Landforms of

1 the Worldd
|Looking Ahead
Mind opener In this lesson you will learn about the
What kind of land is present around your different landforms of the Earth:
house and school? is it flat or is it hilly? Are Mountains, valleys and passes
Plateaus, plains and deserts
there any water bodies like lakes, rivers
or the sea? Have you been to places where Coasts, peninsulas, bays and islands
Rivers
the land is different from where you live?
Describe it in class.

The land covering the Earth's surface is not uniform. At some places it rises high,
while at other places it is flat. The different features that make up the Earth's surface
ane called landforms. There are four main landforms. These are mountains, plains,
plateaus and deserts
are formed forces that act on the surface of the Earth such as
Some landforms by
water, wind and ice. Some are formed by processes occurring deep inside the Earth.

Mountains, Valleys and

Passes
Mountains and hills are rocky
masses of land that rise higher
than the surroundings. The
main difference between
mountains and hills is that
mountains have very steep
slopes and high peaks. Hills are

smaller and lower. Mountains

occur in rows
usually long
called mountain ranges. The
Himalayas in the north of Different types of landforms
India is the highest mountain
 range in the world. Mount Everest, the
Did you know?
highest mountain peak in the world, is
located in the Himalayas in Nepal. The Himalayan ranges Mt
formed about 60 million(andyears Everest) wero
Some mountains are formed when two moving northwards, crashed ago when In
large landmasses push against each of Asia. India,
res
against therest
other. They are called fold mountains.
The and sliding of large blocks of land.
Himalayas, Examples are the
the Rockies
Sierra Nevad
Mountains in the and theUSA Nevada
in North Forest Mountains in Germany. Blact
Ck
Formation of fold mountains
America and
the Alps in Europe are fold mountains.
Some mountains are formed when
molten rock from deep inside the Earth
rises to the surface, forming a volcano.
They are called volcanic mountains.
Mount FujiinJapanand MountVesuvius
in Italy are volcanic mountains.
The Sierra Nevada Mountain is a block
Another kind mountain,
Note the steep face of the mountain.
of mountains
are block Did you know?
mountains High mountain ranges have glaciers or slow
formed by moving rivers of ice. Large rivers originate from
these glaciers.
Formation of block mountains
splitting

ash andUCtoud

ava

magmachamber

The Rocky Mountains, USA Formation of volcanic mountains

Mount Fuji, Japan
 The lowland between hills.or mountains Plateau in the Himalayas is the highest
is called a valley. Valleys are normally plateau in the world. It is known as the
formed by glaciers or rivers wearing 'roof of the world'. The Columbia and
away rocks on mountains.(A number of the Colorado Plateaus are in the USA.
valleys have rivers flowing through them.
Famous valleys in India are the Kashmir
Valley and the Brahmaputra Valley.)

The Colorado Plateau, USA

A valley with a river flowing through it Plains

Mountains have low, narrow, natural (Plains are flat lands with gentle slopes.
Kivers flowing from the mountains
gaps called passes. cross the
)People bring fertile soil to the plains. So crops
mountains through these passes. (The
well here. Plains are therefore
Khyber Pass in the Himalayas connects grow
most thickly populated areas in the
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
world. The Northern Plains of India and
the Prairies of the USA produce large
amounts of wheat and other grains.

The Khyber Pass connects Afghanistan

and Pakistan

Plateaus
The Prairies, USA
A large area of land that is higher than the
Deserts
surroundings and more or less flat at the
top is known as a plateau. The Deccan Deserts are large, extremely dry areas of
Plateau in South India overs almost land. There is very little rainfall and very
the entire Indian Peninsula. The Tibetan few plants grow in deserts. Deserts have
 extreme emperatures. In summers, the and is surrounded
by water on
are very hot and the nights are
days sides is called a peninsula. The th
cool. In winters, the days are cool and part of our country is a southern hern
the nights are very cold. peninsu
a
The tip of a peninsula is called
The southern-most tip of the cCape ape.
Indian
Peninsula is called Cape Comorin. ian
Arabian Peninsula is the The ne
world.
largest in th

The Sahara Desert, Africa

The important deserts of the world are:

.The Sahara Desert in North Africa, it

is the biggest desert in the world
The Kalahari Desert in southern The Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
Africa
A bay is a water body running into land
The Atacama Desert in South and surrounded on three sides by land.
America The of
Bay Bengal, along the easten
The Thar Desert in India coast of India, is an example.

Did you know?

Hot and dry areas with very little rainfall are
not the only kind of deserts. There are also
cold deserts. These are regions of permanent
cold where very littlelife exists, for example
the Antarctica.

