chapter 8 geography and peoplechapter 8 geography and people.docVIP

The United States of America Chapter 1 Geography and people 一、教学目标与要求 1. 掌握美国基本地理状况，包括重要河流，五大湖的名称。 2. 熟悉美国的重要城市及其主要城市特征。 3. 了解美国的人口与民族。 二、教学方法与手段 ?????? ?课堂讲解，分组讨论，调查研究。 三、基本概念和知识点 Geography I. Location and Size 1. The full name of the United States is the United States of America. The continental United States lies in central North America with Canada to its north, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to its south, the Atlantic Ocean to its east and the Pacific Ocean to its west. 2. The U.S. has a land area of 9.3 million square kilometers. It is the fourth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China. 3. The U.S. is a federal republic with many states. 1) For a long time there were 48 states, then in 1959 Alaska and Hawaii became the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. Alaska borders on northwestern Canada and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific. 2) Of all the states, Alaska is the largest in area and Rhode Island is the smallest. But on the mainland Texas is the largest sate of the country. II. Mountains, Rivers and Lakes 1. Mountains 1) The Rockies (落基山脉), the backbone of the North American Continent, is also known as the Continental Divide. 2) The two main mountain ranges in American are the Appalachian mountains and the Rocky mountains. The Appalachians run slightly from the northeast to southwest and the Rocky mountains run slightly from the northwest to southeast. 2. Rivers 1) The Mississippi River is the largest river in American, over 6000 kilometers. The Mississippi has been called “father of waters” or “old man river”. 2) The Ohio river has been called the American Ruhr(鲁尔区). The area along the river is rich in valuable deposits of high-grade coking coal and is well known for its steel industry. The river provides cheap water transportation for raw materials. 3) On the Pacific side there are two great rivers: the Colorado in the south and the Columbia, which rises in Canada. 4) The Rio Grande River forms a natural boundary between Mexico a