Study Guide

Midwest Region

  1. Know the geographical location of each state.
  1. Know the capital of each state.
  1. Know the five Great Lakes: HOMES

Huron

Ontario

Michigan

Erie

Superior

  1. The Lakota were forced onto reservations, by the US government, they wanted to continue their lifestyle of hunting. They did NOT want to leave their land.
  1. When the white men came to the Midwest they brought horses, which the Lakota learned to tame and made it possible for them to travel further.
  1. The railroads and pioneers killed most of the buffalo that the Lakota needed.
  1. The white men took the Black Hills from the Lakota when gold was discovered there.
  1. Because of disagreements over land the Lakota fought wars with white men.
  1. Assembly lines help companies to manufacture things faster and cheaper.
  1. The Black Hills were considered sacred land to the Lakota.
  1. Because goods can be shipped on them, the Great Lakes helped the Midwest become an industrial area. Together the Great Lakes form the largest body of fresh water in the world. Because the lakes are so large they change the weather of the land around them. We call this “lake effects” weather.
  1. Agriculture is very important to the Midwest region, and there are many farms there. It is called the “breadbasket of the world” because of the grain produced there.
  1. Mount Rushmore has a carving of 4 US presidents on it.
  1. The Lakota were hunters and buffalo were very important to them, they used all of the parts of the animals. White men came and killed off almost all of the buffalo. This was one reason Lakota were forced to live on reservations.
  1. Detroit is known as Motor City USA because it manufactures so many automobiles.
  1. Pioneers traveled west in covered wagons. They cleared the land, planted crops and farmed. They had to make everything they needed like tools, soap, clothing, candles, and toys. They grew their crops and hunted for food.
  1. Farming has changed because technology has provided machines like tractors, combines, milking machines that make it faster and easier to farm.
  1. Manufacturing has changed because technology has made it possible to mass produce goods using robots, assembly lines, and computers.
  1. Iron ore, made into steel was one reason the Midwest was the first area to build a skyscraper. Iron ore is mined in this region.
  1. Wisconsin is called America’s Dairyland because of the dairy cows that are raised and the products that are made there.
  1. Prairie is a flat area thickly covered with tall grass.
  1. People who settle land new to them are pioneers.
  1. Reclamation is restoring mined land.
  1. Animals raised on a farm are livestock.

21. A period of little or no rain is a drought.

22. Plains are flat lands between mountains.

  1. A dangerous storm with funnel clouds is a tornado
  1. A rock that contains metal is called ore

25. Frontier is the edge of a settled area.

26 Land set aside for Native Americans is a reservation.