Download Landforms and Waterways

Landforms and Waterways
Climate
People
Landforms and Waterways
 The landforms and waterways on the surface of the
earth are shaped by huge forces that are often beyond
our control and sometimes beyond our imagination
 We’re going to look at those forces
Forces Shaping the Earth
 Plate Tectonics
 Weathering
 Water
 People
Plate Tectonics
 What are plate tectonics ?
 The crust of the earth is made of huge slabs of rock that
move over the earth’s molten mantle, like a giant
cracked egg
 Over millions of years the appearance of the surface of
the earth has changed drastically because of the
movement of these plates
 How the continents have moved
 Often the movement is too slow for us to recognize it
Plate Tectonics
 They create mountains, plateaus and valleys as
they go
Plate Tectonics
• Often the plates move so slowly you could
never tell they are moving but sometimes
• The moving plates cause major events that
change the surface of the earth
• Two of these events are earthquakes and
volcanoes
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Volcanoes
Volcano
Earthquake
Plate Tectonics
Forces Shaping the Earth
 Plate Tectonics
 Weathering
 Water
 People
Weathering
 Weathering is the effect wind and rain and time has on
landforms, breaking it down
Weathering
Forces Shaping the Earth
 Plate Tectonics
 Weathering
 Water
 People
Water
 Water is the strongest force on the planet
 Glaciers – massive ice flows that shape the land
 Rivers – Moving bodies of freshwater that flow from
higher elevations to lower
 Bays
 Canyons
 Deltas (Google Earth)
 Oceans and Seas– Large bodies of saltwater
Glaciers
World River Systems
Forces Shaping the Earth
 Plate Tectonics
 Weathering
 Water
 People
People
 Civilization affects the surface of the earth too
 Mountaintop removal
 Damming Rivers
 Google Earth – 3 Gorges Dam, China
 Settlement
River Damming
Human Settlement
 Google Maps
Landform CSI
 Now that we know the factors that shape
the land on Earth
 See if you can read the clues
and determine who is responsible
for the landform at the crime scene
Crime Scene #1
Crime Scene #2
Crime Scene #3
Crime Scene #4
Crime Scene #5
Crime Scene #6
Crime Scene #7
Crime Scene #8
Crime Scene #9
Crime Scene #9
Climate
What is Climate?
 The average weather over a period of time, usually
several years
 For example, Wisconsin has snowy, cold winters and
warm summers. Climatologists watch this pattern
continue over several years to make their claim about
climate in Wisconsin
 Climate is different all over the world
and it does not obey political boundaries
Factors Affecting Climate
 Climate is affected by many factors which is why we
have so many different climate zones
 What do you think could affect a place’s climate?
Travel around the room to discover the climate shaping
forces on Earth
Factors Affecting Climate
Latitude
One of the most important factors affecting climate is the latitude at which
you live. The sun is a major producer of the heat we experience on earth.
Latitudes that experience less sunlight have a colder climate. Latitudes that
experience more direct sunlight have a warmer climate.
Factors Affecting Climate
 Landforms
 Some landforms can be so large that they create
climate zones of their own. In addition to wind, ocean
currents and latitude, landforms can change
temperatures enough to change the climate of a
location.
Factors Affecting Climate
 Ocean Currents
Factors Affecting Climate
 Wind Currents
 the heat from the
sun and the cold
from the lack of
sun work together
to make the air on
earth flow.
 The air carries
warmth and cold
with it, along with
rain and clouds.
Factors Affecting Climate
 People
 Human activity like burning fossil fuels changes the
chemical make up of the atmosphere by adding carbon
 Carbon is a greenhouse gas and increases the
temperature on the surface of the Earth