Teacher Overview: Landform Legends
Landform Legends is an engaging, standards-aligned science adventure that takes elementary students on a journey across the diverse landforms that shape Earth's surface. Through an interactive online escape room, students explore locations such as mountains, valleys, plateaus, islands, and tundras, solving challenges and collecting clues to uncover a final code word. Along the way, they apply key geography vocabulary and earth science concepts in a story-driven format that makes learning meaningful and fun.
This lesson is designed to be completed in under one hour and includes a full set of teaching resources to support instruction and assessment:
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An interactive online educational adventure that reinforces content through exploration and problem-solving
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Standards-based vocabulary trading cards for student reference during the activity
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A concise instructional video that introduces key landform concepts and terminology
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A complete lesson plan with pacing guidance, objectives, and subtopic alignment
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Optional teaching dialogue to support facilitation and classroom discussion
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A full answer key for easy monitoring of student responses
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Additional support materials to ensure a smooth and engaging learning experience
Landform Legends offers a no-prep, high-impact way to teach students about Earth’s landforms while strengthening vocabulary, critical thinking, and science literacy.
Student Link:
https://excavatingadventures.com/blogs/adventures/7-landform-legends
Lesson Plan: Landform Legends – Landforms and Geography
Grade Level: Elementary
Subject: Earth Science / Geography
Topic: Landforms
Duration: 1 hour or less
Lesson Type: Interactive, standards-based science lesson
Lesson Overview:
This lesson introduces students to the major landforms that shape Earth's surface through an interactive online experience called Landform Legends. Students will begin with a short instructional video to build background knowledge and then complete the online escape room where they apply that knowledge to solve science challenges. Vocabulary trading cards will be used throughout as a reference tool to help students succeed during the adventure. This one-period lesson supports vocabulary development, critical thinking, and content mastery in an engaging, no-prep format.
Three Subtopics Covered:
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Types of Landforms – Students identify and describe common landforms including mountains, valleys, plateaus, islands, and tundras.
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Forces that Shape Landforms – Students explore processes such as erosion, uplift, and tectonic activity that create and alter landforms.
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Geography and Mapping Concepts – Students use geographic terms such as altitude, slope, and elevation to describe Earth’s surface features.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
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Define and describe various landforms found on Earth’s surface
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Explain how landforms form and change due to natural forces
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Use key vocabulary such as peninsula, plateau, and earthquake accurately in context
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Reference and apply vocabulary knowledge using trading cards during the online adventure
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Solve geography-based challenges to reinforce understanding and assess comprehension
Relevant Vocabulary:
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Landforms
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Peninsula
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Archipelago
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Tundra
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Earthquake
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Altitude
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Uplift
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Slope
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Plateaus
Materials Needed:
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Computers or tablets with internet access (1 per student or pair)
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Printed Vocabulary Trading Cards (1 set per student or group)
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Headphones (optional, for individual video playback)
Instructional Plan:
1. Introduction (5–10 minutes)
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Begin by asking students what landforms they already know.
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Distribute vocabulary trading cards and explain that these will help them solve challenges during the adventure.
2. Direct Instruction (5–8 minutes)
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Play the Landform Legends instructional video to introduce key landform vocabulary and geography concepts.
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Clarify new terms and connect them to real-world examples as needed.
3. Interactive Exploration (30–35 minutes)
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Direct students to begin the Landform Legends online escape room.
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Encourage use of the vocabulary cards to help with each challenge.
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Provide support and monitor progress as students work through each landform location.
4. Wrap-Up and Discussion (5–10 minutes)
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Review the final code word and reflect on what it revealed about the topic.
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Discuss the different landforms visited and the forces that shaped them.
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Reinforce the vocabulary by referring to the trading cards during the discussion.
Assessment:
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Informal assessment through student participation and correct responses in the online escape room
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Vocabulary usage and understanding checked during group discussion
Resources Provided:
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Instructional Video (approx. 5 minutes)
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Online Educational Escape Room: Landform Legends
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Downloadable Vocabulary Trading Cards (1 per student)
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Printable Lesson Plan and Teacher Reference Guide
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Optional Teaching Dialogue
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Full Answer Key
Teacher Reference Guide: Landform Legends – Landforms and Geography
This guide includes the essential content you’ll need to help your students understand key concepts in geography and landforms during the Landform Legends lesson. The goal is to introduce students to major landforms, the forces that shape them, and the vocabulary used to describe Earth’s surface. Students will use the vocabulary trading cards throughout the lesson to support their learning and complete challenges during the online escape room. The lesson should be completed in one class period and uses only the instructional video, trading cards, and interactive adventure.
Begin by explaining that landforms are natural features on Earth’s surface, including mountains, valleys, plateaus, plains, and more. These features form through processes like erosion, uplift, and tectonic activity. Each landform has its own shape and characteristics. A peninsula is a piece of land almost entirely surrounded by water, like the state of Florida. An archipelago is a group or chain of islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, often formed by volcanic activity. A tundra is a cold, treeless region with frozen soil and very little plant life. These areas have permafrost and are found in places like the Arctic.
Another important concept is altitude, which means height above sea level. Mountains have high altitude, while valleys are lower. Altitude can affect air pressure, temperature, and the types of plants and animals that can survive. Uplift is a process where underground forces push land upward to create features like mountains, ridges, and plateaus—which are large, flat areas of raised land. A slope describes how steep the land is, which can affect how water moves and where erosion happens. Students will also learn about earthquakes, which occur when tectonic plates suddenly shift, shaking the ground and sometimes changing landforms.
Distribute the vocabulary trading cards and encourage students to keep them handy during the lesson. Start by playing the short instructional video to introduce these key ideas. Then, students will move through the Landform Legends online escape room. In each setting, they will solve a vocabulary-based challenge using clues and concepts from the trading cards. Each correct answer reveals a letter, and together those letters form the final code word, reinforcing learning along the way.
After the adventure, lead a short discussion to help students reflect on what they learned. Use the vocabulary cards to review the terms and clarify any misunderstandings. Ask students to share which landform was most interesting or surprising and how different forces shape Earth over time. This reference guide will help you deliver the core content needed for a fun and meaningful exploration of geography—all within a single class period.
Landform Legends – Teacher Answer Key
Use this answer key to quickly reference the questions and correct answers from the Landform Legends online adventure.
Question: What do we call natural features like mountains and valleys?
Answer: Landforms
Question: What is mostly surrounded by water but still connected to land?
Answer: Peninsula
Question: What is a group of islands called?
Answer: Archipelago
Question: What do we call a cold area with frozen soil and few trees?
Answer: Tundra
Question: What causes sudden shaking in the Earth's surface?
Answer: Earthquake
Question: What is the term for height above sea level?
Answer: Altitude
Question: What process raises land due to underground pressure?
Answer: Uplift
Question: What do we call the steepness or angle of land?
Answer: Slope
Question: What type of landform is high and flat?
Answer: Plateau