Moving Water Shapes the Land

1
Moving Water Shapes the Land
Land and Water Mr. Wells 4th Grade Greenfield
Elementary

• Water on Earth is constantly moving. The water
  on Earth moves between the air, the land, and the
  oceans in a movement called the water cycle. As
  water moves over and through the landscape, it
  helps to shape landforms.

2
The Water Cycle

• As the sun shines on the oceans, some water near
  the surface changes into water vapor. The water
  vapor condenses and falls to Earth as rain, sleet
  or snow. This water runs downhill and then back
  into the ocean where the cycle begins again.

3
Moving Water

• Moving water is one cause of weathering (erosion)
  as gravity pulls water downhill.
• Water moving after a rainstorm, from high to low
  ground, is called runoff.
• Runoff also happens when snow melts.
• Runoff will cut grooves into soil and rock, over
  time these grooves can become streams and rivers.

4

• Precipitation falls from the sky and weathers
  the surfaces of the rock. This helps to turn
  rock into soil. When the surface of the rock is
  weathered (eroded), new rock that was underneath
  the surface is now being exposed to weathering
  (erosion).

5

• After the rain, the water seeps into the ground.
  This rain water will continue to trickle through
  the soil until it reaches solid rock. When it
  meets solid rock, it joins other water in the
  ground. These pools of water feed wells and the
  deep roots of trees.
• As all this water moves through the soil, it
  changes all of the surfaces that it comes into
  contact with.

6

• The grinding of small rock particles are some of
  the physical changes.
• As water moves through rock, it can combine with
  minerals in rocks causing a chemical change.
• When this happens, there may be a change in the
  original rock and can cause changes in any other
  rock that the mineral water comes in contact with
  later.

7
SHORELINES

• Where the ocean meets the land,
• weathering (erosion) occurs. As waves wash
  up on the shore, the sand on the beach moves.
• The shape of the shore changes along with the
  movement of the water in the ocean.
• The ocean is an important part of the water
  cycle.
• The movement of water through the water cycle
  shapes and reshapes the Earths surface.