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Landforms (3rd Grade)
Location: Learning Center – Picnic Tables
Send students to Admin Building – Main Room after station
Introduction (15 minutes)
What Are Landforms?
A landform is any natural formation of rock and dirt, found on Earth. A landform can be as
large as a mountain range, or as small as a hill. It can be as large as a continent, or as small as
a pond. Geologists study how landforms are created, and how they interact with one another.
We will be talking about landforms in this lesson. Who can tell me names of different kinds of
landforms?
The different major landforms are mountains, hills, valleys, plateaus, plains and deserts.
We all know that one – fourth of the earth’s surface is covered by land. The portion which
forms land on earth’s surface is not the same everywhere. At some places the land may be
too high, at some places very low, some areas would be lush green and certain areas are
dry and barren. These different physical features are called the various landforms on the
surface of the earth. These are geographical features that control the ecosystem, climate,
weather and the essence of life on earth. In simple terms, we say that any shape on the
earth’s surface is known as a landform. The various landforms that we have came into
existence due to natural processes such as erosion, wind, and rain, weather conditions such
as ice, frost and chemical actions. Natural events and disasters such as earthquakes (the
tectonic plates) and eruption of volcanoes created the various shapes of the land that we
see.
Our State: Who can tell me what the major landforms are in our own state?
The Three landforms of North Carolina make up the three major geographic
regions of the state: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the Mountains.
Does anyone know the highest point in North Carolina?
(It would be in the mountains, called Mount Mitchell.)
1. Mountains (western part of state smaller than Piedmont and Coastal Plain)
The Appalachian Mountains--including Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in Eastern
North America (6,684 feet)-- add to the variety which is apparent in the state's
topography. More than 100 mountains rise 5,000 feet or more and 40 mountains that rise
to 6,000 feet. The Blue Ridge Mountains separate the Piedmont from the Mountain region.
2. Piedmont Plateau (a.k.a. Piedmont)
The Piedmont (meaning literally "foot of the mountain"), is home to a diverse mixture of
agriculture, government, manufacturing, research, and technology development. The six
largest cities in North Carolina, and eight of the top ten, are in this region of the state, the
exceptions being Wilmington on the Coastal Plain and Asheville in the Appalachian
Mountains. The southeastern section of the Piedmont is known as the Sandhills, and is
known for its nationally famous golf courses and stables.
3. Coastal Plain (Inner Coastal Plain and Tidewater)
The Coastal Plain offers opportunities for farming, recreation, and manufacturing. Large
forested areas, mostly pine, support pulp manufacturing and other forest-related
industries. Thousands of tourists visit the state's many beaches. The North Carolina coast
is protected by a slender chain of islands known as the Outer Banks.
The Piedmont Plateau is sharply divided from the Inner Coastal Plain at the Fall Line.
The Fall Line is a quick descent, and it is the site of many river rapids and waterfalls. At
the bottom of the Fall Line, you find the Sandhills. The Sandhills is a region in the
interior of the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. It is a strip of ancient
beach dunes which generally divides the Piedmont from the coastal plain, and is the
evidence of a former coastline when the ocean level was higher, or the land lower.
Other definitions:
Hills
Hills are lower in height than mountains, but they are higher than the surrounding areas. A number
of hills together form a ‘range of hills’. Hills are usually covered with grass.
Valleys
Valleys are the low-lying areas between two mountains or hills. When rivers flow down the
mountainsides and hillsides, it wears off the rocks and soil. Over a period of time, the water
carves out v- shaped grooves. These grooves get deeper and wider, finally forming low land
areas called valleys.
Plains
A plain is a flat area. Plains occur as lowlands and at the bottoms of valleys but also on
plateaus or uplands at high elevations. You will find most big cities are located in plains.
This is because it is easier to build houses, buildings, roads and other structures in the
plains. Plains in many areas are important for agriculture because the soils may be very
fertile. The flatness of a plain is great for crop production and they may support grasslands
which provide good grazing for livestock.
Have students complete provided worksheet in groups. After completed, hand out
paper plates and clay. Ask students to build 3 different types of landforms.
Build an Island (15 minutes)
Students will partner with other students to create an island with modeling clay. They will
create an island that must contain 3 different types of landforms.