Home Geography for Primary Grades · Lesson XII · Unit 3: The shape of the land
12. Hills, mountains and valleys
Goal: Your child names the base, slope and summit of a hill, tells a hill from a mountain, knows what a valley is, and models them in sand.
You'll need
- A real hill nearby if possible (even a small slope or a big mound)
- A sand tray with damp sand, or clay
- Pictures of hills and mountains (books, calendars, magazines)
- A geography notebook (any notebook kept just for these lessons) and a pencil
What's in the book
Long describes climbing a hill from its foot or base, up its slopes to the summit, and what you can see from the top. Mountains are much higher (as high as twenty 100-foot steeples), cold and snowy at the top. A valley is the land between hills or mountains. Mountains are useful: they bring rain and snow, give rise to rivers, keep off cold winds, and hold coal and iron. Written sentences to copy.
The lesson, step by step
Climb a hill
If you can, walk to the top of a nearby hill (or any slope).
It is land a little higher than the surrounding country.
Start at the bottom: this is the foot or base. Climb up the sides: these are the slopes. Stand on the top: this is the summit.
Look around
At the top, ask the book's questions: What can you see from the top? A meadow, a stream, the town? What grows on the hill? What lives on it?
Two names each
Back home, ask: Give two names for the lowest part of a hill (foot, base). Two for the highest part (top, summit). Two for the part in between (slope, sides).
Mountains
Read about mountains.
SayThe book says a mountain is as high as twenty church steeples stacked on top of each other. Some mountains are higher than the clouds!
Ask: Is it warm or cold on top of a high mountain? What covers many high mountains, even in summer?
Valleys
Look at the picture of the valley between two mountains. Ask: What is the low land between them called? Is there a valley near us?
Model it
The book suggests a molding-board with a few quarts of sand.
Think of a real hill while you mold.
In the sand tray, your child builds two mountains with a valley between, and a small hill. Point to the base, slope and summit of each.
Write
Your child copies one or two of the book's sentences:
A hill is land a little higher than the country about it.
A long, narrow piece of land between hills and mountains is called a valley.
Afterwards
Your child draws, from memory, a hill they have seen "with a little of the surrounding country," as the book says. Collect pictures of mountains for the notebook.
Tip
Ask "Would you rather live on a mountain or in a valley? Why?" There is no wrong answer; this is a thinking question.
Answers to the book's problems
The lowest part of a hill is the foot or base; the highest part is the top or summit; the part between is the slope or sides. It is cold at the tops of high mountains, and many are covered with snow even in summer. The land between hills or mountains is a valley. Mountains are useful: they make the earth more beautiful, cool the clouds so rain and snow fall, give rise to rivers that water the valleys, keep off cold winds from some countries, and hold coal, iron and other minerals.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.