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

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

Level: Building Confidence · On Level · Challenge Me

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Glaciers, wind and landslides reshape the land

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  2. What shape does a glacier scour a valley into, by Ari's reading (NPS)?

    • A V shape, narrow at the bottom
    • A flat plain with no sides
    • A U shape
    • A round crater

  3. What shape does a river cut a valley into, by Bo's reading (NPS)?

    Use the picture in question 1.

    • A V shape
    • A flat-topped mesa
    • A bowl-shaped cirque
    • A U shape

  4. What is a cirque, by Kira's reading (NPS)?

    • A V-shaped river valley
    • A rounded, steep-sided bowl carved at a glacier's head
    • A ridge of rock dumped at a glacier's end
    • A pile of windblown sand

  5. What carves striations into bedrock, by Jun's reading (NPS)?

    • Ice-borne rocks scraping bedrock
    • Soil creeping downhill over it
    • A river cutting a V
    • Wind blowing sand across it for years

  7. NPS: when melting equals snow buildup, what does a glacier's face do, by Luz's reading?

    • It stays in place, though the ice keeps flowing
    • It retreats quickly
    • It advances quickly because the ice flows downhill faster
    • Its ice stops flowing

  8. NPS: a glacier's face advances when more snow and ice build up than melt. What happens when melting wins, by Milo's reading?

    Use the picture in question 5.

    • The face retreats, though the ice still flows downhill
    • The face advances faster
    • The ice starts flowing uphill
    • The ice stops moving entirely

  9. What are ventifacts, by Ren's reading (USGS)?

    • Hollows dug out by the wind
    • Ridges left by glaciers
    • Rocks that tumbled down from steep cliffs above
    • Rocks cut and polished by wind-driven sand

  11. What is mass wasting, by Tala's reading (NPS)?

    • Rock dissolving in rain
    • Wind carrying fine dust across a desert floor
    • Rock and soil moving downhill by gravity
    • Ice carving a U-shaped valley

  12. What is creep, by Zee's reading (USGS)?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • A sudden drop of rock from a steep cliff onto the slope below
    • A fast flow like wet cement
    • Wind moving sand up a dune
    • Very slow, steady downslope movement of soil or rock

  13. Which signs show creep on a slope, by Esme's reading (USGS)?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • Curved tree trunks, tilted poles and small soil ripples
    • Fresh boulders at a cliff's base
    • Polished, wind-cut rocks
    • Scratches on bare bedrock
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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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