1. Landforms and Bodies of Water
Developed by the GPM Education and Communications Team
To learn more about this mission, please go to

2. Today we will work on these guiding questions:
What are the names and descriptions of landforms that are found on Earth’s surface?
What are the names and descriptions of bodies of water that are found on Earth’s surface?
This image is referred to as “The Blue Marble” - You can learn more about this image at

3. Engage
What are some landforms and bodies of water that you can think of?

4. Let’s go for a virtual walk…
Engage
Let’s go for a virtual walk…
and look for landforms and bodies of water:

5. Explore
What do you see?
What do you notice?

6. Let’s gather some information about landforms and bodies of water!
Explore
Let’s gather some information about landforms and bodies of water!
First read the articles
found at
Then view the slide show
found at
Class Notes
Tell the students that they will be taking a closer look at different landforms and bodies of water. Share with the students that you will be taking notes about what you read to help you identify and describe different bodies of water and landforms.
First read the articles found on:
Then read the slide show found on:
As you chart the notes from the information you have read be sure to name each landform and body of water and a short description of each item. Then reread the chart to the class after you have collected all the information.

7. I see a _________. I know because __________.
Evaluate
Tell the students that they will take some time to think about what they learned today. Show the students this painting. Ask the students to take a few moments to look carefully at that painting and identify as many landforms as they can. They will write a list of each landform they can identify. Then look for the person who was able to identify the most landforms to share out. We will compare the landforms we identified and discuss how we were able to identify that landform based on its characteristic. Provide the students with the sentence stem. “I see a _________. I know because __________.”
Art print from
I see a _________. I know because __________.

8. I see a _________. I know because __________.
Evaluate
Tell the students that they will take some time to think about what they learned today. Show the students this painting. Ask the students to take a few moments to look carefully at that painting and identify as many landforms as they can. They will write a list of each landform they can identify. Then look for the person who was able to identify the most landforms to share out. We will compare the landforms we identified and discuss how we were able to identify that landform based on its characteristic. Provide the students with the sentence stem. “I see a _________. I know because __________.”
Art print from
I see a _________. I know because __________.

9. Evaluate

10. Extend
Conduct research on common landforms and bodies of water in your neighborhood, county, state or region.
Interview your family or friends about major landforms or bodies of water they have visited and why. For example, maybe a family has gone fishing at the Kentucky River, went boating on Lake Herrington, visited on of the beaches of Florida or gone hiking on the Smokey Mountains.
Create an art project depicting one of the landforms or bodies of water studied. For example, a college of a river, diorama/model of a landform(shoebox, play dough model, etc…) or a pastel of a mountain range.

11. Project Examples

12. Project Examples

13. Project Examples

14. Project Examples