Monster Wrangler Mike Presents

Constructive &

Destructive Forces

   

Includes: •  anchor charts

•  note-taking sheets •  reading passages with text-

dependent questions •  12-color card sort activity

•  24 vocabulary word card game •  6 riddles

Essential Question: What are Landforms?

Land has many different shapes. Any natural (naturally occurring; not manmade) land shape is called a landform. If you were to describe the landforms in your town you would be describing the area’s topography, or all the kinds of landforms in a certain area.

 Landform Description

Mountains

Volcanoes

Hills

Plains

Sand Dunes

Islands

Mesa

Canyons

Essential Question: What are Landforms?

Land has many different shapes. Any natural (naturally occurring; not manmade) land shape is called a landform. If you were to describe the landforms in your town you would be describing the area’s topography, or all the kinds of landforms in a certain area.

 Landform Description

Mountains A landform that is much higher than the surrounding land. Often, mountains occur in groups called ranges. Some have tall, jagged peaks like the Rocky Mountains. Others, like the Appalachian Mountains are low with gentle, rounded slopes.

Volcanoes A volcano is just a mountain made of lava, ash, or other materials from eruptions. Unlike mountains, they occur individually instead of in ranges.

Hills Hills are similar to mountains but not as high and most have rounded versus jagged slopes.

Plains A plain is a large, flat landform with very little difference in elevation. For example, the Great Plains in the middle of the United States -- in such states as Oklahoma -- is very flat.

Sand Dunes You can think of a sand dune as a hill made of sand that was made and shaped by the wind. As the wind blows, it moves the sand and reshapes the dune.

Barrier Islands

These “islands” are long, narrow piles of sand that help protect the main land from wave erosion. Rather than being moved by wind, this sand is moved by the ocean waves and currents.

Mesa Mesa is the Spanish word for “table.” It is a tall, flat-topped rock feature that was created by running water which erodes the surrounding rock.

Canyons Canyons are deep valleys with steep sides found mainly throughout the Southwest United States. The Grand Canyon (Arizona) is the largest land canyon in the world. It was carved by the rushing water of the Colorado River.

Similarities and Differences Directions: Use your chart about landforms to compare and contrast

different landforms and the way they were created. 1.  How are volcanoes different from mountains?

2.  How is a mountain similar to a hill?

3.  What makes a mesa different from mountains or hills?

4.  How are barrier islands and sand dunes alike? How are they different from one another?

5.  Circle the one of these that is not created by rushing water – canyon, mesa, sand dune, or barrier island? What creates the one you circled?

6.  Which of these has little to no difference in elevation to its surrounding area – plain, hill, mountain or volcano?

7.  Not all mountains are created equal. How are the Rocky Mountains different from the Appalachian Mountains? Use the Venn diagram.

Rocky Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

Two Types of Forces in Earth’s Surface

Destructive Constructive Processes that destroy or tear down landforms. Examples include: •  Landslides •  Volcanic eruptions •  Earthquakes •  Floods •  Roots from trees •  Weathering •  Erosion •  Animals

Processes that construct or build up an existing landform or create a new one. Examples Include: •  Deposition of sand by wind

(dunes) or by water (deltas and sandbars).

•  Landslides •  Volcanic eruptions •  Floods •  Weathering •  Erosion

Some forces within the earth can actually be both destructive and constructive. Look at the lists above. Using a highlighter or colored pencil, highlight, underline or circle the ones that appear in both list. Then have a discussion with a partner about how you think these forces can be both destructive and constructive. Record your thoughts here: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Essential Question: What is weathering?

Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks at or near Earth’s surface into smaller pieces. Ouch!

Heavy rains caused a flood which knocked me into other

rocks breaking me apart.

The wind carries these pesky bits of rock and sediment which keep pounding against me, over time

chipping pieces of me away and wearing me down.

After it rained the temperature dropped causing the water to freeze in my cracks. As the ice expanded it broke me apart.

Essential Question: What is weathering?

Essential Question: What is erosion?

Erosion is the movement of sediments and soil by wind, water, ice, gravity, and even animals.

Erosion by… Explanation

…wind As the wind blows, it picks up rock,

sediment and soil and carries it to a new location.

