Name Class Date

Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

2 Mapping Texas Transparency Package
The largest state in the continental United States, Texas boasts a variety of different land-
forms. From the rugged high mountains in the west, through deserts, hills, plains, and
down to the coastline, the landscape of Texas is extremely diverse. Additionally, Texas has
a great many lakes and rivers that flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Generations of Texans
have learned to adapt and use the geographic features of the state in order to create a
better life.
INTERPRETING CHARTS
1. What are three geographic features indicated by the diagram?
2. What is the approximate elevation in meters at the midpoint between El Paso and
Port Arthur?
3. What points on the chart are located at 2,000 feet above sea level or higher?
CRITICAL THINKING
1. What is one type of landform or body of water found in Texas that is NOT shown in
the Texas Landforms diagram?
2. How do you think the air differs between locations near sea level as opposed to areas
of high elevation?
Landforms, Water Features, and Elevations
TRANSPARENCY 1
Menu Print
blank page to be used as backing
for Transparency 1
Menu Print
Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Mapping Texas Transparency Package
Landforms, Water Features, and Elevations
TRANSPARENCY 1
773 miles
Sea Level
2,000 ft.
1,000 ft.
3,000 ft.
4,000 ft.
5,000 ft.
6,000 ft.
Sea Level
610 m
305 m
904 m
1,220 m
1,524 m
1,829 m
El Paso
3,695 ft.
Hueco
Mountains
5,500 ft.
Delaware
Mountains
5,870 ft.
MOUNTAINS AND BASINS
Pecos River
2,617 ft.
King
Mountain
3,141 ft.
Eldorado
2,439
Port
Arthur
10 ft.
Houston
40 ft.
Austin
501 ft.
Fredericksburg
1,702 ft.
Bastrop
450 ft.
EDWARDS PLATEAU GULF COASTAL PLAINS
Profile Line
El Paso
Port
Arthur
Mountains
Valley
Desert
Canyon
River
Gulf
Plateau
Escarpment
Hills
Plain
Bay
Island
Coastline
Texas
Landforms
The Texas landscape is diverse. Traveling across the state, you could find
plains, rivers, hills, deserts, and even mountains. Each of the landforms
and waterways in this diagram can be found in Texas.
Extinct volcano
Menu Print
Transparency 1
Interpreting Charts
1. Students may name any three landforms
or waterways from the diagram.
2. 610 meters
3. El Paso, Hueco Mountains, Delaware
Mountains, Pecos River, King Mountain,
Eldorado
Critical Thinking
1. lake, swamp/marsh, cavern, etc.
2. Air is more humid and dense near sea
level and thinner and drier at high eleva-
tions; air is also more likely to be warmer
near sea level and colder in the mountains.
Transparency 2
Interpreting Maps
1. cotton
2. forest
3. savannah
Critical Thinking
1. better farming and more abundant water
sources, more hospitable climates, greater
variety of landscapes and vegetation
2. too hot and dry to grow cotton or feed for
livestock
Transparency 3
Interpreting Charts
1. largest: 2544; smallest: 05
2. 20 million
3. white Texans
Critical Thinking
1. because women tend to live longer than
men
2. because Texas was settled primarily by
Spanish and white European colonists.
Latin Americans as well as U.S. residents
of other states continue to relocate to
Texas.
Transparency 4
Interpreting Maps
1. Red River, Sabine River, and Rio Grande
2. Canadian River, Pecos River, Rio Grande
3. nine
Critical Thinking
1. southeast, toward the Gulf of Mexico;
because they would logically flow down-
ward, from higher elevations to lower,
until they reach the open water
2. in order to follow the easiest downward
path by flowing around hills and other
raised landforms
Transparency 5
Interpreting Maps
1. 814 inches
2. source: 1522 inches; mouth: 4756
inches
3. Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio
Critical Thinking
1. 23-30 inches and westward, though sum-
mer droughts are quite common as far
east as the region marked 31-38 inches
2. More precipitation means greater popula-
tion because crops grow better in areas
with regular rainfall, and the climate is
usually cooler and more comfortable,
attracting higher numbers of people.
Transparency 6
Interpreting Maps
1. Students answers will vary.
2. Mountains and Basins
3. Blackland Prairie, Post Oak Belt, Piney
Woods, Gulf Coast Plain, South Texas
Plains
Critical Thinking
1. plains
2. Answers will vary.
Transparency 7
Interpreting Maps
1. Caddo, Tonkawa, Atakapa, Karankawa,
Coahuiltecan, Jumano
2. Tonkawa, Jumano
3. any three: Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Wichita,
Comanche, Alabama Coushatta, Tigua,
Mescalero Apache, Lipan Apache,
Kickapoo
Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
64 Mapping Texas Transparency Package
ANSWER KEY
Menu Print