Landforms Mountains Hills Plains Plateau Island Peninsula Bay Gulf Valley Beach Coast Volcano Ocean River Lake Desert

Mountains A mountain has 4 main characteristics 1. High, rocky land 2. Steep  sides 3. Pointed or rounded top 4. Higher than a hill Example: Himalayan Mountains

A hill has 2 main characteristics Hills A hill has 2 main characteristics 1.  Raised part of the earth's surface 2.  Sloping sides Example: The Black Hills

A plain has 3 main characteristics Plains A plain has 3 main characteristics 1. Large areas of land 2. Flat, or gently rolling areas 3. Low in elevation Example: The Great Plains of central USA

Plateau An elevated area of land. Flat like a table. A plateau has 2 main characteristics An elevated area of land. Flat like a table.

An island has 2 main characteristics 1. Area of land 2. Surrounded by water Example: Hawaiian Islands

Peninsula A peninsula has 2 main characteristics An area of land Surrounded by water on 3 sides. Example: Florida

A desert has 3 main characteristics Deserts A desert has 3 main characteristics 1. Super-dry air 2. Little rain (less than 10 inches a year) 3. High daytime temperatures Example: Sahara Desert

Desert Locations

Bay A bay has 2 main characteristics Part of a body of salt water. (smaller than a gulf). 2.  Reaches into the land. Example: San Diego Bay

San Diego Bay

A gulf has 2 main characteristics Large part of an ocean  (Much bigger than a bay.) 2. Reaches into land Examples: The Gulf of Mexico The Persian Gulf

A valley has 2 main characteristics 1. Low land 2. Between hills or mountains Examples:Death Valley

Beach A beach has 2 main characteristics The sandy land Where the ocean and shore meet. Example: Imperial Beach

A coast has 2 main characteristics 1. Land 2. Along the sea or ocean Example: The Ivory Coast

Volcano A volcano has 3 main characteristics 1. Cone shaped mountain 2. Formed by rock or ash thrown from the inside of the earth 3. At times, opening or depression at top Example: Mt. St. Helen

The ocean has 2 main characteristics Oceans The ocean has 2 main characteristics 1. Large body of salt water 2. Covers 3/4 of the earth's surface Four oceans: Atlantic Pacific Arctic Indian Oceans

Can you find the four oceans? Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic

A river has 3 main characteristics Rivers A river has 3 main characteristics 1. Large stream of water 2. Flows through land 3. Into lake, ocean or other body of water Example: Mississippi River

A lake has 2 main characteristics 1. Body of water 2. Surrounded by land Example: Otay Lakes

Third grade social studies standard: 3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context. By Ms. Hultenius 2006