Georgia’s Geographic Regions

1. Georgia’s Geographic Regions

2. What makes a region? • A region can be defined by common characteristics that are usually- cultural, human or physical • The five regions in Georgia include: • Appalachian Plateau • Ridge and Valley • Blue Ridge • Piedmont • Coastal Plain

3. Appalachian Plateau • Location: • Northwest Corner • AKA- Tag region (Ga, AL, Tenn.) • Physical Characteristics: • Sloping land above surrounding valleys • Economic: • Tourism • Forestry • Coal- only known source of coal in the state • Limestone • Climate: • Cooler temps due to high elevations • Summer temps 80’s and 90’s • Winter temps 20’s to 40’s w/ some ice and snow • Interesting features: • Cloudland Canyon • Lookout Mountain • No Rivers • Agriculture: • Limited due to poor soil • Corn and soybeans

4. Appalachian Region

5. Ridge and Valley Region • Location: • Northern Georgia • Between Appalachian Plateau and Blue Ridge. • Physical Characteristics: • Long Ridges separated by fertile valleys • Economic: • Textiles and carpets • Mining • Climate: • Cooler temps due to high elevations • Summer temps 80’s and 90’s • Winter temps 20’s to 40’s w/ some ice and snow • Interesting features: • Dalton, Georgia is the “carpet capital of the world” • Agriculture: • 4% of the valleys are farmed or pastured • Soybean, wheat, and cotton • Harwood and pine timber harvested

6. The Blue Ridge Region • Location: • Northeast corner of Georgia • Physical Characteristics: • Blue Ridge Mnts are highest in the Appalachian highlands • The Appalachian Trial begins in this region • Chattahoochee and Savannah Rivers originate in this region • Economic: • Mining • Tourism • Timber for Lumber Industry • Climate: • Cooler temps due to high elevations • Highest precipitation in the state with 80 inches of rain per year • Interesting features: • Brasstown Bald is Georgia’s highest peak • Appalachian Trail brings tourists • Dahlonega is home to the first gold rush in the U.S. • Agriculture: • Small farms in the valleys • Apples, corn and vegetables • Pastures large animals

7. Piedmont Region • Location: • Central Georgia • 30% of the land of the state • Fall Line separates Piedmont and Coastal plains • Physical Characteristics: • Rolling hills • Flowing rivers w/ waterfalls and rapids • Red Clay • Economic: • Timber is harvested • Highly industrialized w/ carpet, milling, aircraft and automobile, and poultry processing. • Climate: • Steamy and hot in the summer w/ temps in the 90’s • As low as the 20’s in winter • Interesting features: • Urban cities of Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, and Augusta • Stone Mountain Mountain • Agriculture: • Cotton • Soybeans • Wheat • Poultry/ Eggs, hogs, cattle, and beef

8. Coastal Plains • Location: • Southernmost region in the state • Physical Characteristics: • Covers 60% of Georgia • 2 sections: Inner and Outer Coastal • Economic: • Pulp and paper industry • Commercial fishing and seafood • Tourism due to coastal towns • Deep-water ports of Savannah and Brunswick create global shipping • Climate: • Hot steamy summers • Cool winters w/ little chance of snow • Agriculture: • Agricultural heartland • Inner coastal: Peanuts, peaches, soybeans, Vidalia Onions, and pecans • Outer Coastal: Less fertile. Pine trees and some row crops. • Interesting features: • Barrier islands protect mainland Georgia • Okefenokee Swamp • Major Rivers flow to coast

9. Chattahoochee River • Georgia's most important river • Begins in the Blue Ridge region and forms part of the border between Georgia and Alabama • Due to the fall line it becomes difficult to navigate between the Piedmont and Coastal plains • Major transportation route that carries cotton and other freight, furnishes hydroelectric power to factories and mills. • Today it is a primary water source and is used for industry and recreation

10. Appalachian Mountains • The southern end of the Appalachian Mountains are in Georgia's Blue Ridge region. • The site of the first American gold rush, today tourism is this region's most important industry. • Highest point is Brasstown Bald.

11. The Fall Line • The Fall Line is a dramatic drop in elevation that runs through the middle of Georgia. It divides the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions. • The dramatic drop in location created a line of waterfalls making boat travel difficult or impossible to go further upstream, so trading posts developed along the Fall Line where materials brought up from Coastal Plain rivers could be traded for material from the Piedmont region. • Later, as industrialization progressed, the same cities had the advantage of water power from the “Falls” where they were established. • Many people believe that, millions of years ago, the Fall Line was Georgia's pre-historic coast line. Evidence of this includes shark teeth and sea shells found throughout the Coastal Plain, many miles from the Ocean.

