Download Peninsula - Mrs. Hayes` Heroes

What are landforms?
• The natural shapes or features on
the Earth’s surface are called
landforms.
• Many different types of landforms
can be found on the Earth – here
are just a few examples:
Peninsula
• Peninsula – a large
piece of land that juts
far out into the water
and is almost
surrounded by water.
• Florida is a peninsula.
Harbor
• Harbor – a deep,
sheltered bay.
• The Statue of
Liberty is in
New York Harbor.
Bay
• Bay – a small area
of sea or lake partly
enclosed by dry
land. Coves and
inlets are very small
bays.
• The Golden Gate
Bridge is in the San
Francisco Bay.
Island
• Island – a piece of
land that is smaller
than a continent and
completely
surrounded by water.
• The famous prison,
Alcatraz, was built on
an island in the San
Francisco Bay!
Mountains
• Mountain – a rugged,
upthrust mass of rock
that looms high above
the surrounding land.
• The Earth’s highest
mountain is Mount
Everest (29,029 ft).
Highest in the US is
Denali in Alaska (Mt.
McKinley – 20,310 ft)
River
• River – a long, large
stream.
• The Mississippi River
is the largest river in
the United States.
Coast
• Coast – the edge of
land that borders a
body of water.
• Most of the world’s
major cities are
along coasts or
rivers leading to
coasts.
Valley
River made
• Valley – a gently
sloping depression
between hills or
mountains.
• Yosemite Valley in
California is a glacial
valley (one formed by
a glacier).
Glacier made
Desert
• Desert – a very dry
or desolate land that
receives little or no
rainfall.
• The largest desert is
the Sahara in Africa
which is 3.5 million
square miles.
Oasis
• Oasis - an isolated
green spot in the
desert where water
flows up from an
underground spring.
• The Sahara Desert
has about 90 oases.
Prairie
• Prairie – a temperate
grassland characterized
by a rich variety of
grasses.
• Prairie once covered
more than 400,000
square miles of North
America.
Delta
• Delta – a fan shaped
deposit of mud and
sand, often green with
vegetation, found at
the mouths of many
rivers.
• There is a delta where
the Mississippi River
empties into the Gulf of
Mexico.
Plateau
• Plateau – a large
highland plain that
rises sharply above
the surrounding
land.
• In Idaho, farmers
have irrigated and
planted crops atop
plateaus.
Isthmus
• Isthmus – a narrow
strip of land that
connects two much
larger areas of land
and narrowly
separates two large
bodies of water.
• The Isthmus of
Panama connects
North and South
America.
Beach
Sandy or rocky
land at the edge
of an ocean, sea,
or lake
Strait
• Strait – a narrow
waterway that connects
two larger bodies of
water.
• The Strait of Gibraltar
connects the
Mediterranean Sea and
the Atlantic Ocean.
Canyon
A canyon is a deep valley
with very steep sides.
Rivers often flow through
canyons.
The Grand Canyon is a
perfect example of this!
Hill
A hill is a rounded area of
land higher than the area
around it (not as high as
a mountain).
Dune
A sand dune is a
hill of sand that is
deposited by the
wind.
Cave
A cave is a
large
underground
chamber in a
hillside or cliff.
Butte
An isolated hill or
mountain with steep
sides
Lagoon
A shallow body of
saltwater separated
from the sea by a
shallow sandbank or
coral reef
Atoll
A ring-shaped coral
reef that encircles a
lagoon
Archipelago
• A stretch of water
containing many
islands
• A famous
archipelago are the
Hawaiian Islands.
Fjord
• a long, narrow,
deep inlet of the
sea between high
glacier cliffs
Volcano
• a mountain having a
vent through which
lava and gas erupts
from the earth's
crust
• there are 169
volcanoes in the
United States
Cliff
• a steep rock
face at the
edge of the sea
Tributary
a river or stream
flowing into a
larger river
There are many more
landforms that make up our
beautiful planet, but for now….
That’s ALL folks!