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

Coasts, Peninsulas, Bays and
Islands An island is a land mass surrounded on
all sides by water. Sri Lanka is an island.
A placewhere land meets the sea is
called a coast. Some coasts are
Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the
sandy Bay of Bengal are a group of islands
and straight. Others are
rocky. which are a part of India. Australia is
A land mass which projects into the sea the world's largest island.
 Almg the course of a river, several
smaller rivers join the main river. They
are called tributaries of the main river

Beforeentering the sea, the riverbecomes

very slow. It carries a lot of sediment
This keeps getting deposited on the way,
and causes the river to break up into

Robben sland, South Africa channels or distributaries. These spread

out like a triangle before falling into the

Did you know? sea.Such a region is called a delta. The

A strait s a narrow passage of water delta made by the Brahmaputra and the
conmecting two seas or two large areas of Ganga is the largest in the worlid.
water An example is the Paik Strait that lies
The Nile in Egypt is the longest river in
tetween india and Sri Lanka.
the world. Some other important rivers
are the Mississippi in the USA, the
Rivers in India.
Congo in Africa and the Ganga
Long streams of water are called rivers. In history we find that great civilisations
Many rivers start in the mountains have always developed along rivers, as
from melting snow in glaciers. They the soil is richest here and the ivers
have water throughout the year and are provide water for drinking, domestic
called perennial rivers. Most rivers in and agriculture purposes.
North India are perennial rivers.
In South India, rivers are formed by
rainwater. They do not have water
throughout the year. Such rivers
àre called seasonal rivers. Rivers,
into the sea.
ultimately, flow

The delta formed by the River Nile

A tributary ioining the main river (Picture credit: Avatrian)
 Inow know
1 The important landforms of the world are mountains, plains, plateaus and decou.
2. A mountain is a rocky mass of land that rises higher than the erts.
surroundings,
3. A plateau is a large area of land that is higher than thesurroundings, and mora. or
flat on top. less
a
4. A plain is flat land with gentle slopes. Deserts are large,
extremely dry areas of land
5. Coasts, peninsulas, bays and islands are other landforms. land.
6. A long stream of water that ultimately flows into the sea is called a river.

Words to remember
peninsula: a land mass which projects into the sea and is surrounded by water on threa
e
sides
cape: the tip of a peninsula
bay: water body surrounded on three sides by land
island: land mass surrounded on all sides by water
tributaries: smaller rivers that join a main river
distributaries: the channels into whicha main river breaks up
delta: a triangle-shaped landform formed where a river flows into the sea

Exercises
A. Fill in the blanks.
1. The lowland between two
mountains is called .

2. The Plateau is known as the roof of the world.

3. A triangular piece of land near the mouth of a river is called
4. A perennial river starts in the
5. The tip of a peninsula is called a
B. Name these.
1. The largest desert in the world:
2. The longest river in the world:
3. The highest peak in the world
4 An island country in the Indian Ocean:.
5. A plateau in India:

C. Answer the following questions.

1. What are landforms? Name the main landforms of the Earth.
2. What are fold mountains? Give an
example.
3. What is the difference between a mountain and a
plateau?
 4. What is a peninsula? Give an example.
5. What is the difference between a perennial and a seasonal river?
6. What is the difference between a tributary and a distributary?
7. What is a desert? Name some of the important deserts of the world.

D. Map work. PxYA

Oh an outline mapofthe world, mark the following with the help of an atlas.
a. Mountains: Himalayas, Alps, Rockies
b. Deserts: Sahara, Kalahari, Atacama, Thar
C.Rivers: Nile, Congo, Ganga
d. Plateaus: Tibetan Plateau, Deccan Plateau
e. Islands: Australia, Greenland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Multiple choice questions

1. The Black Forest Mountains are
a. fold mountains b. block mountains C. volcanic mountains d. glaciers
2. Lowland between hills or mountains is called a
a. pass b. valley C. peak d. plateau
3. The landforms that are most heavily populated are
a. coasts b. plateaus C. plains d. mountains
4 The Kalahari Desert lies in
a. southern Africa b. South America c. North Africa d. Europe
5. Small rivers that flow into the main river are called
a. distributaries b. tributaries C. perennial rivers d. seasonal rivers

HOTS: Think and Answer

1. Jaisalmer is a town in the desert area of Rajasthan. Allahabad is a town in the

Northern Plains where two rivers meet. In which town will you expect the
population to be more? Why?
2. When we study history, we find that most civilisations develop along rivers. Why is
that so?

Enrichment Activities

Speak out: Your parents are planning a holiday to a beach resort. You would rather
go to the hills. Tell your class how you changed your parents mind. Make sureyou
speak clearly.
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