Welcome part 2
- 1. Historical and Cultural Geography of North America Part 2 By Professor Lisa Schmidt
- 2. Language The United States has NO official language. English is the language of business and government Spanish is spoken by about 30 million households Chinese is spoken by about 2 million households French by about 1.6 million
- 3. California Languages California is ethnically diverse! Many languages from around the world are spoken here. Not depicted: Farsi, Arabic, and Native Languages Languages OTHER than English spoken in California
- 4. Dialects In the United States you will find MANY different dialects. New England: Connections with England influence the language Middle Colonies: Influence from Dutch and German settlers Southern States: Influence from Africans Great Plains: Influence from Scandinavia and Germany Northwest: British Influence Southwest: Spanish Influence ALL DIALECTS: Native American influence
- 5. Religion A “Christian Country” Religious Freedom Possibly every religion known to man can be found here! Northeast: Catholic and Protestant Middle Colonies: More Catholic South: Baptists Southwest: Catholic Great Plains: Lutherans
- 6. Economy Economic Regions NE: Manufacturing/Services/Small Farms Mid-Atlantic: Manufacturing/Services SE: Agriculture/Manufacturing SW: Resource Extraction/Agriculture/Tourism Central Plains: Agriculture/Food Processing Great Lakes: Heavy Industry/Agriculture/Food Processing Rocky Mountains: Mining/Timber/Ranching Pacific Alaska Region: Timber/Mining/Fishing/Light Industry Pacific Region: Light Industry/Agriculture/Mining/Timber
- 7. Economic Trends Movement of Industry Trend: out of the north to the south, then out of the south to other parts of the world. Recession California: Industry centered in coastal regions. Resource extraction in Eastern California, agriculture in the Central Valley.
- 8. Politics Many parties, only two that actually get elected. Republicans Democrats
- 9. 2012 Election November 6, 2012 Election Day
- 10. Structure of the US Government
- 11. Structure of the US Government
- 12. US Court System
- 13. Approval Rating for Barack Obama
- 14. California Our new, old governor: Jerry Brown
- 15. Current Issues in California Illegal Immigration AB 540 Dream Act Legalization of Marijuana Proposition 215
- 16. Structure of Schools Preschool Usually ages 3 to about 6 Not mandatory, not free Kindergarten through 12 th grade Grade School: Kindergarten through 5 th or 6 th grade Junior High School/Middle School: 6 th or 7 th grade through 8 th grade High School: 9 th grade through 12 th grade Compulsory enrollment from 1 st grade through 12 th Free, based on property taxes The neighborhood you live in determines what kind of a school your children will go to. College 13 th and 14 th grade or trades/technical Not mandatory, not free University 13 th grade through PhD. Not mandatory, not free