Chapter 1- The Shape of the Land

Have you ever seen pictures or movies that show whitewater rafting?  Were the riders paddling wildly through a canyon in a crashing, speeding river?  You know that rivers can be very powerful forces.  But did you know that such forces help to shape the land?
 

CHAPTER CONCEPT:
Moving water, wind, and ice change the shape of the land by weathering ,erosion, and deposition of rocks and sediments.

VOCABULARY:
Erosion, weathering, river system, sediments, delta, headland, bay, sand dunes, glacier
 

ACTIVITIES:
Vocabulary Practice-Quia
Chapter 1 Battleship review
 

USEFUL LINKS:
Erosion & Weathering
Erosion-Slide Show
Weathering Photos
Brain Pop-Weathering
Earth's Changing Surface
Valleys
Glaciers
Glaciers and U-shaped Valleys
PowerPoint on Weathering and Erosion
PowerPoint on Forces of Weathering and Erosion
 

WEB QUEST:
Weathering & Erosion Web quest
 
 

Chapter 2- The Importance of Natural Resources

One of the resources we get from the land is coal.  Why is coal important?  Because it's a fuel that, when burned, can be used to produce electrical energy.  What other natural resources come from the land?  Why are they important?

CHAPTER CONCEPT:
Metal ores, other rocks and minerals, and fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources.  Soil is a slowly renewable resource.

VOCABULARY:
soil, natural resource, conservation, rock, mineral, ore, renewable resource, nonrenewable resource, fossil fuel, solar energy
 

ACTIVITIES:
Study for the TEST!!-Chap.2

USEFUL LINKS:

A Wonderful World of Minerals
Rocks and Minerals Slide Show
BrainPop-The rock cycle
BrainPop-Types of Rocks
Why is soil so important?
Soil Erosion
Layers of the Earth
ThinkQuest-This Planet Really Rocks!

WEB QUESTS:
The Histoy of the EARTH
 
 
 
 

Chapter 3- The Problem with Trash

Trash- it's what becomes of many of our land resources.  In fact, Americans throw out enough trash every day to fill 63,000 garbage trucks.  Where does all the trash go?  And how does trash affect our natural resources?

CHAPTER CONCEPT:
When people produce huge amounts of trash, the rate of resource depletion increases and land is used up for trash disposal.  Reducing the waste stream saves energy and resources and results in less pollution.

VOCABULARY:
land fill, incineration, pollution, pollutants, hazardous wastes, litter, recycle, packaging

ACTIVITIES:
School Recycling Detectives WebQuest
 

USEFUL LINKS: