Download The Desert - Mona Shores Blogs

Sue Young, 4th Grade Teacher
Ross Park Elementary School
LANDFORMS
Our wonderful earth is full of
many different features:
Deserts
Plains
Mountains
Valleys
Rivers
Lakes
oceans
The Desert
a very dry land with few plants
Desert regions in the United States are
found in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and
Oklahoma.
Desert Storm was a war fought in
a desert in Iraq in the Middle East
in the early 1990’s.
The Plains
Flat, grassy land that may
also be covered with forests
or dry grass.
THE PLAINS
The Plains States include North Dakota, South
Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and
sometime Texas and Louisiana.
The Plains might look like this from an airplane!
Sometimes TORNADOS sweep across the
plains, stirring up dust and debris.
Many cowboys and Indians hunted for wild
animals on the Great Plains.
MOUNTAINS
the highest kind of land made
of layers of rocks and other
earth materials
A VALLEY is the flat land between
mountains. It may have been carved out by a
huge GLACIER millions of years ago!
A river is flowing through this
valley in the mountains.
THE PAINTED DESERT
part sandy desert, part rocky mountains
This shows a trail in the mountains
with a plateau in the background.
RIVER
a large stream of water
that flows across the
land into a lake or
ocean
Melting snow from the mountains flows
downhill, forming lakes and rivers that
eventually flow to the ocean!
This river has formed from melting
snow from the mountain top. It
will eventually travel to the ocean!
Over time (millions of years), rivers
can carve deep canyons in the land.
Rocks, boulders, sand, and soil, travel
downhill with the river…especially when
there has been lots of rain or melting snow!
The Colorado River runs through the Grand
Canyon in southwestern United States. It carved
through layers of rock . Erosion (rain and ice)
continue to erode the canyon as the river carries
loose rocks and sediment that scrapes against
the walls of the Grand Canyon.
Cities have grown up along rivers
because rivers are useful for the
transportation of goods.
LAKE
a body of water with land
all around it
These states are
surrounded by the
5 Great Lakes!
Lakes can be very large like Lake
Michigan or Lake Superior, and they can
be small like Mona Lake or Muskegon
Lake.
OCEAN
“ a body of salt water
larger than the sea”
The Earth is known as the BLUE PLANET because
MOST of it is covered with water. Oceans are filled with
salt water, not fresh water like lakes. Only a small part
of the earth’s water is available for humans to drink.
The coastline of the
Atlantic Ocean
Can you name the ocean
animals?
Coastlines can be rocky,
but very beautiful!
Over time, natural causes
change the surface of the
earth.
This can take
MILLIONS of
years!
What could cause our
landforms to change over
millions of years?
• Erosion
• Weathering
EROSION and WEATHERING can
change the way our earth looks.
Erosion is the gradual wearing away
of the earth’s surface.
Shorelines erode due to
waves and weather.
Rivers erode the land
around the banks.
Sand dunes are worn
away by water, ice, or
wind.
Soil can break down or
wash away in bad
weather.
Roads can crack and homes can be
lost! Mountains slowly break away
due to changes in the weather.
Erosion and weathering take
MILLIONS of years, but sometimes
things happen QUICKLY to change
the land!
Things like:
landslides
volcanoes
earthquakes
tornados
LANDSLIDES
LANDSLIDES
Can wipe out everything in
its path.
Washes away homes,
buildings, or roads.
Covers the land with mud,
rocks, sand, or gravel.
VOLCANOES
can QUICKLY cause changes in
the surface of the land!
Hot lava can flow for miles. It can
destroy anything in its path! Eventually it
will harden and form igneous rock!
EARTHQUAKES
can QUICKLY cause great
damage and devastation!
Hurricane
T ORN ADOES
and
H U RRICAN ES
EROSION AN D
WEAT H ERIN G
" the gradual wearing away
of the land by water, wind,
or ice"
Violent weather events
can destroy homes,
roads, buildings, and
beaches.
" a sudden slide of earth and rocks
down the side of a mountain or hill"
Shorelines erode due to
waves and weather.
Rivers erode the land
around the banks.
Sand dunes are worn
away by water, ice, or
wind.
LAN DSLIDES
WHAT CAUSES
NATURAL
CHANGES IN OUR
EARTH?
Soil can break down or
wash away in bad
weather.
T hi ng s t hat hap p en
N AT U RALLY t o
chang e t he way our
eart h l ooks .
Can wipe out everything in
its path.
Washes away homes,
buildings, or roads.
Covers the land with mud,
rocks, sand, or gravel.
EART H QU AKES
V OLCAN IC ERU PT ION S
Builds up the land.
" a vibration or s haking of the earth's crus t
us ually along a fault line"
Homes are destroyed.
Can form islands.
Fires start.
Burns down homes, trees,
anything in the way.
Destroys the land.
CAN make the soil richer.
Bridges fall down.
Roads crack.
Many NATURAL changes on the
earth’s surface result in the formation
of new surface features. We can’t do
anything about those kinds of
changes…
BUT…
What other things might change the
surface of the earth?