12. Cities on the Fall Line • Columbus- Chattahoochee River • Macon- OcmulgeeRiver • Milledgeville- Oconee River • Augusta- Savannah River

13. The Barrier Islands • 14 islands off the coast of Georgia • Called barrier islands because the protect the mainland from wind and water erosion. • During colonial and antebellum periods, plantations were set up to grow rice and indigo. • Some are wild life refuges or state parks, and others are developed for tourism. • Tourism, fishing and paper industries are important economic activities today.

14. Savannah River • The Savannah River was extremely important to Georgia's first European settlers. • Forms border between Georgia and South Carolina • Begins in Hart County, forms Lake Hartwell, then flows to the Atlantic. • The river is used for shipping, drinking water, cools TWO nuclear power plants in South Carolina, and generates hydro electric power.

15. Okefenokee Swamp • Located in southeastern Georgia • Named by the Choctaw Indians, meaning “land of the trembling earth” • Largest freshwater swamp in the entire U.S. • Hundreds of animal species live in the area including the American alligator

16. LessonTwo(SS8G1b)–DescribethefivegeographicregionsofGeorgia;includetheBlueRidgeMountains,ValleyandRidge,AppalachianPlateau,Piedmont,andCoastalPlain.LessonTwo(SS8G1b)–DescribethefivegeographicregionsofGeorgia;includetheBlueRidgeMountains,ValleyandRidge,AppalachianPlateau,Piedmont,andCoastalPlain. Whatdoyourememberabout…Georgia’sphysiographicregions??? D. 1.ContainsGA’shighestpeak,BrasstownBald A.Piedmont C. 2.ContainsmostofGA’speanutandcottonfarms B.Valley&Ridge E. 3.Thesmallestphysiographicregion C.CoastalPlain D. 4.HasGA’shighestamountofannualrainfall D.BlueRidge A. 5.ThemostpopulatedofGA’sregions. E.AppalachianPlateau B. Containsmountainridgeswithvalleysbetween ContainsGA’sonlysourceofafossilfuel(coal) ThelocationofGA’scapitalandlargestcity E. A. C. 9.ThelargestofGA’sregions,intermsoflandarea SS8G1–ThestudentwilldescribeGeorgiawithregardtophysicalfeaturesandlocation.

17. LessonThree(SS8G1c)–LocateandevaluatetheimportanceofkeyphysicalfeaturesonthedevelopmentofGeorgia;includetheFallLine,OkefenokeeSwamp,AppalachianMountains,ChattahoocheeandSavannahRivers,andbarrierislands.LessonThree(SS8G1c)–LocateandevaluatetheimportanceofkeyphysicalfeaturesonthedevelopmentofGeorgia;includetheFallLine,OkefenokeeSwamp,AppalachianMountains,ChattahoocheeandSavannahRivers,andbarrierislands. Whatdoyourememberabout…Georgia'sphysicalfeatures??? C 1.ThisfeatureflowsalongGA'seasternborder. A.FallLine E 2.Goldwasfoundinthisareaintheearly1800s. B.OkefenokeeSwamp F 3.FortswerebuiltheretodefendGA'searlysettlers. C.SavannahRiver B 4.Thisareaisawildliferefugeforover1000species. D.ChattahoocheeRiver A 5.ThisgeographicalboundaryseparatestheCoastalPlainfromthePiedmont. E.AppalachianMtns. D F.BarrierIslands 6.Thismajorriverprovidesdrinkingwaterandformspartofthestate'swesternborderwithAlabama. SS8G1–ThestudentwilldescribeGeorgiawithregardtophysicalfeaturesandlocation.

18. Climate SS8G1D: Evaluate the impact of climate on Georgia’s development.

19. Weather vs. Climate • The condition of a particular day (ex., rain, snow, thunderstorms, etc..) is called weather. • Weather over a long time is called climate.

20. Evaluate the impact of climateon Georgia’s development. • Georgia’s location causes it to have a temperate climate (mild). • In the North Georgia Mountains, summers are cool and winters are cold. The growing season is 180 days in the northern regions. • In South Georgia, summers are HOTand winters are mild. The growing season is 270 days along the coast.

21. So how does mild climate effect Georgia’s development? Ideas?

22. 1. Georgia has a longer growing season than most northern states. 2. It receives enough annual rainfall to support farming of tobacco, peanut, cotton and lumber, etc.. 3. As a result, Georgia’s economy has been built on agriculture (historically.)