Mrs. R. Williams

Topography is the shape of the land. An area’s topography may be flat, sloping, hilly, or mountainous. The topography of an area includes the area’s elevation, relief, and landforms.
A topographic map is a map showing the surface features of an area.

The height above sea level of a point on Earth’s surface is its elevation .

The difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of an area is its relief .
Example: The difference between these two points would be the relief of this area

A landform is a feature of topography, such as a hill or valley, formed by the processes that shape
Earth’s surfaces.
Different landforms have different combinations of elevation and relief.

Landforms vary greatly in size and shape-from level plains to high mountain peaks. We will be learning about three main types of land forms: mountains, plains, and plateaus.

A mountain is a landform with high elevation and high relief. They usually occur as part of a mountain range. A mountain range is a group of mountains that are closely related in shape, structure, and age.
Mount Everest
Mount McKinley
K2 (Mount Godwin Austen)

A plain is a landform made up of nearly flat or gently rolling land with low relief. A plain that lies along a seacoast is called a coastal plain . A plain that lies away from the coast is called an interior plain .
North Dakota
Upper Coastal Plain of Georgia
Lower Coastal Plain of Georgia

A landform that has high elevation and a more or less level surface is called a plateau . A plateau is rarely perfectly smooth on top.
Streams and rivers may cut into the plateau’s surface.
Columbia Plateau in Washington
Colorado Plateau
Balochistan Plateau of Pakistan

A large area of land where the topography is made up mainly of one type of landform is called landform region .

Maps and Globes
Maps and globes show the shape, size, and position of Earth’s surface features. A map is a flat model of all or part of Earth’s surface as seen from above. A globe is a sphere that represents Earth’s entire surface.
A political map shows boundaries.

Maps and Globes
A map’s scale relates distance on a map to a distance on Earth’s surface.
Scale is often given as a ratio.
Mapmakers use shapes and pictures called symbols to stand for features on
Earth’s surface.
A map’s key , or legend, is a list of all the symbols used on the map with an explanation of their meaning.

Earth’s Grid
To find a point on Earth’s surface, you need a grid.
A grid uses lines to make rows and columns on a map. The rows go from side to side and the columns go up and down. Most maps and globes show a grid.
To locate positions on
Earth’s surface, scientist use units called degrees
A degree ( ° ) is 1/360 of the distance around a circle.
.

Earth’s Grid
Halfway between the North and
South poles, the equator forms and imaginary line that circles the
Earth. The equator divides the
Earth in the Northern and
Southern Hemispheres. A hemisphere is one half of the sphere that makes up Earth’s surface.
The Prime Meridian makes a half circle from the North
Pole to the South Pole. It passes through Greenwich,
England. Places to the east of the Prime Meridian are in the Eastern Hemisphere and places to the west are in the Western Hemisphere.

Locating Points on Earth’s Surface
By using the equator and prime meridian, mapmakers have constructed a grid made up of lines of latitude and longitude.
The line of latitude and longitude on a map form a grid that can be used to find locations anywhere on Earth.
The equator is 0 ° (degrees), and is the starting place for measuring latitude , the distance north or south of the equator.
The Prime Meridian is 0 °
(degrees) and is the starting place of measuring longitude , the distance east or west of this.
Example: A city on this line is said to be located at 40 °
S.
Example: A city on this line is said to be located at
20 ° E .

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