Home page

Have students participate in this activity to reinforce and support an understanding about landforms and water bodies. Present these activities after students view the videos.

Landforms and Water Bodies Card Game

Activity type: Indoor

Activity time: 20 minutes

Summary: Students choose from a deck of landform and water body cards. They identify and describe chracteristics of the the image on their card(s).

Materials:

• Chart paper (large sheet)
• Crayons
• ABCs from Space Image Descriptions handout
• Index cards
• ABCs from Space Poster handout
• ABCs from Space on the Map handout

Preparation:

• Print out and enlarge the ABCs from Space on the Map handout. Display it on the wall for reference throughout the game.
• Print out a copy of the ABCs from Space Image Descriptions handout so you can confirm each image throughout the game.
• Print out a copy of the ABCs from Space Poster for each student. Students will use this as a recording sheet while playing the game. Print out an extra copy (in color, if possible) and enlarge the letters so you can cut them out and attach each one to an index card. Write a small alphabet letter on each card that corresponds to the list on the ABCs from Space Image Descriptions sheet to help you identify the individual landforms and water bodies if needed.
• Shuffle the cards and place them in a pile.
• Note: You may want to extend the learning by including ground-level images of landforms and water bodies in the ABCs from Space Poster. Add them to the deck of cards so students can see that ground-view and space-view images of the same phenomenon are different.

Begin the game by distributing the ABCs from Space Poster handout and a crayon to each student. Students outline the letter shape in each landform and water body on their recording sheet after it has been described and identified. Start the game.

• Students take turns pulling a card from the deck. They identify the landform or water body and describe the characteristics that make it distinct.
• Note: If landforms or water bodies are unfamiliar to students, read the description first. Then ask questions such as: What landform is surrounded by water? What characteristics make a lake different from a river?
• Students find the location of the landform or water body by matching it to the location on the enlarged ABCs from Space on the Map. Use the ABCs from Space Image Descriptions sheet to read aloud the description and location. Finally, all students trace the letter on their ABCs from Space Poster recording sheet.
• Continue with each student. Make sure each student has a turn before continuing for a second round.

Landforms and water bodies are natural features of Earth’s surface found in locations across the planet. They vary in shape and size and have distinct characteristics.

For billions of years, internal movements under Earth’s surface and external forces, such as the process of erosion and weathering events, have been shaping and reshaping Earth’s landscape by carving out various landforms and water bodies. For example, millions of years ago, the external forces of water, ice, and erosion played a role in forming Bryce Canyon in the Colorado Plateau region. Water seeping into fractures in the rocks froze and expanded, causing rocks to shatter; gullies to widen; and, over millions of years, deep canyons to form in the plateau region. Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, formed about 400,000 years ago, when Earth’s internal movements caused crustal blocks to stop the flow of rivers. 

Earth’s internal and external processes are always active, causing a constant change in the structure of Earth’s surface. Scientists use satellite imagery, astronaut photography, and instruments on the ground to monitor and study changes in Earth’s landscape. Landforms and water bodies look different when they are viewed from the ground versus from above. Looking at aerial and satellite views of landforms and water prepares us for using symbols on a map to locate places in relation to landforms and water bodies around the world. 

The images from space in the NASA video ABCs from Space highlight the variety of extraordinary, natural phenomena found in locations across the planet. The two-year project began when a science writer for NASA Earth Observatory spotted a satellite image of a plume of smoke over Canada shaped like the letter V. Two years of further research culminated in a full English alphabet of satellite and astronaut imagery showcasing natural phenomena embellishing Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, such as ocean reefs, river systems, mountain ranges, and other spectacular natural events. 

Note: Download the ABCs from Space Image Descriptions handout for specific information on the individual landforms and water bodies in the ABCs from Space videos.

Use the following suggestions to engage students with these videos and other activities related to landforms and water bodies in the world. You may want to allow students to carry out their own investigations about identifying and describing landforms and water bodies.

These media assets can be used to:

• Stimulate students’ curiosity and interest in landforms and water bodies found across the planet.
• Activate students’ prior knowledge about landforms and water bodies.
• Observe and identify landforms and water bodies.
• Provide opportunities for children to observe, ask questions, and make evidence-based claims about landforms and water bodies in our world.

Engaging students with the phenomena

• Before students explore the media in the gallery, have them share what they know about landforms and water bodies. Encourage them to use descriptive language in the characteristics of each one.
• Ask students to share different types of landforms and water bodies they know about or have experienced. Select a few common landforms and water bodies and ask students to share where they think each can be found.

Encouraging science practices

• Use media to obtain information about landforms and water bodies.
• Use media to evaluate information about characteristics and locations of landforms and water bodies.
• Sort images into piles of landforms, water bodies, and neither (L, Z). Make a claim using evidence from the images about what a landform or water body is.
• See activity above.

Discussion questions

• Give students opportunities to describe viewing landforms and water bodies from space.
• How does a landform, like a hill or an island, look different from above versus from the ground? How about a water body, such as a river or a lake?
• Give students opportunities to talk about landforms and water bodies in their local area. Ask questions such as: Do you know any other parts of the world that have [lakes]? Do think [lakes] are common around the world? How can we find out?
• What other questions do you have about landforms and bodies of water?