1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Ja'Dell Davis is a Los Angeles native who currently divides her time between New York City and Madison, Wisconsin. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, pursing a PhD in Sociology. Ja’Dell previously taught high school in Philadelphia public schools, and implemented college access and academic enrichment programming in Chester, Pennsylvania and New York City in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Ja’Dell received her B.A. from Swarthmore College with a special major in History and Educational Studies, and a minor in Black Studies. She completed her M.S.Ed in Secondary School Education at the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to her studies and work in the education field, Ja’Dell is a dancer, musician, avid people watcher, and Scrabble enthusiast.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Science & Technical Subjects
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.4Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.2Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

2. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world?
© Marc Adamus/Aurora Photos
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world?
Black Butte, a stratovolcano on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, may look like a mountain in training when contrasted to the taller, jagged, ice-covered peaks nearby. But Black Butte is older than Mount Washington, which has the crags, cracks and stony outcroppings typical of Cascade peaks.
So what’s Black Butte’s secret for smooth, young-looking mountain skin? That blemish-free surface is the result of less rain falling on the eastern side of the range, which means less erosion down its slopes. In addition, Black Butte’s low elevation makes it too low and small to support stone-carving glaciers that give other massifs in the area that jagged appearance.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 1
Web/ Map Search Search
What is a landform? Find the location of the Black Butte landform. 2
Web Search
What is a butte? 3
Web Search/Thinking
How is a butte different from a mesa landform? 4
How is a butte different from a plateau landform? 5
How is a butte different from a table landform?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 1
Web/ Map Search Search
What is a landform? Find the location of the Black Butte landform. 2
Web Search
What is a butte? 3
Web Search/Thinking
How is a butte different from a mesa landform? 4
How is a butte different from a plateau landform? 5
How is a butte different from a table landform?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 1
Web/ Map Search Search
What is a landform? Find the location of the Black Butte landform.
Possible queries: “what is a landform”
Using the “maps” link on the Bing search page, and the search term “black butte”, find the location here (zoom out to see its full location):

8. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 2
Web Search
What is a butte?
Possible queries: “what is a butte”
From a Bing search result:
Butte
A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landforms.

9. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 3
Web Search/Thinking
How is a butte different from a mesa landform?
Possible queries: “What is a mesa landform”
From Science Clarified (
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped hill or mountain with steep sides that is smaller in area than a plateau. A butte is also a flat-topped hill with steep sides, though smaller in area than a mesa.

10. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 4
Web Search/Thinking
How is a butte different from a plateau landform?
Possible queries: “What is a plateau landform”
From Wise GEEK (
Plateaus are landforms that have a flat top and are elevated far above the surrounding area. They can be found in every continent on the globe, and in some areas of the world, they are at such an elevated height that living conditions are harsh. In other locations, these landforms offer more benign environments suitable for agriculture.
In most cases, the level area of a plateau rises about 1,500 feet (457 meters) above the surface of the surrounding ground. In order to be meet the definition of this landform, it must possess at least one steep side. Some of these areas were formed as a result of upward movements of the Earth's crust.

11. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world? 5
Web Search/Thinking
How is a butte different from a table landform?
Possible queries: “What is a table landform”
From Wikipedia (
table is a hill, flank of a mountain, or mountain, that has a flat top… The term "flat" is relative when speaking of tables, and often the naming or identification of a table (or table hill or mountain) is based on the appearance of the terrain feature from a distance or from below it. An example is Mesa Verde, Colorado, where the "flat top" of the mountain is both rolling terrain and cut by numerous deep canyons and arroyos, but whose rims appear quite flat from almost all directions, terminating in cliffs.

12. Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms
Why is it important to distinguish between types of landforms? How does this information help humans understand the world?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.