Landforms and Bodies of Water Sort

2nd Grade Social StudiesGeography4 pages

About this worksheet

The exhibit cards at the "Geo-Explorer Museum" got scrambled, and 2nd grade students sort 12 features into two museum rooms: Landforms and Bodies of Water. The list includes mountain, plateau, canyon, stream, and pond, and a reference box defines each group. Students then name the trickiest item, add a new feature to each group, and draw and describe one landform or body of water near their community. The four pages meet C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.6.K-2, and the answer key gives the full sort and sample replies.

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Curriculum objectives covered

D2.Geo.6.K-2

โ€œIdentify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.โ€

Section 3, where students identify a local feature such as a river or hill and describe it, and the Big Sort, which groups the physical features of places.

What's inside this worksheet

Section 1 The Big Sort

Students sort Mountain, River, Lake, Island, Plain, Ocean, Valley, Stream, Hill, Pond, Canyon, and Plateau into Landforms or Bodies of Water. The key puts seven on the land side and five on the water side.

Section 2 Thinking Like a Geographer

Question 2 asks which item was hardest to place. Question 3 asks for one new landform and one new body of water, such as a volcano or a bay.

Section 3 In Your Community

Students name a landform or body of water near where they live, draw it, and add two describing words like high, flat, flowing, or still.

How teachers use it

Photo sort

Show a photo of each feature before students sort. Plateau and plain sound alike, and a picture settles the difference quickly.

Debate time

Island and canyon are the two the answer key flags as tricky. Give pairs one each and let them argue which room it belongs in before you reveal the key.

After a neighborhood walk

Section 3 works best after a short walk or a look at a local map. Students who live near the same creek or hill can compare their describing words.

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