Landforms 3 rd Grade

Volcano Amayrani, Blanca, Jose M.  A volcano is a landform, usually a mountain, where lava erupts through the surface  There are 1,510 active volcanoes in the world  There are currently about 80 that are under the oceans  An opening in the earths crust through which hot lava and gases are ejected  A volcano is a crack in the earth

Plains Hector, Dafne, Daniel, Anouly  A large flat area of land without any trees  Another name for the plains is a prairie  The plains are a good place to grow crops and raise cattle

Island Fatima, Mayra, Alex, Angel  A piece of land that is completely surrounded by water  Hawaii is an island  An island is smaller than a continent  On some islands there are volcanoes

Mountain Juan, Paola, Salvador, Natalia  An area of land that rises to a great height  Some of the highest mountains are at the bottom of the sea  The largest range of mountains is in the Atlantic Ocean  The highest mountain is Mt. Everest, it is 29,000 ft. tall  The tip of the mountain is called the peak  Between mountains there are valleys  A “range” is a group of mountains

Mesa Mariela, Dulce, Andres  A hill with steep sides and a board flat top  A mesa is curved around on the sides  A mesa is similar to a plateau  Can be big and long  Mesas can be found in deserts  Mesa gets its name from the Spanish word “mesa”, meaning “table”

Hills Joanna, Jordan, Erika  A hill is a raised unusual rounded part of the surface  Dunes in the sand hills may extend to 330 feet high  Hills can be around mountains  A hill is similar to a mountain, but smaller

Peninsula Elian, Samuel, Yasim  A piece of land that sticks out into water from a large land mass  A peninsula has water on 3 sides, and land on the other  Florida is a peninsula

Rivers  Bodies of running water  Fall line creates a waterfall – where land drops suddenly  Most rivers are fresh water that runs into a lake or ocean  Mississippi is the longest river in the U.S.

Gulf and Coast  Large area of ocean that is almost completely surrounded by land  Land next to the ocean

Plateaus and Cliffs  Land raised higher than the land around it  Rain, wind and water help create the valleys and canyons below  A plateau looks like a mountain, but without a peak  High steep walls make up a cliff

Desert  Dry, rocky land  Does not rain for weeks or months at a time  Cactus can grow in the desert because it can store water  Reptiles enjoy the hot sun in the desert

Oceans  Atlantic Ocean  Indian Ocean  Pacific Ocean  Artic Ocean

Continents  Asia  Europe  Africa  Australia  North America  South America  Antarctica

What countries are on our continent, North America???  Canada  Mexico  United States