Earth’s Changing Surface Web Links

Our writers recommended these independent websites as background information and content supplements for Earth’s Changing Surface lessons.

Rivers: The Force of Water (Lessons 3-4)

Artwork Depicting Rivers

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/hudson-river-school.html
http://www.artinaclick.com/item_detail/frameit.asp?pitem=45787&origin=F
View paintings by the Hudson River School artists and photographs by Ansel Adams.

USGS Explorers: Water

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/explorer/topic_water.htm
Learn all about water. There are project ideas, homework help, games, and great articles for kids.

Water Science for Schools

http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/mearth.html
Learn about rivers, rainwater, stream flow, the water cycle, water erosion, and conservation.

Geography Action 2001: Rivers

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction/rivers/
Information on how to take action to protect rivers, as well as lots of games, activities, and fact sheets about rivers.

The Water Environment Federation

http://www.wef.org/WefStudents/Elementary/index.jhtml
This site, designed for elementary kids, has hands-on activities, an online coloring book, online story books, and facts about water.

BBC Education: Rivers and Coasts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/landmarks/riversandcoasts/mainmenu.shtml
This site focuses on rivers and coasts. There is great information on how people affect rivers and coastlines.

NASA: Aerial Images of Rivers and Streams

http://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov/Hydrosphere/Surface_Water/
This site has aerial and satellite photos that show how rivers, streams, floods, lakes, and wetlands shape the surface of the earth.

The Geology of Carlsbad Caverns

http://www.nps.gov/cave/geology.htm

Learn all about caves. Explore the photo gallery, fact pages, park information, and web links. There is also a teacher’s guide.

The Cave of Chauvet–Pont-d’Arc
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/
Explore the Stone Age rock paintings and engravings discovered in a cave in Chauvet, France in 1994.

Sea Caves

http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/seacaves/seacaves.html
This site explores sea caves, another type of cave formed by water.

National Speleological Society: Caves and Karst Landscapes

http://www.caves.org/committee/education/table_of_contents.htm
Explore science topics, take a virtual cave tour, view cave vocabulary, or browse the cave photo gallery in this fun and comprehensive web site.

Kentucky Down Under

http://www.kdu.com/caveform.html
Learn about cave formations, cave formation, cave ecology, and cave animals found in Kentucky caverns.

USGS: Exploring Caves

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/explorecaves.htm
There are lesson plans, lots of information about caves, and a great online kid’s book on this site.

Ozark National Scenic Riverways: Teacher’s Guide to Caves

http://www.nps.gov/ozar/skindeep.htm
Learn how caves and stalactites form, and about cave animals, groundwater, cave safety, and more through activities and stories.

Glaciers: The Force of Ice (Lesson 6)

Glaciation and Its Landscapes

http://www.citytel.net/prss/depts/geog12/litho/glacier.htm
http://www.citytel.net/prss/depts/geog12/litho/alpglac.htm
Learn how glaciers shape the land and explore photos that illustrate the different features formed by glaciers.

National Science Foundation: Ice

http://www.glacier.rice.edu/land/5_tableofcontents.html
A detailed site about glaciers, Antarctica, and the role of glaciers in global weather, climate, oceans, and geology.

NOVA and PBS: Anatomy of a Glacier

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/glacier.html
This site has a great overview of what glaciers are and how they shape the land, with excellent photos and easy-to-read text.

NOVA and PBS: Cracking the Ice Age

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ice/
View articles about the greenhouse effect, how continents move, climate change, and how ice has shaped the earth’s surface.

Solcomhouse: Glaciers and Ice Sheets

http://www.solcomhouse.com/icecap.htm
A simple overview of how glaciers shape the earth’s surface, a collection of research articles, and a large photo collection. The Solcomhouse site is great science education resource.

NASA: Aerial Images of Glaciers

http://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov/Hydrosphere/Snow_Ice/Glaciers.html
See aerial and satellite images of glaciers around the world.

Hoodoos and Sand Dunes: The Force of Wind (Lessons 7-8)

PBS Eyewitness — The Dustbowl Years

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/maps/index.html.
Learn more about the people who lived through America’s Dust Bowl through personal accounts, photos, and historical information about the drought and life in America in the 1930’s.

North American Drought — A Paleo Perspective

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/drought/drght_home.html
A comprehensive site on drought. This NOAA site looks at the big picture of climate change through time.

All About Wind and Eolian Landforms

http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/contents/7n.html
http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/contents/11r.html
Through articles and photos, learn about how wind shapes the surface of the earth.

National Drought Mitigation Center — The Dustbowl

http://drought.unl.edu/whatis/dustbowl.htm
Learn about the dustbowl years and how people develop and implement measures to reduce vulnerability to drought.

