Page 48 - Key to Social Studies 6
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Canada The Canadian Shield
Canada has some unique physical features. Much of Canada is covered with the Rocky Mountains, forests, • The Canadian Shield is made of metamorphic rocks, which means rocks that have been transformed by
and tundra. The country can be divided into seven di erent landform regions as follows: heat, pressure, or chemical alteration. A traveler to Canada would see large open areas of bare rocks
that are millions of years old.
• The Canadian Shield covers more than half of Canada, including Ontario and Quebec, and is an
important resource for minerals.
The Great Lakes (St. Lawrence Lowlands)
Map of Canada
• The Great Lakes are located to the west of the Lowlands, in the basins created by the glaciers that
melted after the Ice Age. Around 50% of the Canadian population lives in this area near the cities of
Ottawa and Toronto because of the richness of the region's soil that helped make it one of the country's
main agricultural regions.
• The St. Lawrence Lowlands are found in the southern area of the Canadian Shield in Ontario and
Quebec.
The Appalachian Mountains
• This region is the oldest highland in Canada. The Appalachians extend almost 3,200 km, from the
Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to the US state of Alabama in the south.
• This region has many of the hardwood trees that are used in the timber industry.
The Hudson Bay Lowlands and the Arctic Lowlands
• The Lowlands are split up into two subregions: the Hudson Bay Lowlands and the Arctic Lowlands. The
Hudson Bay Lowlands extend from the north part of Manitoba to James Bay. This area was covered in
ice during the Ice Age and then ooded as the ice receded, leaving behind plains. This area includes a
The Western Cordillera
variety of lowlands, which are at lands at sea level, to very high cli s. A cli is a high, steep face of rock,
• The Western Cordillera is a series of mountain ranges with plateaus and valleys in between.
most often found along the coasts of islands and continents.
• It covers most of the Yukon Territory and the provinces of British Columbia and western Alberta.
• The Arctic Lowlands lie between the Canadian Shield and the Innuitian Region. They are located in
The Interior Plains Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. They have very short, sunny summers and long, frozen winters.
• The interior plains are deep, at, and fertile land extending through the middle of Canada from the
The Innuitian Mountains
north to the south.
• These mountains are younger than the Appalachian Mountains. The Innuitian mountain range is 1,290
• These interior plains cover most of Alberta and Saskatchewan and provide large areas for wheat km, and some of its mountains are over 2,500 m high.
production, often called the “bread basket” of Canada, and other agricultural goods.
• This landform is located in the Arctic territories of the northwest and Nunavut regions.
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