Landforms

What is Topography?

Geographers study the shape and features of the surface of the land. This is called topography (say top-og-rafy).

Take a close look at this topographical map of Australia. What do you notice?

This topographical map of Australia shows three broad areas. On the left, the ground is mostly brown and white with many wrinkles. Areas of green and dark green around the outside look flatter. This section spreads from the west coast to the centre. East of the centre a dark green patch is surrounded by lighter green. Large areas have no wrinkles, save for a raised areas near Adelaide. Along the East coast, a strip of white is heavily wrinkled. Tasmania has a white section in the middle, surrounded in brownish-yellow and green around the outside. The northern part of Australia, surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria is dark green.

NASA/JPL/NIMA, Public domain, via ResearchGate

What do the colours show?

Compare this map with the biome one. What do you notice?

Do you think the topography of a place would impact the living things there?

Now compare the topography of Australia with the topography of China:

A biome map of Austalia shows a large orange area across the centre of Australia, broadly corresponding with the topographical map. A green stripe runs down the eastern coast, corresponding with the mountainous region. Generally, the two maps show correllation between biomes and topography.

Image by Sabine Deviche from Arizona Board of Regents / ASU Ask A Biologist. in Moeller, K. (2013, July 19). Boundless Biomes. ASU - Ask A Biologist. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/biomes

This relief map of China shows large areas of mountains, rivers and canyons in the south along with large plateaus, especially in the north. The eastern areas are much less wrinkly and have large rivers.

Image provided by China Mike: https://www.china-mike.com/china-travel-tips/tourist-maps/china-physical-map/

Common Landforms

The Earth is made of of many different landforms. Some are made of water. Some are made of land. Some have both. This video is good for learning about the names of some common landforms and how to identify them. It is especially good for people learning English.

As you watch, you may like to make some notes about these landforms. You could make a table with the names of the landforms down one side, and a quick description on the other. Below is an example.

A note-taking scaffold showing two columns. On the left, a smaller column is for recording the name of the landform. On the right students can add descriptions or definitions.

To use this, click on it and then click the blue "make a copy" button.

Free School. (2015, July 12). Exploring landforms and bodies of water for kids - FreeSchool. https://youtu.be/BsqKTJtK_vw

How are landforms created?

The home page of Kidcyber offers eight topics of study. THey are sports, space, planet Earth, technology & inventions, Australia, animals, people & places and food & my body

Screen grab of the home page of Kidcyber. https://www.kidcyber.com.au/

Kidcyber - online encyclopedia for kids

Kidcyber is an online encyclopedia for primary students. You can find information on lots of topics for your school work.

Visit Kidcyber. Look at the topics they use to organise their information. Which topic should you check to find out about how parts of planet Earth are made? Choose the best topic.

Now you need to think about what the title would be. Brainstorm some key words. Choose the best ones and check if there is an article with that title.

Sometimes, when you read one article, it helps you get ideas to add to your brainstorm.

Here are some key words to get you going: landform, weathering, erosion, drought, fire

What else can you think of?

Top Tip

Good inquirers brainstorm about the topic before they begin to help work out what information they need and the words that they might find and use.

What are some interesting landforms in Australia and China?

Australia

Australia has some amazing landforms. Visit Kidcyber to read about a rock shaped like a surfing wave, a giant meteor crater, 12 apostles (there's only 7 now) and lots more.

As you read, think about how these landforms were made. What would the area have been like back when they were being made? What living things might be there?

China

From Rainbow mountains to 9 metre high tidal waves, China has some amazing natural landscapes. Visit Worldatlas.com to explore 15 of the most impressive.

As you study the pictures and read the description, think about how these are similar and different to the ones seen in Australia.

Are there any you would like to learn more about?

Top Tip

Good inquirers use thinking strategies they already know and can recognise when they are useful. Can you remember a technique for noting comparisons between two things?

(Hint: it was named after its inventor, John Venn)

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