really do anything to help the victims themselves. Some of the areas that were affected were never able to be reconstructed to their previous glory.

Election of President Obama- On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama was the first African-American president to be elected. This election had the highest voter turnout in years. Many people say this election showed how racially divided the country really was.

G. The current issues that face the countries today, such as terrorism, urban sprawl and the benefits challenges of diversity

TERRORISM:~After the tragedy on September 11, 2011 the NYPD (New York Police Department) created their own Counter-Terrorism Bureau. People are putting their trust in them to keep them safe from any other attacks on New York.~A few lawyers asked a U.S. District judge if they could tell The NYPD to let it be known what they are doing, and why they are doing it. The NYPD has been pressured recently to see what is going on behind the scenes.~New York seems high at stake for terrorism considering high tourism and it is a home for finance. This makes them feel the need to protect themselves, especially because it had already occurred once.~In 2004 NYPD started to deactivate plots for terrorism, instead of just waiting for them to happen and then come to the rescue.~Rakers (undercover policeman) have been going and interacting with different communities to see if there is any suspicious activity happening.

G. Continued Negative About Urban Sprawl:

~Urban Sprawl is causing lots of uproar among the people who want to “go greener”. Those people are upset because people keep moving further and further from cities because of cheap land and housing. They complain that instead of protecting the environment we are making things worse with urban sprawl because we are selling and buying more land for homes, but that means that we are going to be cutting down more trees. Also, once you have a lot of houses in one area more buildings and shopping is going to pop up in that area, which doesn’t help Mother Nature that much.

Things Trying to Stop Urban Sprawl:~Natural Boundaries are keeping urban sprawl at bay. In Los Vegas there is not too much water there because it is in the middle of the desert. The supply of water is in the city, so not many people are going to stray too far.~Tennessee required municipalities to create urban growth boundaries in 1998. This means that they said that some land cannot be developed.

G. Continued It is no secret that the USA is diverse and always will be. We've

been a huge mix of races, religion, culture, behavior, and much more. A big impact diversity has is in the workplace causing differences in attitude and performance. Although all the diverse people work together, they still maintain their distinct identities.

Most companies in the workplace realize the diversity is very beneficial. These benefits include new attitudes, new language skills, global understanding, new processes, and new solutions to difficult problems. These abilities are needed for businesses, so they can interact with different cultures and clients and take part in today's global market place.

H. Identify the major landforms and climate/vegetation regions in North America

Landforms in the United States: In the USA there is a very wide variety of landforms all across its large spread of land. These landforms can determine where a person wants to live because of the climate, weather, and maybe even the types of natural disasters that may happen. Some of the landforms in the United States are large mountain ranges, such as the Appalachian mountains, or the Rocky mountains which are both included and stretched across many different states. You can also find large plains scattered in the USA like the Coastal Plains and the Great plains, which include bayous, deltas, marshes, mud flats, and swamps!

H. Continued Climate zones in the United States:The climate zones in the united states exist in the interior of the land. The United States has a large section of land that is very dry. Another climate zone that can be found in the USA is temperate meaning that they have warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters also water plays a large part in this climate zone. There is also a small area of a cold climate. This means that in this area of land seasonal temperature vary widely.

I. Discuss impaction of European colonization on North America 1ST SLIDE USA is a mostly western culture that was orignally started and influnced by Europeans. Even though we are a compleatly diffrent nation with diffrent customs and traditions we can still trace our way of life back to the Europeans.

2ND SLIDE Now celebrationscultral inhertience Ties languages religion majority of population fron European dissent lititure art ritutuals food

I. Continued THEN customs legal system traditionsgender roles cultures CHANGED tradition entertainment dilect government

J. Analyze the impact of natural and environmental disasters SUMMARY 4 TORNADOE ARTICLE:

~One of three tornadoes left a mile or longer stretch of damage in Florida.~In Plantation and Sunrise there were 50 homes damaged and about 12 of those were severely damaged!~ Tornadoes can rip roofing off of houses, blast windows out of there frame, and strip down homes to only their structures.~Tornadoes have strong enough winds to do lots of damage, and sometimes the winds get up to 65 mph, 85 mph or even 120 mph!

In August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. By the time the hurricane had ended, multiple cities were underwater, and the destruction ranged over 100 miles, costing are 75 billion dollars in repairs. The impact of this hurricane still affects those citizens today who lost their homes, belongings, and family members in the storm.

K. Describe the relationship between land and cultural developmentLand development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as: changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a

purpose such as agriculture or housing subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose of

building homes developing property or changing its purpose, for example by

converting an unused factory complex into condominiums

K. Continued US Culture

People in the United States come from many differenthomelands. They have a variety of customs, traditions, andfoods. They do share many of the same values, though. U.S.citizens care about individual freedoms, equal opportunities,fair treatment of people regardless of differences, privateownership of property, and education. Many of these valueshelp define American culture.

About 70 percent of American citizens are members of religious groups.Leisure activities in the United States reflect theinfluence of other cultures. A good example would be like soccer comingfrom England. The movie and televisionindustries were developed in the United States, althoughthey were affected by other cultures.The international popularity of American music is anexample of the globalization of culture. Today, cultural influences oftencross national boundaries. Modern communication offersfast and easy ways to share the products and creations ofdifferent cultures.

L. Analyze the significance of the history and current events of the region Current Events:The recent stock market crash has delivered a devastating blow to millions of people and thousands of companies around the world. The stock market crash has been significant for a variety of reasons, the most prominent among them being wealth destruction. Estimates vary on exactly how much individuals and companies lost, but most figures are in the ballpark of tens of trillions. These losses have not only been catastrophic in their own right, but by reducing the value of collateral holdings and investments, they've created a condition of increased risk and higher borrowing costs for businesses, which will in all likelihood negatively affect their profit margins and ability to hire and retain employees for years to come. History:9/11 has had lasting effects on the US. 9/11 has effected the airline industry. Some airlines are still on the path of financial recovery. Airlines have also upped their security since the attack and has been just as cautious or perhaps even more so.

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