• Vegetation: Forests

• Vegetation: Orchards

• Interpreting a Chart: State Symbols

• Climate: Four Seasons

• Climate: Temperature and Precipitation ( Lake Effect)

• Vegetation: Forests

• Vegetation: Orchards

• Interpreting a Chart: State Symbols

• Climate: Four Seasons

• Climate: Temperature and Precipitation ( Lake Effect)

Unit One: Lesson Four

To study a place geographers ask the question: What is the place like?

To answer that question geographers study the natural (physical) characteristics of the place.

Natural characteristics include landforms, bodies of water, vegetation and climate.

Special purpose maps can be used to learn about these natural (physical) characteristics.

Forests and orchards are important types of vegetation in Michigan.

Michigan’s climate has four seasons and is influenced by the Great Lakes.

different kinds of land on the Earth

  Example: Mountains, hills and islands are

different landforms.

the plants of an area  Example: The vegetation of Michigan

includes apple trees, white pines and many different wildflowers

Michigan has many important types of plants, or vegetation.

Vegetation is another type of natural (physical) characteristic.

Special purpose maps can be used to study vegetation as well as landforms and bodies of water.

◦ National forests are managed by our nation’s government. They are recognized as being important to our whole country.

◦ State forests are managed by our state government. Michigan has the largest state forest system of any state except Alaska.

◦ If you were to overlay the maps of the national forests and the state forests you would see that much of the Upper Peninsula is forest.

Source: Michigan Forests Maps. 30 June 2009 <http://mff.dsisd.net/Recreation/Ownership.htm>.

Commercial Forests refer to forests that are used to harvest and sell trees for paper, lumber and other tree products.

What do you notice about the location of the commercial forests?

They are all located in the Upper Peninsula.

Later this year we will learn about Michigan history and about the growth and development of lumbering in Michigan.

How the location of orchards in Michigan differs from the location of forests?

What might we conclude about the location of orchards and the Great Lakes?

Orchards are often found along the shores of the Great Lakes.

<http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mhc_mhm_statesymbols2002_47909_7.pdf

Reading A Chart – Answer Sheet

1. What symbol has been a state symbol the longest?Apple blossom

2. Which is the newest symbol to be chosen?Mastodon

3. Which two things involved students working to make them symbols?painted turtle and white-tailed deer

4. Which two symbols are both related to fossils?the Petoskey Stone and the Mastodon

5. Which three symbols are examples of the natural characteristic of vegetation, or plants? apple blossom, dwarf lake iris and white pine

6. Besides being a beautiful flower, what is another reason you think the apple blossom was chosen as the state flower?

Answers will vary but should center on the idea that apples are an important Michigan crop

We have now explored important landforms, bodies of water, and vegetation of Michigan.

We have seen how these natural (physical) characteristics are reflected in our state symbols.

weather over a long period of time

  Example: Michigan’s climate has four

different seasons.

Geographers explore the climate of a place by studying the different seasons.

Geographers also explore climate by studying the temperature and precipitation of a place.

how hot or cold the air is  Example: Temperatures in the Upper

Peninsula are often colder than in the Lower Peninsula.

water that falls to the ground as rain, sleet, hail or snow

Example: Areas near the Great Lakes often get more precipitation than other areas.

The warmest places are in red and the coldest in blue.

The Lower Peninsula is warmer than the Upper Peninsula.

The northern part of the Lower Peninsula is colder than the southern part.

There are a couple of places in the Lower Peninsula that are as cold as the Upper Peninsula.

The colors on this special purpose map move from blue to brown areas get less and less precipitation.

Identify the areas of Michigan that get the most precipitation.

The southwest part of the Lower Peninsula

Along the Lake Huron shore of the “thumb” of Michigan

In the far western part of the Upper Peninsula

Being near large bodies of water can impact both temperature and precipitation.

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Michigan has a lot of forests.

Michigan has both National and State forests.

In some forests trees are grown to sell to make things like paper.

There are a lot of forests in the Upper Peninsula.

There are a lot of orchards in Michigan.

Orchards are often found along the shores of the Great Lakes.

Michigan has four seasons

The Great Lakes affect Michigan’s climate

Higher areas have colder temperatures.

The Upper Peninsula tends to be colder than the Lower Peninsula.

Different parts of Michigan have different temperatures and different amounts of precipitation.

Michigan has many state symbols.

The state symbols stand for the natural characteristics.

The robin and the apple blossom are state symbols.

There are a lot of different kinds of maps.

Natural Characteristics of

Michigan

Orchards

Forests

Vegetation(Plants)

Natural Characteristics of

Michigan

Orchards

Forests

Vegetation(Plants)

Natural Characteristics of

Michigan

Climate

Four Seasons

Lake Effect

Precipitation

Temperature

Orchards

Forests

Vegetation(Plants)

Natural Characteristics of

Michigan

Climate

Four Seasons

Lake Effect

Precipitation

Temperature

How special purpose maps help us locate

them

Our State

Symbols