SS8G1: The student will describe Georgia with regard to physical features and location. a. Locate Georgia in relation to region, nation, continent and hemisphere.

Unit One- Our Special StateChapter One-Where in the World is

Georgia?

geography latitude

relative location longitude

absolute location axis

equator prime meridian

parallels hemisphere

meridians

Key Terms

• The prime meridian runs through Africa, Europe, and Britain (Greenwich England).• The equator divides the world into the northern and southern hemispheres.

Our World

http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/longitude-latitude.html

http://www.visioninconsciousness.org/Science_Kids.htm

Which hemisphere can Georgia be found in?

Chapter 2- Geographic Regions

Key Terms

region trade windswetland barrier islandFall line climate weather vertical climatedrought hurricane

•Appalachian Plateau •Ridge and Valley •Blue Ridge •Piedmont Plateau•Coastal Plain

Five Regions

• Appalachian plateau- Northwestern corner of Georgia where Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia meet (“TAG Corner”)

Appalachian Plateau

• Soil is a mixture of limestone, shale and sandstone• 2,000 feet above sea level• Mountainous with waterfalls• Chickamauga and Chattanooga National • Military Park- historic Civil war battle sites• Smallest region

Appalachian Plateau

Appalachian Plateau

• Located between Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Plateau• Land Ranges between 700- 1600 feet above sea level• Open Valleys and narrow ridges with forests and pastures• Regions goes from Polk & Bartow Counties to Chattanooga, TN

Ridge and Valley Region

Ridge and Valley Region

Grain, cattle and apple orchards fill the valleys and ridges

• Known for its industry, especially textiles and carpets• Dalton Georgia is called the “carpet capital of the world”

Ridge and Valley

• Northeastern part of the state• Highest and largest group of mountains in Georgia are found

here• Barrier to warm, moist air rising from Gulf of Mexico• Large amounts of precipitation from the warm air cooling in the

mountains- more than 80 inches per year • Provide water for the entire state• Soil erosion due to shallow soil and steep slopes

Blue Ridge Region

Blue Ridge region

• Brasstown Bald is highest peak in the state, (in the south, a high mountain that is treeless on top is called a “bald”), Peak is almost 5,000 feet high, (much higher than the Appalachian plateau)• Amicalola falls• Tallulah Gorge• Helen (Alpine community)

Blue Ridge region

Tallulah Gorge

Amicalola Falls

Helen, Georgia

• All three of Georgia’s northern regions are part of the Appalachian mountains• The Ridge and Valley region marks the beginning of the

Appalachian Trail• Many people hike from it’s starting point in Dahlonega, Georgia

to it’s end in Maine, (2,144 miles)

Appalachian Mountains

• About 900 millions years ago, the continents joined together to form one super continent• The collision formed the Appalachians• The land drifted apart again over millions of years and the first

Appalachians eroded into what is now known as the Atlantic Ocean• Then the continents began to drift back together about 500 million

years ago and formed a 2nd set of Appalachian mountains from the sediment on the Ocean floor.• Every time the continents collided, new mountains formed and the old

ones were pushed further west. This is why there are several sets of parallel ridges in the Appalachian mountains.

How the Appalachians Formed

PANGEA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUk94AdXPA

Piedmont

• Begins at the mountain foothills of northern Georgia• Means “foot of the mountain”• 1/3 of Georgia's land area• Land is granite –based, with sandy

loam and clay soils (“Georgia red clay”• Well-drained and suitable for

agriculture

• Half of the state’s population live in the piedmont region• Prior to Civil War it was the cotton belt• Crops today are: soybeans, corn, poultry, wheat, and cattle

Piedmont

Soybean field in Cartersville, GA Georgia.org

Cities in the Piedmont Region

• Atlanta• Athens•Madison•Milledgeville

Coastal Plain

Upper Coastal Plains• Mild climate• Good supply of underground water• Major agricultural region (most of the crops grown in GA come

from this region)• Soil varies from limestone to clay• Vidalia Upland- onions• Dougherty Plain-peanuts, corn, and pecan trees

Upper and Lower Coastal Plains

Fall Line