Lesson

1. The Mississippi River forms boundaries for which states? List them in order from north to south.

2. Two important tributaries empty into the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri. What are the names of these two rivers?
   ______________ _______________

3. What important Mississippi River tributary's mouth is located at the Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri borders?

4. Trace the Ohio River from its source to its mouth. The Ohio River forms boundaries for which states?
   ______________ ________________ ________________ ______________ ________________

5. What is the name of the Mississippi River tributary that has its source near Amarillo, Texas?
   _____________________________________________

6. Trace the Missouri River from its source near the Montana/Idaho state line to its mouth near St. Louis. What states does the Missouri River flow through. Include the states where the Missouri River forms the state boundaries.

   ______________ _______________ ________________ ______________ _______________ ________________

7. The source of the Colorado River is in what state? ____________________

8. Where is the mouth of the Colorado River? __________________________

9. The Columbia River is found in the northwest part of the United States. Locate the Columbia River on the United States map. Answer the following questions about the Columbia River.

   Where is the source of the Columbia River? _________________________

   Where is the mouth of the Columbia River? _________________________

10. What two important rivers in California are located in the valley between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Coast Ranges?

11. What is the name of the river that forms the boundary between the state of Texas and the country of Mexico?

12. List the names of the Great Lakes in order from east to west
    ______________ _______________ ________________ ______________ _______________

13. What is the name of the big lake in Utah? ________________

14. What is the name of the large lake in Florida? ________________

15. What is the name of the gulf located in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River? ________________

16. What is the name of the gulf located south of Anchorage, Alaska? ________________

17. What is the name of the gulf located south of California? ________________

18. This bay is the home of a large naval shipyard. Its coastline is Virginia and Maryland. What is the name of this bay? ________________

19. Locate Lake Huron. What two bays are found there?
    ________________ ________________

Use the United States map to help you identify each state picture in the direction mixer shown below. Label each state, then draw an arrow indicating north. Finally, label each bordering state or country. Use the sample completed for the state of Minnesota as an example.

Use the United States map to help answer these questions. The latitude and longitude of each state capital is listed in column one. In column two write the name of the capital city. In column three write the name of the state.

1. 44° N, 70° W

2. 43° N, 71° W

3. 33° N, 84° W

4. 38° N, 121° W

5. 21° N, 158° W

6. 41° N, 97° W

7. 58° N, 134° W

8. 33° N, 112° W

9. 45° N, 123° W

10. 47° N, 123° W

11. 31° N, 98° W

12. 38° N, 85° W

13. 40° N, 83° W

14. 40° N, 86° W

15. 36° N, 79° W

16. 39° N, 89° W

17. 45° N, 93° W

18. 43° N, 89° W

19. 32° N, 86° W

20. 38° N, 77° W

21. 41° N, 112° W

22. 36° N, 106° W

23. 34° N, 81° W

24. 36° N, 87° W

25. 31° N, 91°W

26. 43° N, 72° W

27. 43° N, 116° W

28. 40° N, 105° W

29. 42° N, 93° W

30. 47° N, 112° W

31. 39° N, 120° W

32. 41° N, 105° W

33. 47° N, 101° W

34. 44° N, 100° W

35. 39° N, 96° W

36. 35° N, 96° W

37. 38° N, 92° W

38. 36° N, 97° W

39. 31° N, 84° W

40. 32° N, 91° W

41. 43° N, 84° W

42. 39° N, 76° W

43. 41° N, 74° W

44. 42° N, 73° W

45. 39° N, 76° W

46. 43° N. 74° W

47. 41° N, 76° W

48. 38° N, 82° W

49. 42° N, 71° W

50. 44° N, 73° W

The pioneers averaged one hundred miles per week of travel. Wagon trains had to make it over the mountains by the first snow. They started in early May from Kansas City, Missouri. Bad weather, swollen rivers, prairie fires and other problems often caused long delays.

Use your United States map to find and circle the following locations.

1. 46° N - 119° W - Pendleton, Oregon

2. 39° N - 94° W - Kansas City, Missouri

3. 43° N - 112° W - Pocatello, Idaho

4. 41° N - 98° W - Hastings, Nebraska

5. 42° N - 105° W - Location near Glendo Reservoir in Wyoming
                      (Site of old Fort Laramie)

6. 41° N - 101° W - N. Platte, Nebraska (site of old fort Kearny)

On your map, draw a line connecting the locations you have circled. The line you draw will trace roughly the old Oregon Trail.

After each census the center of population for the United States is calculated. The center of population is the point, which may be considered as the center of population gravity of the United States. The center of population can be used to help us examine the history of settlement in the United States. Shown below is a chart listing the latitude and longitude of the location for selected years. Use the United States desk map to determine the approximate location of the center of population for each census year listed. Enter your answer in the spaces provided.

The United States Postal Service distributes over 100 billion pieces of mail each year. To help speed the delivery of the mail, a special location system was introduced July 1, 1963. This system is called the ZIP Code. ZIP Code means Zone Improvement Plan.

Look at the Zip Code map, which accompanies this lesson. The United States is divided into ten national areas. Each national area is given a number from 0 to 9. This is the first of the five numbers in a ZIP Code.

Important post offices in each national area are designated as sectional centers. These sectional centers are assigned the next two digits. Many major cities have their own large central post office. These large cities would not be served by the sectional centers. In those cases, the second and third digits identify the city.

Each sectional center serves several associate post offices. The associate post offices use the last two digits in the ZIP Code.

Let's follow a letter that is mailed in Seattle, Washington to someone in Alamogordo, New Mexico 88310. The postal worker has never heard of Alamogordo, New Mexico. The worker does know that New Mexico is part of national area 8. She also knows that 883 refers to the Carrizozo, New Mexico sectional center. She puts the letter in the 883 slot and it is sent directly to the Carrizozo, New Mexico sectional center.

