Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Sue Young, 4th Grade TeacherRoss Park Elementary School
LANDFORMSOur wonderful earth is full of
many different features:DesertsPlains
MountainsValleysRiversLakes
oceans
The Deserta very dry land with few plants
Desert regions in the United States are found in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and
Oklahoma.
Desert Storm was a war fought in a desert in Iraq in the Middle
East in the early 1990’s.
The Plains
Flat, grassy land that may also be covered with forests
or dry grass.
THE PLAINS
The Plains States include North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and
sometime Texas and Louisiana.
The Plains might look like this from an airplane!
Sometimes TORNADOS sweep across the plains, stirring up dust and debris.
Many cowboys and Indians hunted for wild animals on the Great Plains.
MOUNTAINS
the highest kind of land made of layers of rocks and other
earth materials
A VALLEY is the flat land between mountains. It may have been carved out by a huge
GLACIER millions of years ago!
A river is flowing through this valley in the mountains.
THE PAINTED DESERTpart sandy desert, part rocky mountains
This shows a trail in the mountains with a plateau in the background.
RIVERa large stream of water
that flows across the land into a lake or
ocean
Melting snow from the mountains flows downhill, forming lakes and rivers that
eventually flow to the ocean!
This river has formed from melting snow from the mountain top. It will
eventually travel to the ocean!
Over time (millions of years), rivers can carve deep canyons in the land.
Rocks, boulders, sand, and soil, travel downhill with the river…especially when
there has been lots of rain or melting snow!
The Colorado River runs through the Grand Canyon in southwestern United States. It carved through layers of rock . Erosion (rain and ice) continue to erode the canyon as the river carries loose rocks and sediment that scrapes against the walls of the Grand Canyon.
Cities have grown up along rivers because rivers are useful for the
transportation of goods.
LAKEa body of water with land
all around it
These states are surrounded by the
5 Great Lakes!
Lakes can be very large like Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, and they can
be small like Mona Lake or Muskegon Lake.
OCEAN“ a body of salt water larger than the sea”
The Earth is known as the BLUE PLANET because MOST of it is covered with water. Oceans are filled with salt water, not fresh water like lakes. Only a small part of the earth’s water is available for humans to drink.
The coastline of the Atlantic Ocean
Can you name the ocean animals?
Coastlines can be rocky, but very beautiful!
Over time, natural causes change the surface of the
earth.
This can take MILLIONS of
years!
What could cause our landforms to change over
millions of years?
• Erosion• Weathering
EROSION and WEATHERING can change the way our earth looks.
Erosion is the gradual wearing away of the earth’s surface.
Shorelines erode due to waves and weather.
Rivers erode the land around the banks.
Sand dunes are worn away by water, ice, or wind.
Soil can break down or wash away in bad weather.
Roads can crack and homes can be lost! Mountains slowly break away
due to changes in the weather.
Erosion and weathering take MILLIONS of years, but sometimes things happen QUICKLY to change
the land!
Things like:landslidesvolcanoes
earthquakestornados
LANDSLIDES
Can wipe out everything in its path.
Washes away homes, buildings, or roads.
Covers the land with mud, rocks, sand, or gravel.
LANDSLIDES
VOLCANOES can QUICKLY cause changes in
the surface of the land!
Hot lava can flow for miles. It can destroy anything in its path! Eventually it will
harden and form igneous rock!
EARTHQUAKES can QUICKLY cause great damage and devastation!
WHAT CAUSES NATURAL
CHANGES IN OUR EARTH?
EROSION AND WEATHERING
Things that happen NATURALLY to
change the way our earth looks.
" a sudden slide of earth and rocks down the side of a mountain or hill"
EARTHQUAKES
LANDSLIDES" the gradual wearing away of the land by water, wind,
or ice"
Builds up the land.
Can form islands.
Burns down homes, trees, anything in the way.
Destroys the land.
CAN make the soil richer.
Shorelines erode due to waves and weather.
Rivers erode the land around the banks.
Sand dunes are worn away by water, ice, or wind.
Soil can break down or wash away in bad weather.
TORNADOES and
HURRICANES
Hurricane
" a vibration or shaking of the earth's crust usually along a fault line"
Homes are destroyed.
Fires start.
Bridges fall down.
Roads crack.
Can wipe out everything in its path.
Washes away homes, buildings, or roads.
Covers the land with mud, rocks, sand, or gravel.
Violent weather events can destroy homes,
roads, buildings, and beaches.
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
Many NATURAL changes on the earth’s surface result in the formation of new surface features. We can’t do
anything about those kinds of changes…
BUT…
What other things might change the surface of the earth?
