Landform Projects

In geography, we are currently learning about planet earth and its landforms.  We just wrapped up our week-long landform project.  I paired the students up, but had to have one group of three.  I assigned each group a landform to research.  On day 1, we took notes using our textbook, encyclopedias, and various websites as resources.

The students had to define their landform, give a well-known example of this landform, explain how the landform was formed, find out what the weather was like on this particular landform, and discover facts about the flora and fauna.  They could also add any other interesting facts or trivia about their landform (In my classroom, we call these "Funky Facts"). 

On day 2, we finished our research and the students had to take the information they learned the day before and write a report with criteria according to a rubric.

On days 3 and 4, the groups constructed their landforms in class.  I provided the base for each group (extremely thick poster board) and they had to bring in basic materials such as clay, play-doh, paint, sand, etc.

Here's how they all turned out: 

Mountain:

Isthmus:

Canyon:

Delta: (I was a little surprised by all the trees)

Strait:

Peninsula: (Can you guess what their well-known example is?)

Valley: (Wow--a very colorful valley!)

I was unable to give any direction as the students created their landforms; I was out of town those days and had a sub!

On day 5, the students had to present their landform project to the class.  They were also required to point out the "famous example" on a map. 

Here, the students are using the Atlas app as it's displayed from my iPad to the Promethean board via AirServer: 

This pair is explaining the Mississippi River Delta to us.

This was our first major in-class project and the students were so excited about creating their own landforms.  I wonder if we could make this an edible project next year?  We love to eat in this class!  ;)