Landforms Grade 3

Learner Expectation Content Standard: 3.0 Geography enables the students to see, understand and appreciate the web of relationships between people, places, and environments. Students will use the knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts within the six essential elements of geography: world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the uses of geography. Learning Expectations: 3.01 Understand how to use maps, globes, and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process and report information from a spatial perspective Demonstrate how to identify and locate major physical and political features on globes and maps.

IN THIS ACTIVITY YOU WILL: Learn about the different types of landforms. Create illustrations of landforms. Write a paragraph describing a landform of your choice.

LANDFORMS Landforms are the kinds of land a place has. Landforms include mountains, hills, valleys, plateaus, deserts, plains, islands, and peninsulas.

MOUNTAINS Mountains are the highest landform. Mountains often have steeps sides and pointed tops.

HILLS Hills are shorter and rounder than mountains.

VALLEYS Valleys are lowlands that lie between mountain ranges or hills. They are often good places for communities because water runs down from the mountains and they have rich soil to grow crops.

PLATEAUS Plateaus are landforms that have STEEP SIDES and a FLAT top.

DESERTS A desert is dry land with few plants and little water.

ISLANDS An island is a piece of land that has water on all sides.

PLAINS Plains are an area of flat land. Plains are flat sometimes grassy lands that stretch for miles and can be good habitats for animals like zebras, lions, and elephants, giraffes.

PENINSULAS A peninsula is a piece of land that has water on ONLY THREE sides and is attached to another piece of land. A good example of a peninsula is FLORIDA.

REVIEW OF LANDFORMS MOUNTAINS: High steep, rocky land HILLS: Shorter and rounder than mountains VALLEYS: Low land in between mountains PLATEAUS: Steep, sloped land with a flat top DESERTS: Dry, sandy land ISLANDS: Land surrounded by water PLAINS: Flat, grassy land that stretches for miles PENINSULA: Land with water on 3 sides

CREATIVE ACTIVITY – choose one Students create and illustrate a picture dictionary using 6 landforms shown in this presentation. Or students may choose to create a cube illustrating a different landform on each side of the cube.

Writing Activity Students will choose their favorite landform to write a Four Square assignment about and present it to the class.

1. Name and describe what the landform you chose looks like. 2. Identify at least two good uses for the landform you chose. 3. Tell why you chose to write about this landform. 4. Describe what might be the dangers of this landform.