Land

Here are some pretty hills.

It takes a long time to hike (or walk) up a hill.

A hill that is very tall is called a mountain.

It takes a really long time to climb (walk up) a mountain!

The top of a mountain is called a peak.

This is a ridge. A ridge is a bunch of peaks, one after another.

Up high, it is cold! So there is often snow on the top of mountains.

If snow falls and it never melts off in the summer, then a glacier forms.

A valley is between mountains or hills.

People like valleys. They live in valleys, not on mountains.

But not in deep valleys, like this. This is a canyon—the Grand Canyon.

In canyons, the mountains, and next to the sea, there are cliffs. Don’t fall!

And when a creek goes over a cliff, there is a waterfall!

Sometimes whole rivers go over a cliff. Here is the Niagara Falls!

Creeks sometimes start up in mountains or hills,

and sometimes they start from a spring, where the water comes up from the ground.

Here’s another creek. Creeks are small streams.

Some creeks flow into lakes. This is a small lake.

Some lakes are very, very big. This is called Lake Superior.

A little lake is a pond.

Sometimes, rivers flow out of lakes. Rivers are big streams.

Here’s the Mississippi River.

Eventually, all rivers flow into the ocean.

Where there aren’t any hills or mountains, we say the country is flat.

Plains are flat country where a lot of grass grows, but not many trees.

We have many farms on our plains.

Wherever lots of trees grow together, there is a forest.

Near the equator, where it is very hot and there is lots of rain, the forests are called jungles.

Up north, there are forests with lots of pine trees.

In between, like in Ohio, there is a mix of leafy trees and pine trees.

Where there isn’t much rain, there is a desert. Not many plants are here.

Sometimes, there are so few plants that there are sand dunes, like in the Sahara Desert.

Where there is water, but the water is not deep, there are swamps

or marshes.

The Earth is beautiful. Just look at the hills, mountains,

valleys, glaciers,

creeks, rivers, lakes,

cliffs, waterfalls,

plains, forests,

and deserts and swamps.

All of that is on the Earth.

The End