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FOSS Landforms Module Glossary Science is a rich content area for
developing language concepts and vocabulary. While conducting FOSS
investigations,
students are involved in observing properties, comparing and organizing their
observations, and identifying relationships from their observations. In order
to effectively communicate the results of their investigations, it
is important
to use concise and appropriate vocabulary. Students need to develop a sound
vocabulary that will serve them in science and life. Some of the vocabulary is introduced and reviewed with students in the Wrapping Up section of the investigation folio in the Teacher Guide. These are listed below and identified with the abbreviation TG. Additional words are introduced and included FOSS Science Stories glossary. These words are identified with the abbreviation SS. Click here to get the Spanish version of this glossary. Click either of the links below for the list of terms and their definitions.
In the course of the investigations, students are encouraged to learn and use the following vocabulary: |
| Investigation 1: Schoolyard Models | |
| Boundary | |
| Cartographer | |
| Grid | |
| Key | |
| Map | |
| Model | |
| Structure | |
| Symbol | |
| Investigation 2: Stream Tables | |
| Basin | Meander |
| Canyon | Plateau |
| Channel | Sediment |
| Delta | |
| Deposition | |
| Drainage basin | |
| Erosion | |
| Landform | |
| Investigation 3: Go With the Flow | |
| Alluvial fan | |
| Dam | |
| Flash flood | |
| Flood | |
| Floodplain | |
| Levee | |
| Slope | |
| Investigation 4: Build a Mountain | |
| Base | Profile |
| Bench mark | Sea level |
| Contour interval | Topographic map |
| Contour line | |
| Elevation | |
| Intermittent stream | |
| Peak | |
| Perennial stream | |
| Investigation 5: Bird’s-Eye View | |
| Aerial photograph | Scale |
| Bar scale | Surveyor |
| Glacier | Valley |
| Intermittent lake | |
| Interpret | |
| Rapids | |
| Representative fraction | |
| Ridge | |
| Investigation 1: Schoolyard Models | |
| Cartographer | |
| Compass | |
| Legend | |
| Map | |
| Scale | |
| Surveyor | |
| Symbol | |
| Investigation 2: Stream Tables | |
| Ecosystem | |
| Erosion | |
| Geologist | |
| Pueblo | |
| Sediment | |
| Investigation 3: Go With the Flow | |
| Canyon | Rapids |
| Channel | Riverbank |
| Estuary | Riverbed |
| Flood plain | Source |
| Gorge | Tributary |
| Levee | |
| Lock | |
| Meander | |
| Investigation 4: Build a Mountain | |
| Contour interval | Tectonic plate |
| Crust | Topographic map |
| Elevation | Uplift |
| Fault | Water table |
| Fjord | |
| Mantle | |
| Moraine | |
| Stratovolcano | |
| Investigation 5: Bird’s-Eye View | |
| Bird’s-eye view | |
| Multispectral scanner | |
| Subtropical | |
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Aerial photograph A photograph of the Earth’s surface taken from an airplane or spacecraft flying above the Earth. (TG) |
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Alluvial fan A fan-shaped landform deposited at the end of a steep canyon where the slope becomes flatter. Fans are usually found in arid regions, like Death Valley. (TG) |
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Bar scale A ruler line on a topographic map that shows the scale. (TG) |
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Base The bottom of a mountain. (TG) |
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Basin A low area in which sediments are often deposited. (TG) |
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Bench mark A surveyor’s marker usually placed permanently in the ground at a known position and elevation. (TG) |
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Bird’s-eye view A view of the Earth’s surface looking downward from a height. (SS) |
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Boundary The limit or border of an area or region. (TG) |
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Canyon A V-shaped valley cut by a river or stream. (TG, SS) |
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Cartographer A person who makes maps. (TG, SS) |
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Channel The course a stream follows; the deepest part of a river, stream, or harbor. (SS, TG) |
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Compass An instrument for determining directions by means of a magnetic needle swinging freely, pointing to magnetic north. (SS) |
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Contour interval The distance in elevation between contour lines. (TG, SS) |
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Contour line A line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation. (TG) |
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Crust The solid, rocky outer shell of the Earth. (SS) |
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Dam A construction or wall across a river that holds back the water flowing through the river, creating a reservoir or lake. (TG) |
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Delta A fan-shaped (triangular) deposit of earth materials at a mouth of a stream. (TG) |
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Deposition The process by which eroded earth materials settle out in another place. (TG) |
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Drainage basin A system of rivers and streams that drains an area like the Colorado Plateau. (TG) |
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Ecosystem A community of living things, all the nonliving things that surround it, and the relationships between them. (SS) |
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Elevation Vertical distance or height above sea level. (TG, SS) |
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Erosion The breakdown and removal of soil and rock by water, wind, or other forces. (TG, SS) |
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Estuary The wide, deep tidal mouth of a river where fresh water mixes with sea water. (SS) |
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Fault A break in the Earth’s crust along which blocks of rock move past each other. (SS) |
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Fjord A long, deep, U-shaped valley inlet formed by a glacier and filled with sea water. (SS) |
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Flash flood A flood that rises and falls rapidly with little or no advance warning, usually as the result of very heavy rainfall over a relatively small area. Flash floods can be caused by sudden heavy rainfall, dam failure, or the thaw of an ice jam. (TG) |
