Download Unit 8 Lesson 4

8.4 Landforms and Florida
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
Florida Benchmark
• SC.6.E.6.2 Recognize that there are a variety of
different landforms on Earth’s surface such as
coastlines, dunes, rivers, mountains, glaciers,
deltas, and lakes and relate these landforms as
they apply to Florida.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
Build, Break, and Move
What is a mountain?
 A mountain is a region of increased elevation on
Earth’s surface that rises to a peak.
• Mountains form through the collision of tectonic
plates and from volcanic eruptions.
• Mountains have elevations of at least 300 meters.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
What is a mountain?
 Florida does not have any mountains.
• Mountains are important sources of sediment,
which is pieces of rock that have been broken
down from existing rock over time.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
What is a glacier?
 A glacier is a mass of gradually moving or
flowing ice.
 An ice sheet is a very large glacier that covers a
large area.
 About 18,000 years ago, a large ice sheet in
North America caused changes in sea level and
created sediments.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
Let’s Hit the Water!
What is a lake?
 A lake is a body of fresh or salt water that is
surrounded by land.
• Lakes can be a part of a larger water system
called a watershed.
• Sinkhole lakes can form when underground
caverns collapse and later fill in with water.
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
Several natural factors influence the change in
the level of a lake. They include rainfall,
drainage of surface waters such as rivers and
streams, exchange of water with underground
aquifers, and evaporation.

The collapse of lakebed would be the cause of
the disappearance of a lake.
Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
What is a river?
• Rivers transport sediment.
 A river is a large natural stream of water that
flows into an ocean or other large body of water,
such as a lake.
• Rivers change course over time as they break
down river banks and deposit sediment.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
What is a delta?
 A delta is a deposit, formed by sediment, that
accumulates at the mouth of a river.
• Deltas form as rivers slow down when they reach
other bodies of water. Sediments that were carried
in the water are deposited.
 Most Florida rivers do not form large or
significant deltas. The Apalachicola River in the
Florida panhandle is an exception.
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
When there has been little rain and the water
level of the river is low there is little movement
of the sediments.
Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
Surf’s Up
What is a coastline?
• Coastlines are constantly changing, or dynamic.
 A coastline is a dynamic boundary between land
and the ocean.
• Waves, wind, sediment supply, tides, and the
geology of the region can affect the characteristics
of coastlines.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
What is a dune?
 A dune is a mound of wind-deposited sand.
• Dunes are found in desert and coastal regions.
 The shape of a beach, the sand supply, the wind
direction, and the type of sand can determine the
types of dunes formed along coastlines.
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Unit 8 Lesson 4 Landforms and Florida
What is a dune?
• Dunes offer protection for many species of plants
and animals.
• Human activities and natural processes can cause
dunes to disappear.
• Conservation efforts are often used to protect
dunes from disappearing.
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