NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______

Natural Texas
Lesson 1: Geography of Texas

ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How does geography influence the way people live?

Terms to Know
appreciate to understand fully
location the site or position of a place or thing
element a separate, identifiable part of something
environment the surroundings in which people, plants, or animals live

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26 Reading Essentials and Study Guide

 NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______

Natural Texas
Lesson 1: Geography of Texas, continued

Geography of Texas
Guiding Question Why is it important to understand geography? Describing
When you know the geography of a place, it helps you appreciate 1. How large is Texas?
why people live the way they do and why events occurred there.
Geography is important for understanding the past and the
present of Texas and of the world.
Texas is the second-largest state in the United States, after
Alaska. It has a total area of 266,807 square miles (691,030 sq km).
The state is as large as New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Marking the
Illinois, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Text
Hampshire, New Jersey, and Maine combined.
2. Highlight information
If you ask, “Where is Texas?” you are asking about the state’s about the location of
location. You might be referring to its absolute or its relative Texas.
location. Texas is in the Western Hemisphere, which includes North
America and South America. In North America, Texas is in the Defining
southwestern United States.
3. What is the definition
As you study Texas, ask yourself some important questions of environment?
about the state’s geography. The answers to these questions will
help you understand major elements of a place’s geography.
• Where is the place?
• What is the place like?
• How is the place the same as other places?
Explaining
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• How is it different from other places?

4. What is important
• How do the people who live there interact with their
about Texas’s location
surroundings, or environment?
on the Gulf of Mexico?
• How are those people linked with other people and other
places?
• How does geography relate to the past, present, and future of
that place?
The relative location of Texas, close to the Gulf of Mexico, has
been important for the state’s growth. The Gulf provides jobs to
thousands of Texans. They work in the fishing, oil, tourist, and
shipping industries.
Geography can help answer questions about what is special
about a place. Physical elements are landforms, climate, plants,
and animals. Human elements are language, religion, architecture,
music, politics, and ways of life.

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NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______

Natural Texas
Lesson 1: Geography of Texas, continued

Geographers also look at the land and climate of a place. They

Explaining want to understand how it became what it is today. Geographers
study physical features, such as Hamilton Pool in Travis County.
5. How was Hamilton They consider how this natural, underground pool formed
Pool formed? thousands of years ago. Due to erosion, a large cave collapsed,
revealing the pool. Events that have shaped the land include
volcanic activity, the movement of glaciers, and hurricanes.
Another important factor that geographers study is how
people, ideas, and goods move. This helps explain how humans
shape a place. For example, geographers might study how
transportation systems in Texas help people, goods, and ideas
Reading move from place to place. These systems include roads, railways,
Progress Check and other structures.
6. How does the Geographers study how people have changed the land and
geography of a place water of a place. For example, there was a terrible hurricane in
affect people? 1900. Afterwards, Galveston built a seawall to protect the city from
future storms.
The environment can affect human activities, too. The soil and
the amount of rain in a place determine what crops people can
grow. People need to understand the plants and animals. They
also need to know about human and physical elements. If people
know about these things, then they can figure out how to make
plans for themselves, for their businesses, and for their
Marking the government.

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Text
7. Circle the current
population of Texas.
Determining
Word Meaning
8. What does it mean to
have an ethnically
diverse population?
People and Places of Texas
Guiding Question What is special about the people and places of Texas?
Texas is a special place. It is home to hundreds of plants and
animals. Although there are vast differences from one area of
Texas to another, the people of Texas can enjoy many things about
their own special part of the state.
More than 26 million people live in Texas, and it is expected to
keep growing. It will also become more ethnically diverse. Today,
Texans claim ties to countries on five continents. A few of these
countries are Greece, Poland, Russia, Lebanon, Syria, China, and
Vietnam.
What does this mean for Texas? A growing, diverse, and
educated population is important to the state’s economy because
it gives employers many good workers. This gives an advantage to
Texas companies.

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 NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______

Natural Texas
Lesson 1: Geography of Texas, continued

Texas’s largest cities grew in the eastern part of the state. People
settled there first because of the fertile soil. More than 6.7 million Marking the
people live in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area. Dallas started Text
out as a cotton market and then grew when oil was found. Fort
Worth started as an army post and then it became a cattle-shipping 9. Highlight the percent
center. Arlington began as a frontier outpost, and today it is home of Texans who live in
to high-tech companies. rural areas.
The cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington have been
spreading toward each other and are growing into one urban area. Reading
This area has many industries, such as oil refining, aircraft and Progress Check
electronics manufacturing, and food processing. The growth of 10. How is Texas’s growing
these and other Texas cities has had good effects on the state’s population helpful to
economy. businesses in Texas?
Texas also has small towns, farms, and ranches. In total, 12 percent
of Texas’s population lives in small, rural places like these.
Wherever Texans live, the state’s huge transportation and
communication networks link major urban areas and smaller
towns. Texas's products and energy resources move throughout
the United States on roads, on railroads, and in pipelines.

Writing
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Check for Understanding

1. Expository Why is it important to study geography?

2. Expository What are some physical and human elements of Texas geography?

Reading Essentials and Study Guide 29