Georgia and the American Experience

1. Georgia and the American Experience Chapter 2: This Place We Call Home Study Presentation

2. Georgia and the American Experience Section 1: Georgia’s Flora and Fauna Section 2: Georgia’s Natural Resources Section 3: Georgia’s Waterways

3. Section 1: Georgia’s Flora and Fauna • Essential Question: • What are Georgia’s flora and fauna?

4. Section 1: Georgia’s Flora and Fauna • What geographic terms do I need to know? -- flora -- fauna -- tides -- watershed

5. What is Flora? • Flora: Plants, flowers, and trees • 180-day growing period in north Georgia • 270-day growing period in the coastal region • 23 million acres of forested land • Rome’s Marshall Forest: Only virgin forest within a city limits in the United States • State known for giant live oaks, pines, peach trees, pecan trees, dogwoods, and cherry blossoms

6. What is Fauna? • Fauna: Animals, reptiles, birds, and sea life • White-tailed deer, squirrels, opossums, bats, rabbits, hares, raccoons, and gray foxes • State marine mammal: Right (Baleen) whale • State bird: Brown thrasher; other birds include quail, doves, hummingbirds, and woodpeckers

7. Georgia’s Reptiles and Amphibians • Snakes include copperheads, cottonmouths (water moccasins), coral snakes, and rattlesnakes • American alligators live in the Coastal Plain region • Endangered loggerhead sea turtles live along the barrier islands • 24 types of frogs, four species of toads, and 36 kinds of salamanders

16. Georgia’s Fish and Sea Life • Trout fishing is popular in north Georgia • Large-mouth bass found across the state in ponds and lakes • Blue crabs and pink shrimp popular along the golden isles region • Shad, a fish delicacy found in the Ogeechee River near Savannah, has a short harvesting season

18. This alligator was photographed having lunch at Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge.

19. This Burmese Python burst after swallowing a 6-ft. alligator. The snake was 13 ft. long.

21. Section 2: Georgia’s Natural Resources • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • What are the natural resources of Georgia?

22. Section 2: Georgia’s Natural Resources • What words do I need to know? • stones and mineral resources • kaolin and fuller’s earth • gold

23. Georgia’s Natural Stone Resources • Marble is found primarily in Gilmer, Hall, and Pickens counties • Granite is found mainly in Elbert and DeKalb counties • Stone Mountain, in DeKalb County, is the world’s largest exposed granite rock • Limestone and slate are mined in Georgia.

24. Kaolin and Fuller’s earth • Clay products; very profitable • Fuller’s earth: Mined in Decatur, Grady, Jefferson, and Thomas counties • Fuller’s earth is an absorbent used in kitty litter, for oils and grease, and in soaps and medicines • Kaolin: Mined in Fall Line counties in east-central Coastal Plain • Kaolin used in paper coating, paint filler, plastics and rubber, as base for porcelain products

26. Section 3: Georgia’s Waterways • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • How have waterways influenced Georgia’s exploration, settlement, and economic development?

27. Section 3: Georgia’s Waterways • What words do I need to know? -- Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway -- Semidiurnal tides -- Estuaries -- Reservoir -- Aquifer

28. Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway • 1,000-mile inland waterway that runs from New York to Miami, Florida • Between Georgia’s barrier islands and the Georgia coast • gives commercial and recreational boating traffic safety from storms, strong currents, and waves of ocean routes. • Savannah and Brunswick are Georgia’s two deep water ports

30. Georgia’s Tides • A tide is a rise or fall of the sea level caused by gravitational pull of the sun and the moon • Georgia’s coastline has six-foot to 9-foot tides (unusual) • Georgia has semidiurnal tides (two high tides and two low tides daily) • Spring tides (tides at highest) and neap tides (tides at their lowest)

31. Coastal Waterways: The Saltwater Marshes • Four- to six-mile band of saltwater marshes are between barrier islands and the mainland • These marshes cover about 500,000 acres • Cordgrass makes up 95 percent of the saltwater marsh vegetation • Sand fiddlers, mud fiddlers, snails, and crabs are common • Provide food for herons, egrets, ibis, sandpipers, and the endangered wood storks

33. Coastal Waterways: Sloughs and Estuaries • Freshwater sloughs (pronounced “slews”) are small ponds, swamps, and freshwater marshes • Develop from marsh creeks that lose tidal flow • Provides fresh water for forest animals • Estuaries occur when freshwater rivers and salt water mix; include tidal rivers, sounds, and marsh creeks • Crab, shrimp, fish, and shellfish thrive in these waters

34. Georgia’s Rivers • Twelve principal river systems • Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha (which combines Oconee and Ocmulgee), and Satilla rivers flow into Atlantic Ocean • Chattahoochee and Flint rivers become part of Gulf of Mexico • Oostanaula and Etowah rivers form the Coosa River, which flows through Alabama to the Gulf. • Alapaha, Suwannee, and St. Mary’s form the Georgia-Florida border

35. Georgia’s Lakes • No large natural lakes, but network of lakes formed from river system • Many large lakes created by U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Georgia Power Company • Carter Lake, Lake Lanier, Walter George, West Point, and Seminole generate hydroelectric power • Thurmond Lake, Lake Oconee, and Lake Hartwell provide fishing, recreation, and boating opportunities

36. Georgia’s Ports • Bainbridge and Columbus harbor two inland barge terminals • Savannah’s port, the nation’s fifth largest container port, focuses on containerized cargo • Brunswick’s port handles auto shipping, heavy equipment, farm machinery, and luxury tour buses

37. Reservoirs and Aquifers • Little groundwater in northern half of Georgia • Manmade Reservoirs (holding tanks) provide much water for northern Georgia • Georgia major aquifers (natural water storage tanks) are in Coastal Plain • Augusta features a nine-mile canal; today it is a National Park Heritage Area

38. This Confederate powder mill was located on the Augusta Canal. This photograph shows one of the canals locks. Locks routed water to the textile mills and other industries.

39. Towpath on the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal. One of the canal’s 6 locks located between the Ogeechee and Savanannah rivers.

40. Floodgate on the Savannah-Ogeechee canal. The gates could be opened by one man.