Caves
What is a cave?
A cave is an underground opening with walls of rock.
What is a beach?
A beach is a landform made of loose material, sand, gravel, or mud.
What are valleys and canyons?
Valleys and canyons are low land in the middle surrounded by higher land.
Valleys are typically u-shaped, canyons are more v-shaped.
What are rivers and streams?
Rivers and streams are flowing bodies of water. Snow melts, rain falls. Streams flow to rivers, which usually flow to the ocean.
What are mountains?
Mountains are high, steep, rocky areas.
What are some caves in North America?
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
Cave of the Swallows, Aquismon, Mexico
What are some beaches in North America?
Varadero Beach, Cuba - 20 km of white sand
Disko Beach, Greenland - black sand
Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, USA - 10 miles long, 3,000 feet deep
Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA - 277 miles long, 1 mile deep (5,280 feet), took 5 million years to form.
What are examples of rivers and streams in North America?
Mississippi River - longest river in USA
Rio Grande - 2,000 miles long
What are examples of mountains in North America?
Denali - Alaska, USA
Pico de Orizaba - Mexico
Rocky Mountains - USA
How are caves represented on maps?
Maps help us visualize what is underground - tunnels, paths, etc.
How are beaches represented on maps?
Beaches are where land and water meet. They are low areas on the coast.
How are valleys and canyons represented on maps?
Maps show elevation
How are rivers and streams represented on a map?
They are the lowest point on a map.
On a map, rivers are thick blue lines, streams are thin blue lines.
How are mountains represented on maps?
They sometimes are represented with an upside-down v or a triangle.
Topographic maps and contour maps can show elevation.
How do caves change?
Water seeps into cracks in rock and erodes caves slowly.
Cave-ins can happen when rock is weak or cracked.
Cave-ins change caves in seconds, collapsing tunnels and making caves less stable.
How do beaches change?
Erosion forms beaches.
Rivers and streams carry bits of rock down from the mountains.
Waves hit the beach and carry sand away.
In a storm, erosion can quicly move material.
Unstable sand erodes quickly in strong storms.
How do canyons and valleys change?
Rivers and glaciers slowly erode the side of valleys and canyons.
Glaciers take many, many years to form a valley.
Floods flow outside river banks and can move sand and soil and change the shape of canyons.
How do rivers and streams change?
Rivers move rocks and soil as they move downstream.
Rivers can start out straight and become more curvy over time.
Rivers and streams can dry up if people use all the water.
Floods can change the path of rivers and streams.
How do mountains change?
Wind and water break off bits of rock, which rolls downhill.
Landslides can occur, sometimes with storms, and change the shape of a mountain.
What are solutions to the erosion of caves?
Cave gates can protect caves and support the opening of a cave.
What are solutions to the erosion of beaches?
Breakwaters
Sea walls
Jetties
What are solutions to the erosion of canyons and valleys?
Forests, dams, wetlands, stopping climate change
What are solutions to the erosion of streams and rivers?
Forests, wetlands, dams
Water storage
Stopping climate change
What are solutions to the erosion of mountains?
Forests, nets, retaining walls