Wind Erosion and Desertification — University of Virginia

http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/~desert/
http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/~desert/
This site from the University of Virginia Department of Environmental Sciences includes an article about wind erosion and a photo gallery of remote sensing images of the American Southwest.

Drought Monitor: Current U.S. Conditions

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/current.html
View U.S. maps (click and print) that show precipitation, drought warning areas, rainfall, stream flow, snow pack, and much more.

Weathering (Lesson 9)

Peakware World Relief Maps

http://www.peakware.com/encyclopedia/zoom.htm
This site is home to 3-D interactive relief maps of continents, mountain ranges, and specific peaks.

USGS: A Field Guide to Buildings in Our Nation’s Capital

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/acidrain/fieldguide.html
This site provides a tour of buildings in Washington, D.C. that show the effects of weathering.

National Park Service: Arches National Park

http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
The extraordinary features of the park, including balanced rocks, fins, and pinnacles, are highlighted by a striking environment of contrasting colors, landforms, and textures.

Frescoes of Sandro Botticelli

http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/b/botticel/sistina/
http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/wat4/zoom_english.cgi?dia=18
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/botticelli/st_augustine.jpg.html
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/botticelli/albizzi.jpg.html
The frescoes of Sandro Boticelli found at these sites can be used to discuss the effects of weathering on works of art.

Andrew Wyeth

http://www.art-prints-posters-books.com/Andrew-Wyeth.htm
An online gallery of Andrew Wyeth’s paintings, art prints, and posters, including many works depicting weathered buildings and structures.

How Weathering and Erosion Shape Earth’s Surface

http://www.marshfield.k12.wi.us/science/biology/eproject/erosion/ero~weather.htm
This site provides an excellent overview of how weathering and erosion shape the earth’s surface with great photos throughout.

Weathering of Rocks

http://www.innvista.com/science/earth/geology/weath.htm
A list of terms about the effects that various types of chemical and physical weathering have on rocks.

Mountains and Volcanoes (Lessons 11-12)

Inside the Earth

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Inside.shtml
http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/contents/10h.html
These sites detail the structure of the earth, including its layers, and provide background information on plate tectonics.

Earth Floors: Spheres

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/spheres.html
Learn all about the earth’s structure and plate boundaries. The text is easy to read and there are great photos.

Mountain Building Plate Tectonics Activity

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tectonics/#
This mountain building activity allows children to move tectonic plates in various directions and see how folded mountains form.

This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html
Learn about the earth’s structure, plate tectonics, hotspots, and plate motions. View stunning images.

When Continents Collide

http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/collision.html
See an animation of folded mountain formation.

Birth of the Himalaya

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/birth.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/shock.html
Explore photos and information on the geology, formation, and ecology of the Himalayas and Mount Everest. View an animation of the formation of the Himalayas.

Images of Earth’s Folded Crust (Folded Mountains) from Space

http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect17/Sect17_3.html
Space imagery, or mega geomorphology, provides an additional tool to reinforce that the compression of the earth’s crust results in folded mountains.

Highest Peaks

http://www.peakware.com/encyclopedia/highest.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001771.html
Information on the highest mountain peaks in the world.

The Mountain Book

http://www.curriculumvisions.com/mountain/mountainBook.pdf
A downloadable fact book on mountains.

Mountains on the Earth

http://www.igf.fuw.edu.pl/hill/photo.html
A photo gallery of mountains found throughout the world.

Mountains in North America: Appalachian Mountains

http://www.igf.fuw.edu.pl/hill/nappal.html
Includes detailed information and pictures about the Appalachian Mountains.

Mountain Arts and Crafts

http://www.mtnlaurel.com/Crafts/crafts.htm
This site introduces you to several of the crafts and craftspeople of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Structure of a Composite Volcano

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vw_hyperexchange/parts.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/volcano/
http://www.zephryus.demon.co.uk/geography/resources/earth/volcanoes/comp.html#n5
View diagrams of the parts of a volcano.

Volcano Formation

http://members.lycos.co.uk/NaturalHazards/Volcanoes.html
See detailed background information on the formation, characteristics, and hazardous nature of volcanoes.

Franklin Institute Science Museum: Earth Force

http://sln.fi.edu/earth/earth.html
Learn about forces inside the earth that cause motion like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Volcano Animation

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/animations/volcanoes/index.html
See an animation of several eruptive stages of a composite volcano (stratovolcano).

Photo Glossary of Volcanic Terms

http://www.educeth.ch/stromboli/glossary/index-en.html
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/pglossary.html
Photographic glossaries of volcanic terminology.

Glossary of Volcanic Terms

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/glossary.html#subduction%20zone
A glossary of volcanic and geologic terms.

