--- title: "Landscapes Around Us" book: "Primary & Middle School Earth and Space Sciences" subject: earth language: en chapter: 2 exercises: 11 source: https://one-course.com/books/earth/1/en/chapter/2-landscapes-around-us license: CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0 credit: "One Earth and Space Sciences Book, One Course (one-course.com)" --- # Chapter 2 — Landscapes Around Us Mia and her grandfather have walked all the way up the [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) behind the village. At the top they sit on the grass to catch their breath, and they look. Below them, the red roofs of the village crowd around the church. A [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) winds between green and yellow fields and passes under a bridge. There is a dark forest on the next [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). And far, far away, at the very end of the land, there is a thin line of blue. “That is the sea,” says her grandfather. Everything Mia can see from the top of the [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), near and far, is a [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape). ![From the top of a hill we see a whole landscape.](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/img-a00d84dc4a4c.jpg) *From the top of a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) we see a whole [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape).* ## 2.1 What is a landscape? **Definition 2.1 (Landscape).** A *landscape* is everything we can see of the land in one look, from where we stand to the far horizon: the shape of the ground, the water, the plants, and the things people have built. A [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape) has parts that are near and parts that are far. The part nearest to us is at the bottom of what we see; it looks big and we see its details. The far part is at the top, close to the sky; it looks small and pale. ![A landscape seen in three bands: the foreground at the bottom, the middle ground, and the background against the sky.](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/fig-639b62494ff9.svg) *A [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape) seen in three bands: the foreground at the bottom, the middle ground, and the background against the sky.* ## 2.2 The shapes of the land The ground is not flat everywhere. In some places it rises high into the sky; in others it goes down into long hollows; elsewhere it is flat as far as we can see. We give a name to each shape. **Definition 2.2 (Landforms).** A *landform* is a shape of the land’s surface. - A *mountain* is a very high landform with steep slopes; its top is called the summit. The highest mountains have snow on top even in summer. - A *hill* is a landform that rises above the land around it, lower and rounder than a mountain. - A *valley* is a long, low hollow between hills or mountains; there is often a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) at the bottom. - A *plain* is a wide, flat, low stretch of land. ![The shapes of the land, from the mountains to the sea, seen from the side (the heights are drawn much taller than they really are).](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/fig-899780d74210.svg) *The shapes of the land, from the [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) to the sea, seen from the side (the heights are drawn much taller than they really are).* ![](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/img-bb0ffd979e08.jpg) ![](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/img-8d4a89a1e559.jpg) *[Mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), and a village in their [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform).* *A [plain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), with a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) and fields.* **Example 2.3 (Mountain or hill?).** There is no exact height at which a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) becomes a [mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). We look at the shape: a [mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) is high and steep, often rocky, sometimes with snow on top; a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) is lower and rounder, often covered with grass, fields or woods, and we can walk to its top in a short time. ## 2.3 Water in the landscape Water is part of most [landscapes](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape). It flows down from the [hills](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and the [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), gathers in hollows, and reaches the sea. **Definition 2.4 (Water in a landscape).** A *river* is water that flows all the time in a long channel, from higher land down to a lake or to the sea. A *lake* is a large body of water surrounded by land. The *coast* is the place where the land meets the sea. ![](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/img-db2914fc0a1b.jpg) ![](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/img-4c68498b3a2f.jpg) *A [lake](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) among [hills](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform).* *A [coast](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water): a beach, rocks and a harbour.* **Remark 2.5 (Water always runs downhill).** A [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) always flows from higher ground to lower ground. That is why [rivers](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) run at the bottom of [valleys](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), and why, in the end, they reach a [lake](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) or the sea, which are lower than the land around them. ## 2.4 Natural parts and built parts Some parts of a [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape) were there before people came: the [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), the [rivers](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), the forests. Other parts were made by people: houses, roads, bridges, fields. **Definition 2.6 (Natural and built parts).** A *natural element* of a [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape) is a part that was not made by people: a [mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), a [lake](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), a forest, a beach. A *built element* is a part made or shaped by people: a house, a road, a bridge, a harbour, a field, a garden. ![Sorting the parts of Mia’s landscape. A field is built: people cleared the land and planted it.](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/fig-ebfa4cb1f86d.svg) *Sorting the parts of Mia’s [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape). A field is built: people cleared the land and planted it.* ## 2.5 Landscapes change A [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape) is not the same for ever. Some changes are quick, and some are so slow that nobody sees them in a lifetime. - **With the seasons:** the fields are brown after ploughing, green in spring, golden before the harvest; the trees lose their leaves in autumn; snow can cover everything in winter. - **Because of people:** a village grows into a town; a forest is cut down to make fields; a new road and a bridge cross the [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) . - **Because of water and [weather](https://one-course.com/books/earth/1/en/chapter/1-watching-the-weather#def-g1-watching-the-weather-weather):** after a great storm, a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) may leave its bed and cover the fields for a few days; on the [coast](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) , the waves slowly wear the rocks away. ![The same valley long ago and today. The hill and the river have not moved; people have cut most of the forest, made fields, built more houses, a road and a bridge.](https://one-course.com/images/onecourse/chapters/earth-1/g1-landscapes-around-us/fig-7d0bb8084daf.svg) *The same [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) long ago and today. The [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and the [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) have not moved; people have cut most of the forest, made fields, built more houses, a road and a bridge.