Blue Marble Slides Our Blue Marble
Exploring Earth's Land and Water
What is Earth?
"Look at our planet! It looks like a giant, colorful marble spinning in space."
1
Earth is our home.
2
It is made of water and land.
Blue is Water
Most of the Earth is covered in water!
🌊 Oceans are big and salty.
💧 Lakes and rivers are fresh water.
The Big Blue Ocean
Green & Brown are Land
The Solid Land
Land is where we build our houses and plant trees.
🌳 Forests and plains are green.
⛰️ Mountains and deserts are brown.
GLOBE TOSS!
When you catch the globe, look at your right thumb.
Touching Blue?
WATER!
Touching Green?
LAND!
Land and Water Sort Worksheet Land or Water?
Landform Explorers: Lesson 1
Name:
Date:
How to Play:
1. Color the pictures at the bottom.
Land
Water
Cut along this line
🌊
Ocean
🌲
Forest
🛶
Lake
⛰️
Mountain
🐟
River
🌵
Desert
Mountain and Hill Slides Peaks and Humps
Comparing Mountains and Hills
HIGH
LOW
Mighty Mountains
🏔️
High and Pointy
Mountains reach up to the clouds!
Has a sharp PEAK at the top.
Often has cold SNOW on its head.
Sides are very STEEP .
Pointy Peak!
Happy Hills
Rounded Top!
🌱
Low and Round
Hills are like giant humps on the ground.
Has a ROUNDED top.
Easy to walk or roll down!
Usually covered in GRASS .
SCULPT IT!
Use your clay to build two friends:
Build a
MOUNTAIN
Make it high and pointy!
Build a
HILL
Make it low and round!
Which is Which?
HILL
MOUNTAIN
Mountain and Hill Worksheet Peaks and Humps
Landform Explorers: Lesson 2
Name:
Date:
Draw a Mountain and a Hill . Show which one is high and pointy, and which one is low and round!
Mountain
(High and Pointy)
Hill
(Low and Round)
Circle the correct word:
Mountain Hill
Mountain Hill
Plain and Valley Slides Down in the Lowlands
Exploring Plains and Valleys
FLAT
BETWEEN
Wide Plains
🌾
Flat and Wide
Plains are large areas of flat land.
No big hills or mountains here!
Perfect for FARMING .
Lots of room to run and play.
🚜
🐄
As Flat as a Table!
Low Valleys
The Valley
It's the low land between mountains!
🏘️
Down Low
Valleys are found at the bottom of mountains.
Look DOWN to see a valley.
People often build towns here.
Rivers often flow through them.
VALLEY WALK!
The desks are the MOUNTAINS.
Walk slowly through the valleys!
Can you find your way without touching a mountain?
Plain and Valley Worksheet Down Low
Landform Explorers: Lesson 3
Name:
Date:
Draw a Flat Plain and a Deep Valley . Remember, a valley is the low land between two mountains!
Flat Plain
Draw a farm or a playground here!
Low Valley
Draw mountains on the sides!
Observation Check:
Which one is between mountains?
Plain
Valley
River and Lake Slides Flow and Still
Exploring Rivers and Lakes
FLOWING
STILL
Flowing Rivers
🏃♂️
On the Move
Rivers are water that travels!
Water FLOWS in one direction.
They start in high places (mountains).
Rivers can be long and curvy.
It Never Stops!
Still Lakes
A Big Blue Puddle!
🛑
Quiet Water
Lakes are water surrounded by land.
The water stays STILL .
It has land all the way around it.
Perfect for swimming and boats!
WATER LAB!
Let's experiment with water!
Tilt the tray...
FLOW!
Make a river.
Keep it flat...
STILL!
Make a lake.
River and Lake Worksheet Flow or Still?
Landform Explorers: Lesson 4
Name:
Date:
Does the water FLOW (move) or is it STILL (stay)? Circle the right word!
River
It travels a long way.
Flows
Still
Lake
Land is all around it.
Flows
Still
Draw a fish in the flowing river:
Island Project Slides The Secret Island
Designing Your Own World
PLAN
BUILD
Your Mission
🗺️
Become a Maker
Create a 3D model of a brand new island!
Your island needs to show everything we have learned about the Earth.
Island Rules:
It must be surrounded by water.
It must have land features.
It needs a name!
Island Explorer
Island Checklist
LAND
High Mountains
Low Hills
Flat Plains
WATER
Flowing Rivers
Still Lakes
The Big Ocean
VALLEYS
Low land between the mountains!
HOW TO BUILD
1
DRAW
Plan your island on paper first.
2
BASE
Start with a flat board or tray.
3
SHAPE
Use clay or paper for landforms.
4
COLOR
Blue for water, Green for land!
Follow the Map!
"A blank new world is waiting for you...
START BUILDING!
Island Planning Worksheet Island Blueprint
Planning My Secret Island
My Name:
Island Name:
Your Plan:
Draw a map of your island. Make sure to show where the mountains, hills, and water will be!
MY ISLAND
My Checklist
Mountain
Lake
Hill
River
Plain
Valley
Map Key
Blue = Water
Green = Land
Island Project Rubric Teacher Resource
Island Project Rubric
Assessment Guide for "Secret Island" Models
Student:
Date:
How to Assess
This project assesses a student's ability to synthesize their understanding of Earth's features. Focus on the distinction between features rather than artistic perfection. Can the student explain why a mountain is different from a hill?
Criteria 3 - Master Explorer 2 - Growing Geographer 1 - New Scout Landforms
Mountains, Hills, Plains, Valleys
| Accurately includes and distinguishes multiple landforms (e.g., mountains are visibly higher/sharper than hills). | Includes landforms, but they may look similar or be missing one required feature. | Struggles to represent or name landforms correctly on the model. |
|
Water Bodies
Rivers, Lakes, Oceans
| Clearly distinguishes between flowing water (rivers) and still water (lakes/ocean). | Includes water features, but distinction between flow and still is unclear. | Only represents one type of water or confuses land and water colors. |
|
Synthesis
Island Concept
| Model is clearly an island (surrounded by water) with diverse features combined logically. | Model shows features but may not be fully contained as an island. | Model is a collection of features without a clear "island" structure. |
Observations & Notes 
