Geography: maps, regions, and people and places (grade 5) · lesson

The land from east to west

💡 The colonies sat on the east coast, and the land got wilder and wider as you went west.

The thirteen colonies were on the east coast of North America. They sat along the Atlantic Ocean.

Just west of the colonies were the Appalachian Mountains. They made it hard to travel west.

Go farther west and you reach the Mississippi River. Next come the Rocky Mountains. Last is the Pacific Ocean.

🧠 Let's work it out

Picture a map. Move your finger from right to left.
First the Atlantic coast.
Then the Appalachians.
Then the Mississippi.
Then the Rockies.
Last, the Pacific.

What do you think comes next?

coast: land next to an ocean

Latitude

💡 Latitude tells how far north or south of the equator a place is; a bigger north number means farther north.

Lines of latitude circle the globe. The equator is 0 degrees. The North Pole is 90 degrees north.

A bigger north latitude means a place is farther north. A smaller one means it is closer to the equator.

🧠 Let's work it out

Compare the numbers.
Boston is about 42 degrees north.
Charleston is about 33 degrees north.
33 is smaller, so Charleston is closer to the equator.

What do you think comes next?

latitude: how far north or south of the equator a place is
equator: the line around the middle of Earth, at 0 degrees

🔗 Latitude · National Geographic Education ↗

Why people moved

💡 Push factors drive people away from home, and pull factors draw them to a new place.

A push factor makes people want to leave home. War and failing crops are push factors.

A pull factor draws people to a new place. Cheap land and freedom are pull factors.

The Pilgrims sailed from England to Plymouth in 1620. They wanted to worship in their own way. Religious freedom pulled them there.

🧠 Let's work it out

Ask which way the reason points.
Is it about the old home, making people leave? That is a push.
Is it about the new place, making it look good? That is a pull.

What do you think comes next?

push factor: a reason to leave a place
pull factor: a reason to move to a place

Rivers and harbors

💡 Before trains and trucks, goods moved by water, so cities grew by harbors and rivers.

A harbor is safe water where ships can dock. Boston and New York grew next to good harbors. Ships loaded and unloaded goods there, so trade and jobs grew.

The Mississippi River flows south to the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers in the West shipped crops down it to the port of New Orleans. From there, goods went around the world.

🧠 Let's work it out

Ask how goods traveled.
Long ago, the cheapest way was by boat.

What do you think comes next?

harbor: a safe place along a coast where ships can dock
port: a town where ships load and unload goods

🔗 Harbor · National Geographic Education ↗

Lewis and Clark

💡 After the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark explored the West and mapped what they found.

In 1803, the United States bought a huge piece of land from France. It was called the Louisiana Purchase.

President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore it. Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman, helped them talk and trade for horses.

They made maps and wrote about plants, animals, and people. They reached the Pacific in 1805 and came back in 1806.

🧠 Let's work it out

For questions about a passage, find the sentence that answers it.
Why did they need horses?
Find the sentence about horses.

What do you think comes next?

expedition: a long trip to explore

🔗 Louisiana Purchase Treaty (1803) · National Archives ↗