sue young, 4 th grade teacher ross park elementary school
TRANSCRIPT
LANDFORMSOur wonderful earth is full of
many different features:DesertsPlains
MountainsValleysRiversLakes
oceans
Desert regions in the United States are found in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and
Oklahoma.
The Plains
Flat, grassy land that may also be covered with forests
or dry grass.
The Plains States include North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and
sometime Texas and Louisiana.
A VALLEY is the flat land between mountains. It may have been carved out by a huge
GLACIER millions of years ago!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
Hot lava can flow for miles. It can destroy anything in its path! Eventually it will
harden and form igneous rock!
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