Reflections - Chapter 1 - Lesson 2

Where the San Joaquin and the Sacramento Rivers meet, a broad delta has formed.

A delta is land that has been built up from soil carried by rivers.

Animals in the Desert Region:

Bighorn sheep, Mountain lion, coyote, Gambel's quail, Jackrabbit, rattlesnake, tortoise and Scott's oriole.

California has the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere

Death Valley in the Desert Region

The lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is the Death Valley..

Death Valley is the largest national park in the United States outside of Alaska.

The Desert Region

Deserts stretch across most of southern California.

Use an Elevation Map

Elevation means the height of the land and is always measured from sea level. The elevation of land at sea level is zero.

Two groups of islands are part of California's Coastal Region

Farallon Island are west of San Francisco. Channel Islands are made up of 8 islands off the coast of southern California. the largest island in the Channel Islands is Santa Catalina.

People in the Desert Region have used irrigation to water their farmland.

Irrigation is the use of canals, ditches, or pipes to carry water to dry places.

What are some physical features of the Desert Region?

It has several large valleys and is hot and dry.

The Salton Sea, lies in the Desert Region, is really a large salty lake.

It was formed between 1905 and 1907, when the Colorado River flooded.

John Muir was a conservationist, a person who respects nature and works to protect wild areas.

John Muir helped convinced the United States government to set aside natural areas, which later become national parks.

California's deepest natural lake is

Lake Tahoe, that lies high in the Sierra Nevada and is more than 1,600 feet deep in some places.

The largest mountain lake in North America:

Lake Tahoe. It is also California's deepest natural lake.

California's Coastal Region stretches for more than 800 miles along the Pacific Ocean.

Low mountains, called the Coast Ranges, follow much of the coastline.

Two of the peaks of the Cascade Range are volcanoes

Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak.

More than 100 peaks in the Sierra Nevada rise higher than 13,000 feet and the tallest is

Mount Whitney at 14,495 feet.

California has the highest point in the 48 connected states

Mount Whitney, a peak in the Sierra Nevada in the Mountain Region.

The Mountain Region

Mountains cover more than half of California

Within California's Desert Region are several large valleys.

Near the Mexican border are the Imperial and Coachella Valleys.

California is the third largest state.

Only Alaska and Texas are larger.

The Cascade Range in northern California extends into the states of

Oregon and Washington.

California's Central Valley is one of the most productive farming regions in the world.

Over time, fertile soil from the Sierra Nevada has washed down into the valley.

Plants in the Desert Region:

Prickly pear cactus, Joshua Tree, Yucca and Creosote bush.

Relief means the differences in the heights of land in an area.

Relief is shown in an elevation map by shading. Heaving shading shows steep rises and drops in elevation.

California has the highest waterfall in North America:

Ribbon Fall, which drops 1,612 feet and is located in the Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite National Park has North America's highest waterfall,

Ribbon Falls, which drops 1,612 feet.

California's state capital is

Sacramento, which is located in the Central Valley, near where the Sacramento River and American River meet.

During the California gold rush, mining supplies came upriver from

San Francisco to Sacramento and then to miners in the Sierra Nevada.

Which two river valleys make up the Central Valley Region?

San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley.

One place in Death Valley lies 282 feet below sea level.

Sea level refers to land that is level with the surface of the ocean.

How are Sierra Nevada different from the Coast Ranges?

Sierra Nevada has high peaks and the Coast Ranges are low mountains.

California's largest mountain range is

Sierra Nevada. It stretches north and south across much of the eastern part of the state.

The Cascade Range is in the northern California that extends into Oregon and Washington.

The Cascade Range part of the the Mountain Region.

The Sierra Nevada is the Mountain Region and has high peaks go north-south across the state.

The Coast Ranges is in the Coastal Region and has low mountains along the coast line.

California's 4 natural regions:

The Coastal Region, the Mountain Region, The Central Valley and the Desert Region.

The Mojave Desert covers a large area between the southern Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River.

The Colorado Desert lies farther south, near the border with Mexico.

California's 3 mountain ranges

The Sierra Nevada , the Coast Ranges, the Cascade Range (northern California extending into Oregon and Washington).

Summary: California's 4 natural regions are the Coast Region, The Mountain Region, the Central Valley and the Desert Region.

The Sierra Nevada, the Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range are mountain ranges in the state.

Death Valley, near the Nevada border, is one of the driest and hottest places in the United States.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the United State was 134 degree Fahrenheit in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.

Much of California's costs is rocky but the state has two largest natural harbors where ships can dock safely.

The two natural harbors are San Francisco Bay and San Diego Bay.

Broad valleys lie between the mountains of the Coast Ranges

To the north of San Francisco are the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. To the south are the Santa Clara and Salinas Valleys

San Joaquin River and Sacramento River are joined by a number of tributaries.

Tributaries are smaller rivers.

Between the tall peaks of the Sierra Nevada are deep valleys. One of the most famous valleys is

Yosemite Valley, part of the Yosemite National Park.

In the southern California's coast, the mountains give way to

a coastal plain

The valleys have rich soil and

are important farming areas.

In the 1850s, Sacramento was the perfect place from which to ship

farm goods downriver to San Francisco.

In northern California, the mountains drop sharply into the Pacific Ocean,

forming steep cliffs.

The Central Valley Region

is between the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada and is a region of low land.

What are fourteeners

mountain taller than 14,000 feet. Some mountain climbers test their skills by climbing California's fourteeners. There are 15 fourteeners in the state.

John Muir took many of the country's leaders on tours of Yosemite Valley.

one of the leaders visted Yosemite was President Theodore Roosevelt

California's 4 natural region

the Coastal Region, the Mountain Region, The Central Valley Region and the Desert Region.

In the northern part, the Sacramento Valley is named for

the Sacramento River.

The San Joaquin River flows through the southern part of the Central Valley, which is sometimes called

the San Joaquin Valley.

California's state flower is

the golden poppy