What the Ice Left Behind · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Valleys carved by ancient ice

Geography · Physical Geography · ages 12-13
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What shape is a valley cut by a river?

    • A wide U
    • A narrow V
    • A flat plain

  2. What shape is a valley cut by a glacier?

    • A narrow V
    • A wide U
    • A perfect circle

  3. What is a moraine?

    • A ridge of stones and clay dumped by a glacier
    • A fast river rapid
    • A kind of cloud

  4. A plain holds a chain of small lakes in scooped rocky hollows. What best explains them?

    • Meltwater filling hollows that ice scooped out
    • Rain that fell last night
    • Farmers digging ponds yesterday

  5. Why does stiff ice carve a U while water carves a V?

    • Ice is colder than water
    • Ice grinds the whole valley, while water cuts one channel
    • Water is heavier than ice

  6. Scratches on bedrock and stray giant boulders can signal ice that melted long ago.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Two valleys look alike from above. One has a flat wide floor with scratched rock. How do you tell which one ice cut?

    • Flip a coin
    • Pick the prettier one
    • Pick the U section with scratches and dumped rubble

  8. You see a steep wide valley with a chain of lakes and dumped stone ridges. A friend says a river made it. What is the flaw?

    • Rivers never exist near mountains
    • The U section plus moraine plus lakes spells glacier, not river
    • Lakes prove nobody ever visited
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_D-aB1k0K73-s1

Answer key

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

Valleys carved by ancient ice W1-mt_D-aB1k0K73-s1

  1. A narrow V · A thin channel cuts down and leaves a narrow V section.
  2. A wide U · Grinding the whole valley leaves steep sides and a flat floor.
  3. A ridge of stones and clay dumped by a glacier · Melting ice drops its load as ridges of unsorted rubble.
  4. Meltwater filling hollows that ice scooped out · Ice-gouged hollows fill with meltwater, which is why lakes chain across old ice lands.
  5. Ice grinds the whole valley, while water cuts one channel · A thick mass works the full width, but a stream works one line.
  6. True · Grinding scratches rock and drops boulders where rivers never could.
  7. Pick the U section with scratches and dumped rubble · Shape plus ice clues together identify the glacier valley with confidence.
  8. The U section plus moraine plus lakes spells glacier, not river · Clues read together beat any single clue, and this set points at ice.
Worksheet · LightMySky