Natural Resources of

Texas

Created By

Carmen Phillips

Krimmel Intermediate

Texas is the 2nd largest state in the U.S. behind Alaska. The area of Texas is 267,277

square miles.

#2

Texas makes up 7% of the total land area of the United States.

7%

In the south we are mostly on a level plain and along the coast are barrier islands and protected bays.

Natural Resources

Padre Island

Cutting across Texas is an escarpment, or a great curving arc or cliff, named the Balcones Escarpment. It was formed by a long ago earthquake. This marks the beginning of the Hill Country. This is a plateau, or tableland.

As you travel northwest the land gets flatter and higher with an abrupt change at the Caprock Escarpment along with the Palo Duro Canyon and Tule Canyons.

Palo Duro Canyonhttp://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/texas/palo-duro-canyon-state-park.php

In the west is the only place where mountains can be found in Texas. The highest point is the Guadalupe Peak.

Guadalupe Peak 8,749 feet

Texas Water ResourcesTexas’s Water Resources include the Gulf of Mexico, bays and rivers. Rivers of Texas are called the wrong way rivers because they take needed water away from the dry areas of the state due to the higher elevation in the northwest.

To control floods and keep needed water from flowing into the Gulf, rivers have been dammed to form lakes.

Proctor Dam – Courtesy US Army Corps of Engineers

The only natural lake in Texas is Caddo Lake.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/parkguide/rgn_pw_003.phtml

Aquifers are underground water reservoirs used for irrigation.

Edwards Aquifer in the Hill Country supplies water for San Antonio and for farms to the west and is refilled by rainfall.

Guadalupe River

Barton Springs

Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas High Plains has declining water levels and can not be refilled easily, but it irrigates 5 million acres.

Optional Ogallala Video Clip. First 30 seconds ONLY. http://www.depts.ttu.edu/communications/news/stories/videos/ogallala-video.php

Cotton Farmers of the Texas High Plains

Can you guess how many gallons of water it takes to grow ONE pound of cotton?

1 PoundCOTTON That’s about 20

water coolers!

=

100 Gallons!

Soil is a valuable resource for both farming and ranching.

3 Vegetation Regions of Texas

Forests located in the East provide one of the top cash crops in Texas.

Grasses and small shrubs of the Savannas grow in Central and West Texas.

Stretching from Dallas to San Antonio and around Houston, the Grasslands are the most heavily settled regions.

Texas’s Natural Economic Resources

Main Minerals are:

Petroleum

CoalSand and

Gravel

Natural Gas

$ $

Some of Texas’ natural materials are used in building. Do you have

any of these natural stones in YOUR home?

Building Stones

Limestone(Floors)

Granite(Countertop

s)

Gypsum(Drywall)

Texas Energy

1/4 of all the energy in the history of the United States has been produced in Texas.

Come in quietly and open your INB:

In your Interactive Notebook Pg 11 create a Postcard of ONE Natural Resource we visited today! Front and Back! You must use COLOR!

Wishing you

were here…

Palo Duro Canyon

Interactive NB Page 10: Brainstorm: Create a bubble map of Natural Resources found in Texas and explain how the resources are used.

You must have 6 resources!

Natural Resources

OfTexas

Pre AP Assignment