MindScapes

Identifying Landforms and Processes

 

Excerpt from
The Fellowship of the Ring
JRR Tolkein
Song of Durin
-
The world was young, the mountains green,
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone
When Durin woke and walked alone.
He named the nameless hills and dells;
He drank from yet untasted wells;
He stooped and looked in Mirrormere,
And saw a crown of stars appear,
As gems upon a silver thread,
Above the shadow of his head.

 

Introduction:  In this activity, you will become acquainted with various landforms and the processes which control them.  You will use this understanding to collaboratively evaluate four locations which you have read about in various literature.

 

Directions:  You must work in a group of four individuals.

 

  1. Each individual will select an area of specialization from the list below which pertains to a series of sections in chapter 3.
    1. Slopes and Streams:  Weathering, Mass Movement, Surface Erosion
    2. Slopes and Streams: Stream Drainage, Human Activity
    3. Ice, Wind, and Waves: Glaciers, Past Impacts of Glaciation
    4. Ice, Wind, and Waves: Wind, Coastal Erosion
  2. Read and study those sections.  Know every aspect of those sections as you will be the expert.  If you are unclear about any concept, get clarification.  Prepare a short lesson to convey all concepts.
  3. When everyone in your group is ready, go around the table and have each individual teach their sections.  Make this interactive.  Everyone becomes an expert at all sections when this is complete.  Takes notes accordingly, as this material is testable.  Keep track of time and don’t rush.
  4. When all sections have been taught, you will now apply what you have learned. You will need the following:

                                                               i.      Your textbook, particularly figures 3-4 and 3-5

                                                             ii.      The overview diagram of tectonics (at the end of this activity)

                                                            iii.      Your atlas

                                                           iv.      A computer with Google Earth running

  1. You will study the following locations:
    1. Kisangani, Congo
    2. Port Harcourt, Nigeria
    3. Cuzco, Peru
    4. San Martin de los Andes, Argentina

 

Find each location in your atlas and in Google Earth.  Using all the materials, discuss the landforms present (or likely to be present) based on visual observations and processes that are likely taking place.  Pay particular attention to (but do not limit yourself to) volcanoes, earthquakes, rifting, streams, glaciers, wind features, etc.  Write a detailed analysis for each location.

  1. When finished, write a paragraph reflection on what you have learned.  Integrate your perceptions of those places from the literature with what you now know about the land itself.

 

 

 

 

The diagram below is an overview of all types of tectonic plate boundaries and what features are associated with them.  Use these technical terms in your analysis.