North America has 8 distinct geographic regions running north to south and extending east to west. This series examines the climate, soil, vegetation, animal life and landforms of each diverse geographic region. The human impact on the area is also discussed. Concise maps outline the location and size of each region and computer graphics help illustrate how notable geologic features are formed. Each program includes a description of continental drift and how North America was formed millions of years ago. Series also includes a visual dictionary, (Digi-nary), of key terms found in the programs.

8 Regions, 1 Digi-nary

Coastal Plains
The surf of the Atlantic Ocean washes the eastern coast of North America. Then, the continental coast circles the Gulf of Mexico… from the southern end of Florida… across Alabama and Mississippi, to Louisiana and Texas… and finally hooking down into Mexico, all the way to the Yucatan Peninsula. Along this roughly 3,000 miles of oceanfront, the relatively flat lands adjacent to the sea are known as the “Coastal Plain.” In some places in the north, the Coastal Plain can be as narrow as ten miles.  While at its widest point the Coastal Plain region extends a distance of about 400 miles! From its pine and hardwood forests in the north, to the tropical rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula in the south, the Coastal Plain features some of the most beautiful and diverse landforms in all of North America.

Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains are the oldest mountain range in North America. They date back about 650 million years. The collision between the North American and African plates caused the mountain range to rise up. The Appalachians had become the highpoint of the eastern part of the continent, running from Newfoundland down to the central part of Alabama.

Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield has a greater land area with fewer people living in it than any other geographical region on the North American continent.  This geographic region has some of the hardest and oldest rocks to be found anywhere in North America. Scientists estimate there were at least 150 separate volcanic belts, or strings of volcanoes, involved in creating the foundation of the Canadian Shield. This region is the very first portion of North America to be pushed up above sea level.  It all began some 3-4 million years ago. Included within the Canadian Shield are portions of five Canadian Provinces, 4 United States, and the world’s largest island, Greenland.

Interior Lowlands
The Interior Lowland of the North America is at the heart of the continent.  This important region extends from the Canadian Arctic in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south.  The region features terrain with broad river valleys, rolling hills, high bluffs, forested growth, open vistas and many lakes.

Great Plains
At the very heart of North America, between the Rocky Mountains and east of the Mississippi River, we find one of the continent's largest regional landforms, The Great Plains. Its most striking feature is its flatness and wide open spaces. The Great Plains encompass all or part of 15 of the United States and three Canadian provinces.  In Canada, the Great Plains is known as “The Prairies.” One might wonder…how did the Great Plains become so flat?  The answer goes back about 250 million years. Back then, the Great Plains were not plains or prairie at all. In fact, they were not even dry land. Scientists have determined that it was once covered by a vast inland sea known as the Western Interior Waterway.  This waterway ran from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south.

Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are like the backbone of the North American continent, stretched from top to bottom of the continent like a spine. In this case, the vertebrae are rugged mountain peaks. The true Rockies are found running from the Laird River Basin in the Canadian province of British Columbia to the Sacramento Mountains in the state of New Mexico. The Rocky Mountains span a distance of about 3,000 miles.

Basin and Range
Located between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Coastal Ranges to the west, this gigantic Basin and Range Region runs for about 5,000 miles from the Bering Sea to the southern end of Mexico.

Coastal Range
The western coast of North America is a series of spectacular shorelines, where breathtaking waves from the Pacific Ocean crash upon amazing rock formations… at the base along the Coastal Range. It stretches for over 3,500 miles, from the Alaskan Peninsula in the north, to the tip of the Baja California Peninsula in the south. One would normally think of mountains as solid and unmovable, but the majority of these towering peaks began as volcanoes and several still have the potential to become active even today!  This region is just a small part of a famous line of tectonic activity that circles the entire Pacific Ocean, known as The Ring of Fire!

Digi-nary
The comprehensive and visually rich “Digi-nary” program includes over 60 key terms defined within the series. Access video clips, approximately 20-30 seconds per term, from an alphabetical menu.