Landforms Bodies of water WHY?? Earth’s Features! Objective: Be able to identify and describe the earth’s features and the processes that form and shape them. Possible reasons: It is required by the state of Texas. By understanding your environment and having knowledge about what affects it and how it affects you, you become a more informed citizen, and in our country we all have a responsibility or at least an opportunity to vote on issues and have the freedom to start businesses in which this knowledge could well be beneficial. 3. On a more personal and current note, this will be on a test!  WHY?? Bodies of water

What do you already know? What do you need to know? Get your pen and paper ready. The next few slides are an effort to evaluate knowledge you may already have and also to introduce things you don’t already know. You will be given a definition or description of a landform or body of water. Practice note-taking by bulleting the important information from the slide, and if you know the feature being described, label it! The definition will be followed by a picture of the actual feature– some of you will figure out the feature from this slide. Try to add a quick sketch to your notes.

STRAIT A narrow channel of water joining 2 larger bodies of water. Large body of water. Small body of water. Another large body of water.

Atoll A Ring-like coral island & reef that nearly encloses a lagoon.

Isthmus A narrow strip of land connecting 2 larger masses of land. large piece of land another large piece of land A narrow strip of land connecting 2 larger masses of land. Public Domain. Suggested Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Cataract A step-like series of waterfalls.

Alluvial plain A flat area resulting from repeated deposits of alluvial material by running water.

barrier island mainland Long narrow island A long, relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland.

Peninsula A large piece of land surrounded by water on 3 sides.

Rift Valley A lowland between ranges of mountains, hills, or other uplands often having a river or stream running along the bottom.

Delta Related term- Estuary- The wide lower course of a river where it flows into the sea. Estuaries experience tidal flows and their water is a changing mixture of fresh and salt. 2. Mouth of a river- Place where a river flows into a larger body of water. A triangular area of land deposited at the mouth of a river. delta

Archipelago A group or chain of Islands

Fjord A long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between steep slopes

Canyon A ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall.

Plateau An elevated, flat land higher than its surrounding land; a tableland

Headwaters Where a river begins…

A stream that flows into a larger stream or other body of water. U A Y Smaller river Larger river A stream that flows into a larger stream or other body of water.

Escarpment A steep slope or long cliff that separates 2 level areas of differing elevations.

Glacier A huge mass of ice slowly flowing over a land mass.

Panama Canal A man-made waterway used for travel, shipping or irrigation It’s a man made feature across what kind of landform?????

There are of course many other types of landforms and bodies of water….. To finish out our objective, your next job is to apply knowledge of internal and external forces to their effect on the Earth’s features. For each landform we have just defined, identify and explain the internal and/or external process that formed it or continues to shape it. Identify a real world example for each landform AND body of water. I think maybe the kids could possibly brainstorm at this point, I didn’t include everything on the list, but I can add them if you think I missed something essential.

External Forces *weathering - chemical - physical *erosion Internal Forces *plate tectonics -collide -move laterally -pull apart

Let’s practice: How is a canyon formed? Name a real world example of a canyon. A canyon is formed by weathering and erosion. Water breaks down the rock and carries it away. The Grand Canyon in the western U.S. is a “grand” example. One more, how is a plain formed or shaped? Name a real world example of a plain.