…water Water such as ocean waves, floods, or flowing rivers or streams pick up rock,

sediment and soil and carries it to new locations.

…ice Glaciers are slow moving “rivers of ice”

that gradually pick up rock, sediment, and soil and carry is slowly to new locations.

…gravity Gravity is the force that attracts objects

toward the center of the earth. Landslides are caused by the downward pull of

gravity.

…animals Even animals can cause rock, sediment and soil to move as they burrow through

the ground, move across the land, or even eat plants such as grass which then

loosens and moves the soil.

Essential Question: What is erosion?

Erosion is the movement of sediments and soil by wind, water, ice, gravity, and even animals.

Erosion by… Explanation

…wind

…water

…ice

…gravity

…animals

Essential Question: What is Deposition?

To deposit means to drop off. You might make a deposit when you drop off money at the bank into your account.

After rock has been broken (weathered), and carried away

(eroded), it is then dropped off in a new location (deposited).

Examples of Deposition

Sand dunes are the result of sand being deposited in new locations by the wind. These are common on beaches and in

deserts.

A delta is the resulting landform when sediment is deposited at the mouth of a rushing river where it empties into a bigger body

of water such as a gulf or an ocean.

Currents and waves in the ocean also carry sediment. As it begins to deposit and pile up the sediment can create a

sandbar (you can think of these as underwater sand dunes).

Checkpoint!

1.  What forces of nature can cause deposition?

2.  Knowing what you know about constructive and destructive forces, would you say deposition is constructive or destructive? Give examples from this text to support your choice.

3.  Use a map to name the body of water where the Mississippi River empties. What would form at the mouth of this river?

4.  Use deposit or deposition in a sentence using the context clue “drop off” to help clarify the meaning within the sentence.

Volcanoes A volcano is actually a mountain made of lava, ash, or other materials from eruptions. What’s the difference between magma and lava? Magma is the melted, or molten rock, beneath Earth’s surface, while lava is the molten rock that reaches Earth’s surface. There are 3 types of volcanoes:

Composite Shield Cinder Cone •  Wide •  Fairly steep slopes •  Alternating layers

of lava and ash •  Mount St. Helens

(Washington state)

•  Broad •  Gentle slopes •  Lava flows easily

from vents (openings in the crust)

•  Hawaii is made of 5 different shield volcanoes

•  Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the most massive mountain on Earth

•  Tall •  Narrow •  Steep slopes •  Made of rock, ash,

and other solid materials

•  Not made of lava •  Paricutin in Mexico

Use the clues from the chart above to write three riddles about the three types of volcanoes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Volcanoes A volcano is actually a mountain made of lava, ash, or other materials from eruptions. What’s the difference between magma and lava? Magma is the melted, or molten rock, beneath Earth’s surface, while lava is the molten rock that reaches Earth’s surface. There are 3 types of volcanoes:

Composite Shield Cinder Cone

Use the clues from the chart above to write three riddles about the three types of volcanoes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Destructive

Constructive

Volcanoes can be destructive forces within the earth

because they can ruin buildings, knock

down trees, erupt the land, break apart

rocks, and kill animals and plants,

Volcanoes can be constructive forces

too. They can actually create new

land. When the magma erupts, the lava that flows over

the ground cools and hardens into a crust

which later forms soil.

Earthquakes

Earth’s crust is broken into blocks called plates which fit together almost like puzzle pieces. These plates are always moving whether we feel them move or not. They rest, or “float”, on top of a layer of the Earth called the mantle. Sometimes the plates push together, sometimes they pull away from each other, and other times they slip past one another.

This sudden release of energy within the Earth’s crust causes the ground to move which results in an earthquake. Deep within the crust there is a place where the energy is released which is called the focus. Sometimes the energy is not even noticeable, and other times it can cause massive destruction. Just above the focus is where the most damage would occur. On the earth’s surface we call this spot the epicenter of the earthquake.

You might be wondering where earthquakes are likely to occur. There are breaks or giant “cracks” in the Earth’s crust called faults which occur near the edges of the plates mentioned earlier. The San Andreas Fault is located in California where many Earthquakes are likely to happen.

