United States and Canada

Physical Geography

Chapter 6, Section 3

Resources and Land Uses

The land and soil found in America’s South and Midwest are best suited for farming.

Up through the early 20th Century, most

American farms were family owned.

Water, the most important of all natural

resources is needed for the obvious: to drink and to grow

crops for food.

Water is also important for

producing hydroelectricity

Water also plays an important part of the industrial

process

Water plays an important role in transportation and shipping goods

Forests are in abundance in the Great Lakes, Northwest,

Appalachians and the south. They produce lumber, wood pulp for paper and wood for furniture.

The United States produces and consumes more fossil fuels than any other country in the world

Less than 10% of Canada’s land is suitable for farming

Much of Canada’s mineral wealth is found in the Canadian Shield.

The Prairie Provinces have

large oil and natural gas

deposits

Canada is a leading producer of timber products

Key Term Review

alluvial soilagribusiness

fossil fuels hydroelectricity

Fertile topsoil left by a river after a flood is known as alluvial soil

A large company that runs huge farms is known

as agribusiness

Electric power produced by moving wateris known as

Hydroelectricity

A fuel formed over millions of years from animal and plant remains is known as

fossil fuel