Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 1, Lesson 2: California's Regions (pp. 12-18)
I. Four Regions
B. Each region offered early settlers different challenges and advantages.
II. The Coast
B. The sunny southern coast attracts people who prefer a warm climate.
III. The Central Valley
B. The Valley's hot and dry climate in the summer and cooler and wet climate in the winter make it perfect for growing vegetables and nuts.
IV. The Mountains
B. Yosemite National Park is located in the Sierra Nevada, one of many mountain ranges in California that John Muir admired.
C. Melting snow from the Sierra Nevada provides water to farms and cities.
V. The Deserts
B. People, such as the Fort Mojave tribe, live in the desert today as they have for thousands of years.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. California's four main regions -- the coast, the Central Valley, the mountains, and the deserts -- each have features that set it apart from the other areas.
A.The northern coast's cool and wet climate helps thick forests grow.
A. Land in the Central Valley is some of the most productive farmland in the world.
A. Over half of the land in the state is covered with mountains.
A. Hundreds of types of plants and animals live in the extreme climate of the desert regions of the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert.
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