chapter 5 homework

Chapter 5, Section 1

1. Niagara Falls has been a major source of hydroelectric power for the United States and Canada. Many large rivers such as the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence River have become commercial waterways and are depended on for trade.

2. Near the Great Lakes there are large deposits of coal, iron, and other minerals that favored the development of industries and urban growth in the area. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system has provided a link between inland and coastal waterways that has been crucial to the economic development of North America.


Creative Writing:
Once leaving Virginia you would be able to see the Appalachian Mountains, North America’s oldest mountains. Once near Central America you would see one of North America’s largest rivers, the Mississippi River. Soon you would fly over the Rocky Mountains, which connect the United Stated to Canada. Before reaching the Pacific Ranges you would fly over the Columbia Plateau, which separates the Pacific Ranges from the Rockies.

Chapter 5, Section 2

1. In the United States and Canada there are humid subtropical, tropical wet, steppe, desert, Mediterranean, humid continental, highland, marine west coast, subarctic, tundra, and ice cap climates.

2. Dry Santa Ana winds cause widespread brush fires in hills around Los Angeles and Oakland. In the Great Plains and the eastern U.S, violent spring and summer thunderstorms called supercells often spawn tornadoes. In northern North America winter blizzards cause heavy winds and snow, and little visibility.

Creative Writing:
Being closer to the Atlantic Ocean and at a higher elevation, Pennsylvania has humid continental climate with humid and hot summers and cold winters. Salt Lake City is much further away from the coast and is at a lower elevation causing a drier and hot desert climate.