Types of Volcanoes

http://library.thinkquest.org/C003124/en/fullvolcano.htm
Compare diagrams of fissure, dome, composite, ash-cinder, shield, and caldera volcanoes.

Volcanic Eruption Types

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/
Fissure, Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, Plinian, and hydrovolcanic eruption types are explored.

Products of Eruptions

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/
Lava, tephra, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and volcanic gases are explored.

The Eruptive History of Mount Vesuvius

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html
http://www.educeth.ch/stromboli/perm/vesuv/history-en.html
http://vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/79_eruption.html
These sites provide a chronological history of the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius with associated artistic renderings and animations.

VolcanoWorld: Mount Vesuvius

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html
An excellent site on Mount Vesuvius and the catastrophic eruption in 79 A.D. that buried the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Pompeii

http://www.volcanolive.com/pompeii.html
http://home.swipnet.se/~w-41909/pomppict.html
http://www.ibiscom.com/pompeii.htm
http://urban.arch.virginia.edu/struct/pompeii/volcanic.html
These sites provide a glimpse of Pompeii frozen in time by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

What Does a Volcanologist do?

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/working_on_volcs/Working_on.html
A wealth of information on the work and tools used by volcanologists.

Kid’s Door to VolcanoWorld

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/kids/kids.html
This site has kid-friendly fact sheets, project ideas, games and puzzles, virtual field trips, a quiz, and a volcanoes search tool.

Kids Volcano Art Gallery

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/kids/art/newart.html
View illustrations of volcanoes created by children throughout the world and add volcano illustrations of your own.

Legends of Volcanoes

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/kids/legends.html#us
Read about the legends behind many of the earth’s volcanoes.

The Legend of Devils Tower

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8111/devilstower.html
This site details the Native American legend behind Wyoming’s Devils Tower (Mateo Tepee).

USGS: Cascades Volcano Observatory

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/home.html
This site has excellent information on Mount St. Helens, other volcanoes in the U.S., volcano hazards, monitoring, and much more. There are excellent maps, photos, and a detailed glossary.

USGS: The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/howwork/
Explore the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands. This site is comprehensive and filled with great photos.

Virtual Field Trip to Bryce Canyon (Lesson 13)

Bryce Canyon National Park

http://www.nps.gov/brca/
http://www.nps.gov/brca/virtual_tour.html
The official Bryce Canyon National Park web site has detailed information on Bryce Canyon’s geology and natural history.

Geology Field Notes: Bryce Canyon National Park

http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/parks/brca/
Learn all about the geology of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Utah! The Geology and History of Bryce Canyon

http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/bryce.htm
This site is a visual guide to the geology and history of Bryce Canyon. There is a beautiful photo tour of the park.

Color Landform Atlas of the United States

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.html
Identify landforms in states and local areas through shaded relief maps and satellite image maps of each state.

Cataclysmic Events

NOAA: The Kid’s Natural Hazards Quiz

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/hazard/kqStart.shtml
Explore thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, winter storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, landslides, wildfires, and family disaster planning.

Tornadoes and Other Natural Hazards

http://www.fema.gov/rrr/talkdiz/tornado.shtm
View detailed information about tornadoes. There are links to information on earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center

http://geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanche/photos.html
View a great collection of avalanche photos and link to avalanche education, danger scales, warning signs, and more.

Global Landslide News and “What is a mudslide?”

http://landslides.usgs.gov/html_files/landslides/newsinfo.html
http://www.disasterrelief.org/Disasters/971008landslide/
News, photos, and fact sheets developed by USGS National Landslide Information Center.

Kid’s Earthquake Hazards Program – USGS

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/4kids/
Explore a wide range of information on earthquakes, including a glossary with excellent photos and definitions of earthquake terms.

“Earthquakes Learning Studio” — Exploratorium Museum

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/pathfinders/earthquakes/
Explore earthquake myths and legends, seismology, and personal perspectives. There are lots of hands-on activities.

Earthquake ABC book

http://www-socal.wr.usgs.gov/ABC/index.html
View an alphabet book about earthquakes with words that children illustrated and defined. There is a guide for parents and teachers.

Understanding Earthquakes

http://www.crustal.ucsb.edu/ics/understanding/
Read about how earthquakes happen and learn about historic earthquakes. There are earthquake quizzes and fact sheets.

U.S. National Weather Service and NOAA

http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/graphicsversion/bigmain.html
This site provides national updates on floods, snow storms, and other weather hazards, including national warnings, local weather, world weather, and current issues. Includes U.S. weather maps.

The Hurricane Research Center

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/weather_sub/faq.html
This comprehensive site on hurricanes has in-depth fact sheets and great photos. There are links to current hazards information.