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Flood A very heavy flow of water, which is greater than the normal flow of water and goes over the stream’s normal channel. (TG) |
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Flood plain Land that is covered by water during a flood, formed from sediments deposited by a river. (SS, TG) |
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Geologist A person who studies the Earth and the materials of which it is made. (SS) |
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Glacier A large mass or body of moving ice. (TG, SS) |
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Gorge A narrow, deep valley with nearly vertical rocky walls. (SS) |
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Grid A network of vertical and horizontal lines that form squares. (TG) |
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Intermittent lake A lake that contains water only during certain times of the year, such as the rainy season. (TG) |
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Intermittent stream A stream that has water flowing in it only during certain times of the year. (TG) |
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Interpret To figure out the symbols, textures, colors, and patterns to put together an image of the land covered by a map. (TG) |
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Key An explanation of symbols used on a map. (TG) |
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Landform A shape or feature of the Earth’s surface, like a delta or canyon. (TG) |
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Legend A key on a map. A legend gives explanations for the symbols on a map. (SS) |
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Levee A natural or artificial wall of earth material along a river or sea that keeps the land from being flooded. Artificial levees are built to control flooding. (SS, TG) |
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Lock Part of a canal used to raise or lower boats between bodies of water at different elevations. (SS) |
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Mantle The partially molten zone inside the Earth between the crust and the core. (SS) |
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Map A representation, usually on a flat surface, of an area or the features of an area. (SS, TG) |
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Meander A curve or loop in a river. (TG, SS) |
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Model A representation of an object or process. (TG) |
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Moraine A mound or ridge of unsorted soil and rock deposited directly by glacial ice. (SS) |
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Multispectral scanner A device that senses and records data about light of different wavelengths. (SS) |
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Peak The highest point of a mountain. (TG) |
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Perennial stream A stream that always has water flowing in it. (TG) |
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Plateau A large, nearly level area that has been lifted above the surrounding area. (TG) |
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Profile A side view or cross-section of a landform such as a mountain. (TG) |
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Pueblo The Spanish word for “town.” (SS) |
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Rapids Fast-moving water in a river that flows over rocks and other obstructions. (TG, SS) |
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Representative fraction Something that tells the scale of a map as a ratio between distance on a map to distance in the real world. (TG) |
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Ridge A narrow area of high land between two valleys. (TG) |
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Riverbank The high ground on the side of a river. (SS) |
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Riverbed The bottom of a river. (SS) |
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Scale A ratio, fraction, or graphic ruler that shows the relationship between size on a map and size in the real world. (TG, SS) |
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Sea level The average height of the ocean’s surface, zero elevation. (TG) |
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Sediment Tiny bits of rock, shell, dead plants, or other materials transported and deposited by wind, rain, or ice. (SS, TG) |
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Slope The angle or slant of a stream channel or land surface. (TG) |
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Source Where something comes from; its beginning. (SS) |
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Stratovolcano A volcano made of alternating layers of lava, ash, and other material blown out by explosive activity. (SS) |
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Structure Something built by people, like a building. (TG) |
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Subtropical Relating to the regions bordering the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. (SS) |
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Surveyor A person who gathers information about the sizes, shapes, and positions of land features. (SS, TG) |
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Symbol An object or picture that represents something else. (SS, TG) |
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Tectonic plate One of the rigid pieces of the Earth’s crust. (SS) |
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Topographic map A map that uses contour lines to show the shape and elevation of the land. (TG, SS) |
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Tributary A stream flowing into another stream or river. (SS) |
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Uplift A high area in the Earth’s crust, produced by movement that raises the rocks, such as molten rock pushing up from below. (SS) |
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Valley A low area between higher areas through which a river or stream often flows. (TG) |
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Water table The surface of the zone of rock, soil, or sediments that is saturated by groundwater. (SS) |
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