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Finding patterns on a map

Science · Earth's Systems · ages 9-10

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which direction do rivers usually flow?
- From low ground up to high ground
- From high ground down to low ground
- In a circle back to where they started
Look at a map of a country. Where would you expect to see mountains: scattered randomly everywhere, or lined up together in one area?
- Scattered randomly everywhere
- Lined up together in a chain
- Only in the very center of every map
Mountains and canyons formed in just a few days.
Circle one: True False
On a map, you see a mountain range running along the coast, and several rivers flowing from those mountains to the sea. What pattern connects these features?
- The rivers flow from the mountains down to the sea nearby
- The mountains formed after the rivers that already flowed there
- The rivers flow away from the sea toward the mountains
A map shows lakes clustered close together in one region, with none nearby elsewhere. What does this tell you?
- The lakes are scattered with no real pattern
- The lakes are grouped together, which is a pattern worth noticing
- The mapmaker made a mistake
Which process best explains why a mountain range formed over millions of years?
- Two giant crust pieces slowly pushed into each other
- A single storm piled up rocks in one night
- The mountains were always exactly the same as they are today
A canyon has many layers of rock stacked on top of each other, cut through by a river. What does this pattern suggest about how it formed?
- The layers were placed there recently by people
- It formed suddenly, in a single afternoon
- It formed slowly, as the river cut through layers of rock over a very long time
Maya looks at a map and says, 'This river flows from the sea up into the mountains.' What is wrong with her statement?
- Nothing, rivers can flow either way
- Rivers flow downhill, so this one must flow from the mountains to the sea
- Rivers only exist near mountains

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Finding patterns on a map W1-mt_-G6erQvLig-s1

From high ground down to low ground · Water flows downhill, so rivers run from high ground to low ground.
Lined up together in a chain · Mountains usually form in chains, not scattered evenly across a map.
False · These features take an enormous amount of time, often millions of years, to form through slow processes like plate movement and erosion.
The rivers flow from the mountains down to the sea nearby · The mountains are the high ground where rivers start, and they carry water down to the sea, the low ground.
The lakes are grouped together, which is a pattern worth noticing · Noticing that features cluster in one area, rather than spreading evenly, is exactly the kind of pattern scientists look for.
Two giant crust pieces slowly pushed into each other · Plate movement pushes crust together bit by bit, building mountains over an enormous stretch of time.
It formed slowly, as the river cut through layers of rock over a very long time · Rock layers build up slowly, and a river carving through them takes an extremely long time. That is why canyons are so deep.
Rivers flow downhill, so this one must flow from the mountains to the sea · Water always flows downhill. If the river connects mountains and the sea, it flows from the high mountains down to the low sea.