Download Land and Water

Land and Water: Mr. Wells
4th Grade
Greenfield Elementary
Moving Water Shapes the Land
Water on Earth is constantly moving. The water
on Earth moves between the air, the land, and
the oceans in a movement called the water
cycle. As water moves over and through the
landscape, it helps to shape landforms.
The Water Cycle
• As the sun shines on the
oceans, some water near
the surface changes into
water vapor. The water
vapor condenses and falls to
Earth as rain, sleet or snow.
This water runs downhill
and then back into the
ocean where the cycle
begins again.
Moving Water
• Moving water is one cause of
weathering (erosion) as gravity pulls
water downhill.
• Water moving after a rainstorm,
from high to low ground, is called
runoff.
• Runoff also happens when snow
melts.
• Runoff will cut grooves into soil and
rock, over time these grooves can
become streams and rivers.
Precipitation falls from the sky and weathers the
surfaces of the rock. This helps to turn rock into soil.
When the surface of the rock is weathered (eroded),
new rock that was underneath the surface is now
being exposed to weathering (erosion).
• After the rain, the water seeps into the
ground. This rain water will continue to trickle
through the soil until it reaches solid rock.
When it meets solid rock, it joins other water
in the ground. These pools of water feed
wells and the deep roots of trees.
• As all this water moves through the soil, it
changes all of the surfaces that it comes into
contact with.
• The grinding of small rock particles are some
of the physical changes.
• As water moves through rock, it can combine
with minerals in rocks causing a chemical
change.
• When this happens, there may be a change in
the original rock and can cause changes in any
other rock that the mineral water comes in
contact with later.
SHORELINES
• Where the ocean meets the land,
weathering (erosion) occurs. As waves wash up on
the shore, the sand on the beach moves.
• The shape of the shore changes along with the
movement of the water in the ocean.
• The ocean is an important part of the water cycle.
• The movement of water through the water cycle
shapes and reshapes the Earth’s surface.