Landforms

Before we make our own map, we need to recognize different landforms that may appear on maps.

A lake is a piece of water completely surrounded by land, 

Hills are land formations that are similar to mountains. Unlike mountains, however, hills are not peaked on top. Instead, hills have soft, rounded tops. They are made of grass, dirt, and rocks. 

Mountains are large rock structures that are steep (rise quickly) and have pointed tops. 

The salt water that covers much of the Earth's surface. 

A river is a large natural stream of water that flows over land.

A peninsula is land that sticks out into a body of water that is nearly surrounded by water. 

What landforms can you see here?

a plain is a large area of land with no hills or mountains. Plains mostly are more suitable for farming

a piece of land in the shape of a triangle or fan made by deposits of mud and sand at the mouth of a river.

Valleys are low areas between two mountains or hills. A valley can be large or small. It depends on the distance between the two mountains or hills.

Deserts are barren areas of the world that are very dry. They get very little rain, typically less than 10 inches of precipitation per year. Most think that deserts have to be hot, but some of the largest deserts in the world are cold.