* **Example 2.7 (Town and countryside).** In a town, almost everything we see was built: streets, houses, shops, bridges, parks. In the countryside we see mostly fields, woods and meadows, with a few farms and villages. Both are [landscapes](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape). Even in the middle of a big town the shapes of the land are still there: a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) crosses the town, and some streets climb up a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). ## 2.6 Describing a landscape **Method 2.8 (Describing a landscape in four steps).** To describe a [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape), from a hilltop or from a picture: 1. **Split it into three bands:** the foreground, the middle ground and the background. 2. **Name the shapes of the land:** [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) , [hills](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) , [valleys](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) , [plains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) . 3. **Find the water:** a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) , a [lake](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) , the sea and its [coast](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) . 4. **Find what people have built:** houses, roads, bridges, fields. **Example 2.9 (Mia’s landscape).** In the foreground, the grass at the top of the [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). In the middle ground, a [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) with a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), a bridge and a village, fields around it, and a forest on the next [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). In the background, a [plain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and, at the end of the land, the [coast](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) and the sea. Natural: the [hills](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), the [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), the [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), the forest, the sea. Built: the village, the church, the bridge, the fields. ## 2.7 Exercises **Exercise 2.1 ★.** Name the four shapes of the land you have learnt in this chapter. **Solution of Exercise 2.1.** [Mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), [plain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). **Exercise 2.2 ★.** Which is higher and steeper: a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) or a [mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform)? **Solution of Exercise 2.2.** A [mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform): it is higher and steeper than a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). **Exercise 2.3 ★.** Natural or built? A [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water); a road; a forest; a bridge; a beach; a house. **Solution of Exercise 2.3.** Natural: the [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), the forest, the beach. Built: the road, the bridge, the house. **Exercise 2.4 ★.** Where is the [coast](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water): where the land meets a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water), or where the land meets the sea? **Solution of Exercise 2.4.** Where the land meets the sea. **Exercise 2.5 ★.** Look at the picture of the [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and their village. Name one [natural element](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-natural-built) and one [built element](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-natural-built). **Solution of Exercise 2.5.** For example: natural, the [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), the forest on the slopes or the stream; built, a house or the church of the village. **Exercise 2.6 ★.** On the drawing of the shapes of the land, which [landform](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) is the highest? Where does the [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) flow? **Solution of Exercise 2.6.** The [mountain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), with snow on its top. The [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) flows at the bottom of the [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform), between the [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and the [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). **Exercise 2.7 ★★.** Where does a [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) flow from, and where does it go? Why does it never flow up to the top of a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform)? **Solution of Exercise 2.7.** A [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) flows from higher land ([hills](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and [mountains](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform)) down to a [lake](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) or to the sea. Water always runs downhill, so it cannot flow up to the top of a [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform). **Exercise 2.8 ★★.** In a picture of a [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape), a tree at the bottom of the picture looks bigger than a whole [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) at the top. Why? **Solution of Exercise 2.8.** The tree is near us, in the foreground; the [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) is far away, in the background. Things that are far away look smaller than things that are near. **Exercise 2.9 ★★.** Describe the picture of the [plain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) with its [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) in three bands: what is in the foreground, in the middle ground and in the background? **Solution of Exercise 2.9.** Foreground: tall grass and a few bushes at the bottom of the picture. Middle ground: the [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water) winding across the [plain](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) with trees along it, fields, a farm and a road. Background: the flat land going on to the horizon, and the sky. **Exercise 2.10 ★★.** A field of wheat is green or golden, like grass. Why do we say it is a [built element](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-natural-built) of the [landscape](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landscape) and not a natural one? **Solution of Exercise 2.10.** Because people made it: they cleared the land, ploughed it and sowed the wheat. Without people there would be grass, bushes or forest there, not a field of wheat. **Exercise 2.11 ★★.** Look at the drawing of the [valley](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) long ago and today. Name two things that have not changed and three things that people have added. **Solution of Exercise 2.11.** Not changed: the [hill](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-landform) and the [river](#def-g1-landscapes-around-us-water). Added by people: the fields, more houses, the road and the bridge (and most of the forest has been cut).