Unknown vocabulary is often encountered by students as they learn new concepts in a science unit. For teacher and student understanding, we have compiled a glossary. It includes a list of important science vocabulary words from this unit and their definitions. The intent is not that students learn and memorize these words and their definitions, rather that learners grow in their understanding of these words and can use them in the context of their new learning.
Scientific Word
Aerial photograph
Alluvial fan
Bar scale
Base
Basin
Bench mark
Boundary
Canyon
Channel
Contour line
Contour interval
Delta
Cartographer
Deposition
Drainage basin
Elevation
Erosion
Definition
A photograph of the earth’s surface taken from an airplane or spacecraft flying above the earth.
A fan-shaped landform deposited at the end of a steep canyon where the slop becomes flatter. Fans are usually found in arid regions, like Death Valley.
A ruler line on a topographic map that shows the scale.
The bottom of a mountain.
A low area in which sediments are often deposited.
A surveyor’s marker usually placed permanently in the ground at a known position and elevation.
The limit or border of an area of region.
A V-shaped valley eroded by a river or stream.
The course or path the water takes in a stream or river.
A line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation.
The difference in elevation between contour lines.
A fan-shaped (triangular) deposit of earth materials at a mouth of a stream.
A person who makes maps.
The process by which eroded earth materials settle out in another place.
A system of rivers and streams that drains an area like the Colorado
Plateau.
The vertical distance, or height, above sea level.
The wearing away of earth materials by

Flash flood
Flood
Glacier
Grid
Interpret
Intermittent stream
Key
Landform
Map
Meander
Model
Peak
Perennial stream
Plateau
Profile
Representative fraction
Ridge
Scale
Sea level water, wind or ice.
A flood that rises and falls rapidly with little or no advance warning, usually as the result of very heavy rainfall over a relatively small area. Flash floods can be caused by sudden heavy rainfall, dam failure, or the thaw of an ice jam.
A very heavy flow of water, which is greater than the normal flow of water and goes over the stream’s normal channel.
A large mass or body of moving ice.
A network of vertical and horizontal lines that form squares.
To figure out the symbols, textures, colors, and patterns to put together an image of the land covered by the map
A stream that has water flowing in it only during certain times of the year.
An explanation of symbols used on a map.
A shape or feature of the earth’s surface, like a delta or canyon.
A drawing of an area, usually as though you were looking straight down on it.
A curve or loop in a channel.
A representation of an object or a process.
The highest point of a mountain.
A stream that always has water flowing in it.
A large, nearly level area that has been lifted above the surrounding area.
A side view or cross-section of a landform such as a mountain.
This tells the scale of a map as a ratio between distance on a map to distance in the real world.
A narrow area of high land between two valleys.
The ratio between a measured distance on a map to the actual distance in the real world.
The average height of the ocean’s surface, zero elevation.

Sediments
Slope
Structure
Surveyor
Symbol
Topographic map
Valley
Eroded earth materials that have been deposited.
The angle of slant of a stream channel or land surface.
Something that is built by people, like a building.
A person that measures and marks the distance, elevation, position, and boundaries of land areas.
A color, shape or texture used to represent something else on a map, such as a building, road or landform.
A map that uses contour lines to show the shape and elevation of the land’s surface.
A low area between higher areas through which a river or stream often flows.