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9th grade Glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land worksheet

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Glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land

Grade 9 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  2. Along the sides of a glacier, debris piles into long ridges. What are they, by Bo's reading (NPS)?

    • Cirques
    • Sand dunes
    • Lateral moraines
    • Terminal moraines

  3. Where two glaciers flow together, their lateral moraines join. What forms, by Esme's reading (NPS)?

    Use the picture in question 1.

    • A terminal moraine along the side
    • A medial moraine down the middle
    • A cirque
    • A V-shaped valley

  4. A dune with a gentle windward side and a steep slip face. On a dune, sand moves up the gentle windward side and slides down the steep slip face (USGS). Which way does the dune move, by Kira's reading?

    • Straight up
    • Downwind
    • It stays in place
    • Upwind

  5. Bars comparing loess thicknesses. USGS: the thickest known loess, windblown silt, is 335 m; in the Americas it is generally 20 to 30 m. About how many times thicker is the thickest than 30 m, by Luz's math?

    • About 11 times
    • About 365 times
    • About 305 times
    • About 1.1 times

  6. A dune with a gentle windward side and a steep slip face. NPS: the Great Sand Dunes reach 741 feet (226 m), the tallest in North America. What built them, by Milo's reading?

    • Streams supplying sand, and wind piling it up against mountains
    • Abrasion by wind grinding the dunes out of solid mountain bedrock
    • Glaciers carving the sand
    • Creep moving sand uphill

  7. USGS: falls are abrupt movements of rock from steep slopes, by free fall, bouncing and rolling. Where would fallen boulders pile up, by Noah's reading?

    • At the base of a steep cliff
    • On top of the cliff
    • Inside a sand dune
    • Spread evenly over a gentle hill

  8. Read this first

    Use this

    Four movement cards, labeled A to D.

  9. Which of these movements is fastest, by Pia's reading (USGS, NPS)?

    • Soil creep
    • A rock fall
    • Seasonal creep
    • A glacier's flow

  10. Which slope movement is a water-soaked mix of debris and soil that flows like wet cement, by Ren's reading (NPS)?

    • A debris flow
    • Creep
    • A sudden rock fall
    • Deflation

  11. Soil on a slope creeps 1 cm a year (example data). How far does it move in 300 years, by Zee's math?

    • 300 m
    • 30 m
    • 3 m
    • 0.3 m

  12. A glacier's face retreats 20 m a year while its ice flows forward 80 m a year (example data). How far does a boulder riding on the ice travel in 10 years, by Ari's math?

    • 800 m forward, even as the face retreats
    • 600 m forward
    • 1,000 m forward, adding the retreat to the flow
    • 200 m backward
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9th grade Glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Explain how glaciers, wind and gravity reshape the land. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can tell glacial landforms apart (U-shaped valleys, cirques, striations, lateral, medial and terminal moraines) and read a glacier's balance of snow and melt.
  • I can explain wind's work: deflation, abrasion, ventifacts, loess and dunes that migrate downwind.
  • I can sort slope movements by speed (slow creep, fast falls and debris flows) and work rate × time with example rates.

Standard: supports HS-ESS2-1

Words to know

cirque: A steep-sided bowl carved at a glacier's head

moraine: A ridge of debris a glacier deposits

deflation: Wind lifting away loose, fine grains

abrasion: Windblown grains grinding rock

creep: Very slow, steady downslope movement of soil or rock

Common mistakes

Your child swapped the valley shapes. NPS: rivers cut V-shaped valleys; glaciers scour U-shaped valleys, broad at the base with steep sides.

Your child mixed up glacial features. NPS: moraines are ridges of debris a glacier deposits (terminal at its farthest point, lateral along its sides, medial where two join); cirques are bowls carved at its head.

Your child mixed up glacier flow and the glacier's face. NPS: the face advances or retreats with the balance of snow and melt, but the ice keeps gliding downhill.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land?

Your child swapped the valley shapes. NPS: rivers cut V-shaped valleys; glaciers scour U-shaped valleys, broad at the base with steep sides.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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