Landforms

=Landforms Overview= The **Landforms Module** consists of five investigations that introduce students to these fundamental concepts in earth science: change takes place when things interact; all things change over time; patterns of interaction and change are useful in explaining landforms. Students also learn about some of the tools and techniques used by cartographers and use them to depict landforms.

Objectives:

 * Gain experience with models and maps.
 * Gain experience with the concepts of erosion and deposition.
 * Observe the effect of water on surface features of the land, using stream tables.
 * Plan and conduct stream-table investigations.
 * Relate processes that they observe in the stream-table models to processes that created famous landforms.
 * Become familiar with topographic maps and some of the techniques used to create them.
 * Gain experience with the concepts of contour and elevation.
 * Use measurement in the context of scientific investigations.
 * Apply mathematics in the context of science.
 * Acquire vocabulary associated with landforms and the processes that create landforms.
 * Use scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations: observing, communicating, comparing, organizing, and relating.

Vocabulary List Audio Podcasts of Landscape Stories

Investigation 1
• Models represent objects that are very large or processes that occur over long periods of time. • Models and maps are ways of representing landforms and human structures. • Maps can be made from models.

Investigation 2
• Water is an important agent in shaping landforms. • The wearing away of earth is erosion; the settling of eroded material is deposition. • Landforms that result from running water include canyons, deltas, and alluvial fans.

Investigation 3
• The slope of the land over which a river flows affects the processes of erosion and deposition. • During flooding, the rate of erosion and deposition increases. • Humans affect the processes of erosion and deposition.

Investigation 4
• Topographic maps are two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional surfaces. • Topographic maps show contour lines, which represent points of equal elevation. • Topographic maps use symbols and color to represent landforms.

Investigation 5
• Cartographers use aerial photographs as one tool in constructing topographic maps. • Landform maps can be generated from aerial photographs.