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Contributor: Samantha Penna. Lesson ID: 11733
Does all the earth look the same as your neighborhood? The earth has mountains, valleys, mesas, buttes--many wonderful landforms! Look at pictures and play a matching game to learn what all these are!
Learn about the different landforms that make our planet so interesting and beautiful!
The Earth is a gorgeous place filled with many different landforms.
A landform is a natural part of the Earth's surface. During this lesson, you will explore a variety of different landforms that can be found in different places around the world.
The first landform you will learn about is called a mountain. Mountains stretch high into the sky. The top of a mountain is called a peak. Mountains that are very tall may have a snowy peak (tip) on the top.
A hill rises from the ground, but is much smaller than a mountain. A hill is also usually rounded at the top. Take a look at the hills below.
A canyon is made up of mountains, hills, and valleys. A canyon generally has a low valley (lowland) in the middle and steep walls of rock and soil surrounding the outside of the valley. It is usually very deep, and sometimes has a river flowing around its curves.
Check out the beautiful canyon below:
A steep drop from land to the ground or water is called a cliff. Most cliffs are usually found by the ocean.
A bay is a part of the ocean that curves inward. A bay can be found next to land. The bay below attaches to the beach.
Look at the water below; it makes a half-circle shape in the land:
A landform that stretches out into the ocean is called a peninsula. A peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides and is still connected to the land:
An island is a landform that is completely surrounded by water.
A plateau is similar to a mountain, except the top is flat. A large or medium sized plateau is called a mesa, and a small plateau is called a butte (pronounced "byoot," as in "beautiful").
The low area of land between two mountains is called a valley. If your home is surrounded by mountains, you live in a valley!
A volcano is a hill or mountain that has a large hole at the top. Hot magma (melted rock) can be found inside a volcano. Volcanos come in many different shapes and sizes.
The volcano below is erupting. When a volcano erupts, the magma that is beneath the surface comes out of different vents as lava (also melted rock). Some eruptions cause huge explosions of ash, smoke, rock, and lava!
You learned about many different landforms.
Now, move on to the Got It? section.
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