Glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.
A classmate says a retreating glacier's ice flows back uphill. Which reply fits NPS, by Esme's reading?
- Correct; retreat means uphill flow
- Correct; the ice freezes in place
- No; the face retreats as melt wins, but the ice still flows downhill
- No; retreating glaciers advance faster
A student says creep is a kind of fast landslide. Which reply fits USGS, by Kira's reading?
A slope with bent tree trunks beside a cliff with boulders at its base. A slope with bent tree trunks beside a cliff with boulders at its base. - Correct; creep is a rock fall
- No; creep is imperceptibly slow and steady
- No; creep is wind moving sand
- Correct; creep moves several meters each second
A distance bar with a rate and a time beside it. A distance bar with a rate and a time beside it. rate time distance A dune migrates 12 m a year (example data). How long does it take to cross a 600 m valley floor, by Milo's math?
- About 7,200 years
- About 50 years
- About 588 years
- About 5 years
A glacier flows 150 m a year (example data). How long does a rock riding on it take to travel 6 km to its moraine, by Noah's math?
Use the picture in question 3.
- About 900 years
- About 40 years
- About 4 years
- About 400 years
Read this first
Use this
Four evidence cards, labeled A to D.
Which evidence best shows a valley was shaped by a glacier, by Pia's reading (NPS)?
- Curved tree trunks on the slopes
- A V-shaped profile and a winding stream on the valley floor
- A U-shaped profile, striations and moraines
- Ventifacts and sand dunes
Which evidence best shows wind erosion in a desert, by Ren's reading (USGS)?
- Striations scratched into bedrock
- Curved tree trunks and small soil ripples on slopes
- Blowouts, desert pavement and ventifacts
- Moraines and cirques
Striations on bedrock run north to south, and a terminal moraine lies at the south end (model data). Which way did the ice move, by Tala's reading?
Scratches on bedrock beside a glacier. Scratches on bedrock beside a glacier. glacier scratches bedrock - From north to south
- From south to north
- From east to west
- It cannot be told
Which summary of glaciers fits NPS, by Zee's reading?
A glacier with a cirque at its head and moraines at its sides and end. A glacier with a cirque at its head and moraines at its sides and end. - Ice carves moraines and drops cirques
- Ice builds dunes and ventifacts
- Ice flows uphill as it retreats, cuts V's and carves river bends
- Ice flows downhill, carves U's and cirques, and drops moraines
Which summary of wind's work fits USGS, by Ari's reading?
Wind lifting dust from a hollow beside a sand-polished rock. Wind lifting dust from a hollow beside a sand-polished rock. wind dust hollow sand-polished rock - Wind carves U-shaped valleys
- Abrasion lifts grains; deflation grinds rock
- Deflation lifts grains; abrasion grinds rock; dunes move downwind
- Dunes move upwind as sand climbs the slip face
Which summary of mass wasting fits USGS and NPS, by Bo's reading?
A slope with bent tree trunks beside a cliff with boulders at its base. A slope with bent tree trunks beside a cliff with boulders at its base. - Gravity moves rock and soil uphill
- Gravity moves rock and soil downslope, from slow creep to fast falls
- Wind moves rock and soil downslope
- Creep is fast, and falls are slow