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Landforms Worksheets for 2nd Grade

12 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Mountains, valleys, plains, plateaus, canyons, islands and peninsulas, bodies of water, a map model to label, and where water is found on Earth.

Download the landforms and bodies of water worksheets

Landforms and bodies of water

Two posters with the plain, textbook picture of each word, a matching page, a land or water sort and a fill in the blank.

Map models of land and water

Label a map of land and water with a word bank or by cut and paste, then draw your own island map.

Where water is found on Earth

Read about water on Earth, then mark each kind of water as solid or liquid and salt or fresh.

  • Preview of the printable “Where is water found on Earth? reading passage” worksheet: reading to find out where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquidView all 2 pages

    Where is water found on Earth? reading passage

    Reading to find out where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages60 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Water on Earth: solid or Liquid, salt or fresh” worksheet: identifying where water is found on Earth, and whether it is solid or liquid and salt or freshView all 2 pages

    Water on Earth: solid or Liquid, salt or fresh

    Identifying where water is found on Earth, and whether it is solid or liquid and salt or fresh

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages235 KB

Words and review

Word cards to cut apart and a true or false check.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these landforms and bodies of water worksheets

Earth’s surface has many shapes. In 2nd grade, children learn the names of common landforms and bodies of water, use a map to show the land and water in an area, and find out where Earth’s water is: mostly in the salty ocean, and much of the fresh water frozen as ice.

These landforms worksheets start with two posters, then practice the words with matching, a land or water sort, a fill in the blank and word cards. A map of an island seen from above lets children label mountains, a river, a lake, a plain, a peninsula and an island, as a word bank page or a cut and paste twin. Children then draw their own island map.

Pages are black and white with short directions a 2nd grader can read. Each prints on US Letter or A4, and every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • NGSS 2-ESS2-2Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
  • NGSS 2-ESS2-3Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

How to use them

  1. Show the two posters and connect each landform to a place children know: a hill at the park, a nearby river or lake.
  2. Build landforms from clay or sand on a tray, then label them with the word cards.
  3. Use the map labeling page or its cut and paste twin, and point out how the river runs downhill from the mountains to the ocean.
  4. Read the water on Earth passage before the solid or liquid, salt or fresh chart.
  5. Finish with the island map so children can show everything they learned.

Teaching tips

  • A peninsula has water on three sides; an island has water all around. Have children trace the water around each with a finger.
  • A plateau is high and flat on top. A plain is low and flat. Both are flat, so compare height.
  • Most lakes hold fresh water, but a few, like the Great Salt Lake, are salty.
  • Icebergs float in the salty sea but are made of frozen fresh water that broke off glaciers.
  • Rivers always flow downhill, toward a lake or the ocean.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What landforms do 2nd graders learn?

Most 2nd grade classes learn mountains, hills, valleys, plains, plateaus, canyons, islands and peninsulas, along with bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, rivers and ponds.

Where is water found on Earth?

Almost all of Earth’s water is in the oceans, and it is salty. Fresh water is in lakes, rivers, ponds and underground, and most of Earth’s fresh water is frozen in glaciers and ice sheets near the poles and on high mountains.

What is a model of land and water?

A map or a 3D model that shows the shapes and kinds of land and water in an area. Our map labeling and island drawing pages are simple models children can make and read.