Building Landforms Over Time
Aligned to HS-ESS2-1 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Landforms result from a tug-of-war between internal processes that build up the crust and surface processes that wear it down. These act on very different scales: a mountain rises over millions of years, but a flash flood can reshape a canyon in hours.
Worked example
The Himalayas rise a few millimeters each year as India collides with Asia, a slow internal process. Meanwhile, rivers and glaciers carve valleys into them far faster, so the peaks we see reflect the balance between uplift and erosion.
Practice questions
- Observe: Some landforms take millions of years to form while others change in a single storm. What does that range in timescale tell you about the processes involved?
- Model: Draw a mountain and label one internal process building it up and one surface process wearing it down.
- Explain: A mountain range stops rising but erosion continues. Predict how its shape changes over the next million years and explain why.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Formación del relieve en el tiempo
El relieve resulta de un forcejeo entre procesos internos que levantan la corteza y procesos superficiales que la desgastan. Actúan a escalas muy distintas: una montaña se eleva a lo largo de millones de años, pero una inundación repentina puede remodelar un cañón en horas.
Ejemplo: El Himalaya se eleva unos milímetros cada año a medida que India choca con Asia, un proceso interno lento. Mientras tanto, los ríos y glaciares tallan valles mucho más rápido, así que los picos que vemos reflejan el equilibrio entre el levantamiento y la erosión.
More Earth's Systems lessons
Teach this lesson today
An AI tutor that guides with questions instead of just giving answers — all K–12 core subjects, every child in the family.
Start free — no card required