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Grade Level: 5 – 6
Purpose:
To introduce primary landforms of Illinois and how they were formed.
Suggested Goals:
Students will gain an understanding in how landforms are created.
Targeted Objectives:
As a result of this lesson students will:
- Gain an understanding of how landforms are created
- Understand what types of landforms are found in Illinois.
Background:
What is a landform? A landform is a characteristically shaped feature
of the earth’s surface that is produced by natural forces. Here
is a list of some common landforms:
- anticline—a hill formed by the upward folding
of a rock formation
- beach—the gently sloping shore of a body of
water which is washed by waves, especially the parts covered by sand
or pebbles
- bluff—a bank of sand or soil along the shore
of rivers and lakes that rises steeply on the water side
- braided stream—a stream with a tangle of crisscrossing
channels separated by sand bars or islands
- cave—a natural open space underground, large
enough for a person to enter; most commonly occur by the dissolving
of rocks, generally limestone
- cliff—a high, steep face of rock
- cut bank—the concave wall of a meandering stream
that is maintained as a steep or even overhanging cliff by the water
at its base
- cuesta—a ridge with a steep slope on one side
and a gentle slope on the other side
- delta—a grouping of sediments accumulated where
a stream flows into a body of standing water where its speed and transporting
power are suddenly reduced; a "delta plain" is the upper surface
of a delta
- disconformity—an unconformity in which the
beds above the unconformity are parallel to the beds below the unconformity
- dome—an uplift or anticline-like structure,
roughly circular in its outcrop exposure, in which beds dip gently away
from the center in all directions
- esker—a winding ridge of layered drift material;
forms in a glacial tunnel and, when ice melts, stands as a ridge up
to 15m high
- fault—a crack or fracture in the earth's surface;
movement along the fault can cause earthquakes or, in the process of
mountain-building, can release underlying magma and permit it to rise
to the surface
- floodplain—an area bordering a stream over
which water spreads when the stream tops its banks
- ground moraine—till deposited from the main
body of a glacier during its melting phase
- hoodoo—a column or pillar of rock produced
by weathering in a region where heavy rainfall only falls sometimes;
helped along when the rock layers are of varying hardness
- joint—a narrow crack in rock where there has
been no significant movement of either side
- kame—layered drift material deposited in depressions
and cavities in stagnant ice and then left behind as irregular, steep-sided
hills when the ice melts
- kame terrace—a layered drift deposited between
wasting glacier and adjacent valley wall; stands as a terrace when the
glacier melts
- karst—a landscape that develops from the action
of ground water in areas of easily dissolvable rocks; characterized
by caves, underground drainage and sinkholes
- kettle—a kettle forms when a block of glacier
ice breaks off from the front of the glacier during its retreat, and
is buried by the sediment released from the glacier during melting
- lake—any standing body of inland water, generally
of considerable size
- landslide—a general term for a slowly to very
rapidly descending mass of rock or debris
- levee—a bank of sand and silt along stream
bank built by deposits put down in small amounts during a series of
floods
- meander—a sharp bend, loop, or turn in the
path of a stream; when abandoned, called a meander scar or an oxbow
- moraine—a mound or ridge made largely of til
- mound—a low hill of earth, natural or artificial;
in general, any prominent, isolated hill
- natural bridge—a natural stone arch that spans
a valley of erosion
- outwash—beds of sand and gravel laid down by
glacial melt water
- outwash plain—a plain underlain by outwash
- overbank deposits—sediments deposited from
flood water on the floodplain
- oxbow—an abandoned meander, one that closes
off and traps the stream
- oxbow lake—a lake in an abandoned meander
- ravine—a place which has been hollowed out
by a stream of running water
- rift (graben)—an elongate crustal block that
is dropped down between two fault systems. The Reelfoot Rift extends
from Illinois southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico. The Reelfoot Rift
continues to influence the central United States region. For example,
the New Madrid Fault System lies within confines of the Reelfoot Rift.
These faults are responsible for hundreds of earthquakes that occur
in the central United States.
- sand dune—an accumulation of wind driven sand
into a mounded shape
- scarp—a steep slope of some extent along the
margin of a plateau, mesa, terrace, or bench
- sinkhole—a closed depression found on land
surfaces that have limestone beneath; forms either by collapse of a
cave roof or when water enlarges a crack in the limestone
- sinking stream—a stream that empties into the
underground into a cave, usually through a sinkhole
- slump—a slippage of unstable material caused
by erosion of weaker rock that underlies more resistant rock; may move
in a matter of seconds or gradually slip over a period of several weeks
- spit—a sandy bar built out from the land into
a body of water
- spring—a place where water flows naturally
out of rock onto the land surface
- stream terrace—a relatively flat surface along
a valley, with a steep bank separating it either from the floodplain,
or from a lower terrace
- structural basin—a structure in which the beds
dip toward a central point
- syncline—a valley formed by the downward folding
of a rock formation (see diagram with anticline)
- terminal moraine (end moraine)—a ridge of till
marking the farthest extent of a glacier
- U-shaped valley—a valley carved by glacier
erosion and whose cross-valley profile has steep sides and a nearly
flat floor, suggestive of a large letter "U"
- unconformity—a buried erosion surface separating
two rock masses
- valley—any hollow or low-lying land bounded
by hill or mountain range, and usually traversed by a stream or river
which receives the drainage of the surrounding heights
- valley train—an outwash plain contained within
valley walls
Materials/Preparation:
- Landform cards (one for each student)
- Geographic or topographic maps of Illinois
- Overhead markers
- Shoeboxes (one for each student)
- Rulers
- Baker’s clay or model magic
Procedure:
Part I: Landform who am I?
Create landform cards for each student. Write a different landform of
Illinois on each card, and tape the card to the back of each student.
Using a standard “Twenty Questions” format, students will
ask questions until they discover which landform they have. Once they
have determined which landform they have they should tape it to the front
of their shirt. You could create a word-wall (or use some other discussion
technique which would draw on prior knowledge) with all of the information
the students know about each of these landforms.
Part II:
In groups of 3 to 4, have students research one of the landforms in the
above list. Then, using one shoebox each, have the students create their
landform in the shoeboxes using baker’s dough or model magic. After
each structure dries, students can discover what landform is in each box
by using a ruler, a pencil, and graph paper to measure and draw the landform
to determine which type is in each box. You might have them then present
their landform to the class explaining its significance in Illinois.
Part III:
Using a topographic map of Illinois, determine which landforms are in
which areas of Illinois. The Internet may be used in this part also.
Questions:
- How are the different landforms made (formed)?
- Which ones occur in Illinois?
Extensions:
Email various schools in Illinois where different landforms occur for
information and pictures of the landforms in their area.
Assessment:
Students can develop a presentation of the various landforms discussed
in this lesson.
Lesson Specifics:
- Skills-Students will need to use observation, inference, and data
collection skills to complete the lab stations. Also, the students will
need to use the Internet and a computer to access the assessment. Assessment
of presentations will also be used.
- Duration- 2 to 3 days
- Group size- Project may be completed individually or in groups of
3 or 4
- Setting- Classroom and computer lab with Internet access
Illinois State Board of Education Goals and Standards:
- 12.E.3b: Describe interactions between solid earth, oceans,
atmosphere and organisms that have resulted in ongoing changes of Earth.
- 17.B.3a: Explain how physical processes including climate,
plate tectonics, erosion, soil formation, water cycle, and circulation
patterns in the ocean shape patterns in the environment and influence
availability and quality of natural resources.
Print Resources:
Web Resources:
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