The Geography of

Michigan

vocabulary

geography

The study of places

Example: communities, states, countries

geographer

Someone who studies places

Natural Characteristics

Things that are not made by man

Example: trees, soil, animals

Human characteristics

Parts of a place made by people

Example: bridge, roads

County

A division of a state

Example: Oceana, Newaygo

There are 83 counties in Michigan

State

One of the 50 parts of our country

Example: Michigan

Border

The place where one area ends and another area begins.

Government

A group of elected citizens who make and carry out the rules for a community, state or country.

Location

Where a place is found

An address helps describe the location of a house.

Absolute location

Where the exact location of a place is

Your address shows the absolute location of your house

Relative location

Where a place is in relation to other places

Michigan is north of Ohio

Direction words

Words that tell the direction

Example: North, south, east, west

Map

An illustration/diagram that shows the location of something

A map could show a city, river or country

Landforms

The different kinds of land on Earth

Ex) mountains, hills, plains

Peninsula

Land surrounded by water on three sides

Island

Land surrounded by water

Sand dune

Ridges or hills of loose sand piled up by the wind

Bay

A body of water that is partly blocked off by land

A body of water with land on three sides.

Mountain range

A row of connected mountains

Glacier

Giant sheets of slowly moving ice

The Great LakesFive huge lakes located in the northern part of the United States.

Lake Michigan

Lake Huron

Lake Erie

Lake Superior

Lake Onterio

Elevation

How high a place is

A mountain has a higher elevation than a hill

Special Purpose Maps

Maps that show characteristics of an area such as landforms, climate or forests

Vegetation

The plants of an area.

Michigan has many trees-white pine, apple

Dune grass grows on the dunes

Climate

The weather over a long period of time

Michigan’s climate has four different seasons.

Temperature

How hot or cold the air is.

The Upper Peninsula is usually colder than the Lower Peninsula

Precipitation

Water that falls to the ground from the sky

Example: rain, sleet, snow, hail

Natural Resources

Things in nature that people find useful

Example: water, fertile soil, oil, trees

Fertile soil

Soil that is good for growing things

Michigan has a lot of fertile soil in the lower peninsula.

Minerals

Natural resources found in the ground such as iron ore

Minerals are removed from the ground by mining

Iron ore

A mineral used to make steel

Iron ore is mined in the Upper Peninsula

Copper

A mineral used to make things such as pipes for plumbing

It is found in the Upper Peninsula

For many, Michigan was world leader in copper mining

Limestone

A stone used to make steel and cement

It is mined in Rogers City, Michigan

Renewable resources

Natural resources that can be replaced

Example: trees, water

Nonrenewable resources

Natural resources that CANNOT be replaced

Example: oil, iron ore