Once the letter reaches the sectional center, it is then sent to Alamogordo, the local post office whose last two digits are 10.

Below is an illustration showing how the ZIP Code for Alamogordo, New Mexico is established

Write your ZIP Code in the boxes shown below.

Find the first digit of the ZIP Code for each state listed. Write your answers in the spaces provided.

New York	___________________	Alaska	___________________
Montana	___________________	Maine	___________________
Indiana	___________________	Tennessee	___________________
Wisconsin	___________________	Wyoming	___________________
Florida	___________________	California	___________________

The Postal Service has introduced the ZIP + 4 system. This is the original ZIP Code plus a hyphen and 4 new numbers. This ZIP + 4 system enables the Postal Service to sort your outgoing mail on high speed automated equipment to specific streets, specific buildings or even specific floors within a building. The boxes shown below illustrate how the last four digits of the ZIP Code + 4 work.

The letter mailed from Seattle, Washington to Alamogordo, New Mexico was mailed to this specific address:

Alamogordo Public Schools
122 Indiana Avenue
Alamogordo, New Mexico 88310-6722

We have already traced the letter from Seattle to the associate post office in Alamogordo. Once the letter arrives at this post office, the postal worker looks at the + 4 part of the ZIP Code (88310-6722).

In this example, the number 67 indicate the 1200 block. The number 22 means the building is on the side of the street whose address ends in even numbers.

A traveling salesperson wants to visit seven cities. The map below shows the seven cities this person wants to visit. Use the United States map to measure the straight-line distance between each city. Then add the total number of miles one would have to travel to visit all of the locations. Write your answers in the spaces provided.

1. No
2. Phoenix - over 1,000,000
3. Dallas, Houston
4. Omaha and Lincoln
5. Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston
6. Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Santa Fe
7. Bismarck and Fargo
8. Tacoma, Spokane, and Bellingham
9. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia
10. Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
11. Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming
12. Alaska, and Hawaii
13. Bismarck
14. Pierre
15. Atlanta
16. Harrisburg
17. Montpelier
18. Springfield
19. Topeka
20. Salem
21. Honolulu
22. Sacramento

Lesson 2 - Water Features

1. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana
2. Missouri River and Ohio River
3. Ohio River
4. Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio
5. Red River
6. Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas
7. Colorado
8. Mexico - Gulf of California
9. Canada (off the map) The Pacific Ocean - Between WA and OR
10. Sacramento River and San Joaquin River
11. Rio Grande
12. Lake Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, Superior
13. Great Salt Lake
14. Lake Okeechobee
15. Gulf of Alaska
16. Gulf of California
17. Chesapeake Bay
18. Georgian Bay and Saginaw Bay

Lesson 3 - Direction Mixers

1. Alabama - Bordering States: Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi
2. Iowa - Bordering States: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota
3. Illinois - Bordering States: Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Iowa
4. Oklahoma - Bordering States: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico
5. Utah - Bordering States: Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada

Lesson 4 - States and Capitals

1. Augusta, Maine
2. Boston, Mass
3. Atlanta, Georgia
4. Sacramento, California
5. Honolulu, Hawaii
6. Lincoln, Nebraska
7. Juneau, Alaska
8. Phoenix, Arizona
9. Salem, Oregon
10. Olympia, Washington
11. Austin, Texas
12. Frankfort, Kentucky
13. Columbus, Ohio
14. Indianapolis, IN
15. Raleigh, North Carolina
16. Springfield, Illinois
17. St. Paul, Minnesota
18. Madison, Wisconsin
19. Montgomery, Alabama
20. Richmond, Virginia
21. Salt Lake City, Utah
22. Santa Fe, New Mexico
23. Columbia, South Carolina
24. Nashville, Tennessee
25. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
26. Concord, New Hampshire
27. Boise, Idaho
28. Denver, Colorado
29. Des Moines, Iowa
30. Helena, Montana
31. Carson City, Nevada
32. Cheyenne, Wyoming
33. Bismarck, North Dakota
34. Pierre, South Dakota
35. Topeka, Kansas
36. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
37. Jefferson, Missouri
38. Little Rock, Arkansas
39. Tallahassee, Florida
40. Jackson, Mississippi
41. Lansing, Michigan
42. Annapolis, Maryland
43. Trenton, New Jersey
44. Hartford, Connecticut
45. Dover, Delaware
46. Albany, New York
47. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
48. Charleston, West Virginia
49. Providence, Rhode Island
50. Montpelier, Vermont

Lesson 5 - The Oregon Trail

No Questions to answer

Lesson 6 - Center of Population

1. 1790 - Dover, or Baltimore orAnnapolis
2. 1800 - Annapolis or Washington DC
3. 1820 - West of Washington DC
4. 1840 - Eastern West Virginia
5. 1860 - Chillicathe, Ohio
6. 1880 - Cincinnati, Ohio
7. 1900 - Columbus, Indiana
8. 1920 - Baltimore or Terra Haute, Indiana
9. 1940 - Bloomington or Vincennes, Indiana
10. 1960 - Rend Lake, Illinois
11. 1980 - Ste Genevieve or Cape Girardeau, MO
12. 2000 - Between Rolla and Poplar Bluff, MO

Lesson 7 - Zip Codes

1. One
2. Five
3. Four
4. Five
5. Three
6. Nine
7. Zero
8. Three
9. Eight
10. Nine

Lesson 8 - Scale

1. 1128 Miles
2. 936 Miles
3. 1272 Miles
4. 1080 Miles
5. 1008 Miles
6. 912 Miles
7. 720 Miles Total Miles: 7056