SURFACE CHANGES ON EARTH

SURFACE CHANGES ON EARTH LESSON

Directions:

Print the Surface Changes on Earth reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions.  Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt

     The Earth is a constantly changing planet.  Many of those changes happen on the surface where we can see and measure them.  Earth has been changing for a very long time.  Some of the changes happen fairly quickly.  Some changes happen slowly over millions of years.  Scientists believe that the processes that have changed the Earth in the past still happen today.  This idea is known as the principle of uniformity.  In other words, the same changes we can see happening on Earth today also happened in the past.  This helps us understand why the Earth is the way it is today. 

     Weathering is a very important process of surface change.  Weathering can be defined as the breaking down of the lithosphere by the action of wind, water, ice, plants, animals, and chemical changes.  Remember that the lithosphere is the solid part of Earth.  Weathering is a very slow process.  It is also a continuous process.  It affects all substances that are exposed to the atmosphere.

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