PENNSVALLEY
50
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Lesson 29:
The Political Features of TheMidwest Region
Our next areaof theUnitedStates is called theMidwest Region.Fromour geography terms, recall
that a region has at least one feature in common.Onemajor, common feature of this region is that it
consistsmostly of plains. Like theSoutheast Region, this area is huge. It covers 12 stateswith a total
population of more than 66million people.
This regionhas anumber of other names, suchas theCentral States. Somepeople call this area
thePlains States, while others call them thePrairieStates because of all the grassland.States in this
region bordering theGreat Lakes are called, you guessed it, theGreat Lakes States!
ACTIVITY 1:
Let’s take a tour around the Midwest Region to learn where the states are located. A) Use the grid
coordinates to locateandwrite thenames of the states in theblanks on your regional mapon thenext
page. B) After you have located and labeled each state, find its boundaries and trace it with colored
pencils.
GridCoordinates
StateName
1. I,3
Ohio
2.H,2
Michigan
3.G/H,4
Indiana
4. F/G,3
Illinois
5. F,2
Wisconsin
6.D/E,1
Minnesota
ACTIVITY 2:
A) Now that we knowwhere the states are located, let’s identify their state capitals by writing them in
at their starred locations on the map on the next page. B) As you locate and label the state capital,
write the name of the state that the capital city belongs to in the blank spaces below.
StateCapital
State
StateCapital
State
1.Columbus at I,3
7.DesMoines at E,3
2. Lansing at I,2
8. JeffersonCity at E,4
3. Indianapolis at H,3
9. Bismarck at B,1
4. Springfield at F,3
10. Pierre at B,2
5.Madison at G,2
11. Lincoln at D,3
6. St. Paul at E,2
12.Topeka at D,4
GridCoordinates
StateName
7.D/E,3
Iowa
8.D/E,4
Missouri
9. A/B/C,1
NorthDakota
10. A/B,2
SouthDakota
11. A/B,3
Nebraska
12.D,4
Kansas
Midwest Region
