Landforms & Water Features
updated March 16, 2020
Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!
This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.
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Landforms & Water Features
for Class 4
This page has helpful links and LOADS of free resources to help you plan your fourth grade year. Enjoy!
Rationale
I taught the fourth grade Local History & Geography block at our homeschool co-op in September 2018. Looking back,
I have realized that we did a LOT with local history, geography, and industry but we didn't do a lot with
landforms, water features, or map skills (like the compass rose).
In my opinion, I think this would work best as two blocks, so I am creating a separate Landforms &
Water Features block. I will post all of my notes as to what we do below and put photos on my blog.
Books to Buy
There is no main book to purchase for this topic.
Instead, I am using a fabulous Montessori material from Mandala Classroom Resources: Landforms
& Water Features Set of 38 three part cards ($49.00). Three part cards are designed for the student
to work independently, matching Picture, Name, and Definition. The cards are labeled on the back for control of error. This
means that students can check their work
on their own by flipping the cards over to see if they are correct. Highly recommended!!
I am doing this block in September 2019, interweaving it with Form Drawing (the archetypal
shapes around us are found also in the land) for my first graders and using
it to transition them into Capital Letters in October (Mountain, Valley, Cave, River, etc.). For my older students
this will be a Science main lesson book.
I am beginning the school year in the last week of August with an introduction to Form Drawing. Then in September,
the first graders will continue 1st grade FD and the older children will move into 2nd and 3rd grade FD. The landforms
and water features will progress accordingly, with mirrored forms (the classic way of presenting landforms and
water features in Montessori is to see them as opposites of each other, like island/lake) and then with metamorphosis forms.
We are doing 32 of the 38 cards. We are not using the cards for continent, continental shelf, cape, pass, ria, or bight.
Our read aloud story for this block: Abel's Island by William Steig
WEEK ONE
Day One - Reef
Day Two - River
Day Three - Cave
Day Four - Waterfall
WEEK TWO
Day Five - Island / Lake Mirrored
Day Six - Mountain / Valley Mirrored
dig and make in yard
National Geographic map Mount Everest
National Geographic map Alps
National Geographic map Great Rift Valley
National Geographic map Indian Ocean Floor
National Geographic map Arctic Ocean Floor
Day Seven - Isthmus / Strait Mirrored
dig and make in yard
National Geographic maps World - Panama, Strait of Magellan
Day Eight - Peninsula / Gulf Mirrored
dig and make in yard
National Geographic map Italy
National Geographic map United States - Florida, Gulf of Mexico
WEEK THREE
Day Nine - Gulf / Lagoon Metamorphosis
make metamorphosis in clay
Day Ten - Volcano / Crater Metamorphosis
vintage postcard of Mount St. Helens before eruption
Volcanoes, pp.12-13 from Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
pumice from my hike up Mount Vesuvius
Waseca Biomes Rock Cycle Mat
This Dynamic Planet Map from USGS - Ring of Fire
torn paper collage artwork with Mod Podge - volcano
crater on moon demonstration in flour
Earth by the Numbers
by Steve Jenkins
Day Eleven - Desert / Oasis Metamorphosis
watercolor paintings of desert vs oasis
Day Twelve - Glacier / Fjord / Iceberg Metamorphosis
WEEK FOUR
Day Thirteen - Archipelago / Atoll / Reef Metamorphosis
make metamorphosis in clay
National Geographic map World - Japan, Hawaii
National Geographic map Philippines
National Geographic map Indonesia
Day Fourteen - Plain / River / Canyon Metamorphosis
Day Fifteen - River / Estuary / Bay Metamorphosis
Day Sixteen - River / Tributary / River Basin / Delta Metamorphosis
Big Muddy River Tributary (page 58 of Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling)
Nile River Delta
dig and make in yard
field trip to Inspiration Point (view overlooking Mississippi River basin)
Minn of the Mississippi
by Holling Clancy Holling
Geology Underfoot in Illinois
by Raymond Wiggers
#32 - A Fault-Seeking Expedition
Fountain Bluff to the Pine Hills Escarpment, Jackson County
WEEK FIVE
Day Seventeen - Plain / Plateau / Butte / Earth Pillar Metamorphosis
My blog posts from teaching this block:
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