Although millions of earthquakes happen every year, they are often too small to be felt. However, some earthquakes measuring 6.0 or higher on the Richter scale can cause severe damage. Tsunamis result due to earthquakes; gas pipes can burst causing fires; plant and animal habitats including human homes can be destroyed; railroad, highways and bridges can crumble, and the earth’s surface can separate and tear apart causing landslides, avalanches, and even floods! Their power should never be underestimated. 1.  Based on this passage, do you think Earthquakes are constructive or

destructive forces? Provide text evidence.

2.  In the first paragraph, what simile is used by the author to compare with the Earth’s plates?

3.  How are the focus and epicenter alike? How are they different?

4.  What are two synonyms the author uses in the third paragraph for the word fault?

5.  What is used by scientists to decide the strength of an earthquake? What number would determine a particularly strong earthquake?

Constructive & Destructive Forces Card Sort Activity

Using what you know about constructive

forces and destructive forces, sort the cards

into three piles: constructive,

destructive, or both. Use the heading cards

to sort.

Constructive

Force

Destructive

Force

Both

Constructive & Destructive Forces

An earthquake breaks apart the land.

The rushing Colorado River weathers and erodes rock while

creating the Grand Canyon.

Cattle graze on grass loosening the soil.

An erupting volcano breaks apart the earth’s surface, and the lava hardens as it cools forming new

land.

1. 2.

3. 4.

Acid rain begins to dissolve rock.

Glacier pushes the rock slowly over time carving a valley between mountains.

A gopher or chipmunk burrows through the

ground loosening and moving the soil.

A landslide occurs when rock loosens and is pulled down by

gravity. Yet, the rock piles up and creates new landforms such as hills.

5. 6.

7. 8.

Wind deposits sand in dunes across the desert.

Wind weathers and erodes the rock.

The water from a waterfall pounds against the rock weathering it over time.

Water freezes in cracks and breaks the rock apart

as the ice expands.

9. 10.

11. 12.

Head of the Class Instructions Word Association Game for Landforms

 Cards Timers needed •  Student draws a card from the deck. •  Without looking at it, the student places the word card face

up on his forehead for partner or group to see. •  Partner or group gives clues, definitions or examples to get

the student holding the card to guess who the character on the card is…

•  Student continues to draw cards for the remainder of one minute to see how many he or she can guess.

•  If partner or group can’t give a clue, definition, or example they can pass. Those that are passed should be discarded in a separate pile.

•  Keep score by counting all cards guessed correctly in the minute time span.

•  Next student plays from the remaining cards or reshuffles the deck.

For example, if the card is… … weathering, students might say “breaking… rock… rain… wind… ice” … mesa, students might say “Spanish for table… flat top… landform…” … igneous rock, students might say “not metamorphic… porous… volcanic…” … deposition, students might say “dropping off… how a delta forms… mouth of the river… how sand dunes form…”

landform

sand dune

canyon

mesa

sandbar

mountain

volcano

hill

plain

weathering

erosion

deposition

delta

landslide

crust

mantle magma

lava

plates

earthquake

epicenter

fault

focus

Richter Scale

I am a long, narrow pile of sand that help protect the main land from wave erosion.

Rather than being moved by wind,

the sand that creates me is moved by the

ocean waves and currents. What landform am I?

I am a landform that is much higher than

the surrounding land. I like to be with

friends arranged in groups called

ranges. Some of my kind have tall,

jagged peaks while others of us have gentle, rounded

slopes. What landform am I?

Barrier Island

Mountain

I am a smaller version of my larger friends – mountains. I’m just not as high and I tend to have

rounded slopes instead of jagged

slopes. What landform am I?

I am an “angry” mountain made of lava, ash, or other

materials from eruptions. Unlike

typical mountains, I like to stand alone

instead of in ranges. What landform am

I?

Hill

Volcano

I am a deep valley with steep sides

found mainly throughout the

Southwest United States. The grandest

and largest of my kind is found in

Arizona carved by the Colorado River. What landform am

I?

You can think me as a hill made of sand. I

was made and shaped by the wind. As the wind blows, it constantly reshapes me. You might find

me in deserts or on a trip to the beach.

What landform am I?

Sand Dune

Canyon

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What landform am

I? mesa

plain

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What landform am

I?