Earth Science

by Cassandra Jenkins

Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features Science Content

Nonfiction Sequence • Captions Changes on

• Call Outs Earth
• Glossary

Scott Foresman Science 3.8

ISBN 0-328-13829-0

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Vocabulary What did you learn?
Changes on Earth
core 1. What forces can cause erosion?
crust by Cassandra Jenkins
2. Name the different layers of Earth.
erosion 3. How do volcanoes erupt?
landform 4. In this book you have
lava read about how weathering affects landforms.
Write to explain how weathering can change
magma landforms. Use examples from the book to
mantle support your answer.

weathering 5. Sequence What happens during an

earthquake?

Illustrations: 3, 4, 7 Big Sesh Studios

Photographs: Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its
attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott
Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom
(B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd)
Opener: ©David Muench/Corbis; Title Page: Big Sesh Studios; 2 ©David Muench/Corbis; 5 (BC) ©Pat
O’Hara/Corbis, (CR) ©Royalty-Free/Corbis; 6 ©Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images; 8 (CR) ©Spencer
Grant/Photo Researchers, Inc., (B) ©Lloyd Cluff/Corbis; 9 (BL) ©Ken M. John/Photo Researchers, Inc.,
(BR) ©La Prensa Grafica/AP/Wide World Photos; 10 (R) ©Fred Whitehead/Animals Animals/Earth
Scenes, (BR) ©Jeremy Horner/Corbis; 11 Natural History Museum/©DK Images; 12 ©DK Images; 13
©La Prensa Grafica/AP/Wide World Photos; 14 ©William Manning/Corbis; 15 ©David Muench/Corbis

ISBN: 0-328-13829-0

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior
to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any
form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For
information regarding permissions, write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman,
1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
 The mantle is below the crust. It is made up of
What are Earth’s layers? very hot rocks. It can flow like thick toothpaste.

Earth’s Layers The core is the innermost layer of Earth. It is made

up of metal. The core is so hot that it could melt. But
Earth is divided into three layers. The crust is the
it is packed tightly together and stays mostly solid. Its
outer layer of Earth. It is made up of different kinds of
outer part is a very hot liquid.
rock. The thickness of the crust is different in different
places. The crust is about 37 kilometers (23 miles)
thick under the continents. Compare Earth to a peach. Crust
The crust would be the skin of the peach. Mantle

Core

2 3
Shapes on Earth’s Surface A glacier is a moving body of ice. It slowly moves
downhill. A volcano is an opening in Earth’s crust.
A landform is a solid feature on Earth’s crust.
Hot, melted rock is forced through it. Some mountains
Mountains, hills, and valleys, are landforms. Other
form when pieces of rock are pushed along cracks in
features include bodies of water. There are many
Earth’s crust. A lake forms when water flows slowly
different types of landforms on Earth.
enough to fill up an area.
Forces shape these landforms. Moving water is a
strong force. Rivers can act as saws. Sand and pebbles
in the water slowly cut through rock. Flooding rivers Volcano Mountain
leave silt, sand, and pebbles on their banks. These
Lake
River
things help form valleys. Hill
Valley Plateau
Glacier

Plain

Do you recognize
these landforms?
Ocean
This picture shows a
Coast
mountain, a kind of
landform, and a lake.

4 5
 Volcanoes
What are volcanoes and
Magma collects in large pockets. These pockets
earthquakes? are called magma chambers. As magma leaves a
chamber, it moves up a tunnel or vent. Sometimes
How Do Volcanoes Form?
magma escapes and erupts from a side vent. But
Volcanoes start in the mantle. This is where most magma erupts through a central vent. It erupts
magma forms. Magma is hot, partly melted rock that through a bowl-shaped
is under pressure from gases it contains. This pressure crater at the top of
forces it up through Earth’s crust. The hot material the volcano.
erupts through an opening in a volcano.
Lava is the material that erupts from a volcano. Crater Central vent
Lava has ash, cinders, and hot rock in it. As lava
cools, it becomes new crust.
Side vent Side vent

Magma
chamber

This lava was

once magma
inside Earth.

6 7
Earthquakes
Parts of Earth’s crust can shift suddenly. This causes
the ground to vibrate. This shaking is called an
earthquake. Most earthquakes begin along a fault.
A fault is a large crack in Earth’s crust.
Earthquake vibrations move as waves through
Earth. They also move up and down. The waves can
cause cracks. They can pile up rubble in areas around
the parts of the crust that moved.
8 9
Earthquake Damage
How much earthquake damage occurs depends on
how long the crust shakes. It also depends on how
close the earthquake is to the surface. Earthquakes
can happen very close to a city. This causes a lot of
damage to buildings, bridges, pipes, and roads.
An earthquake can cause landslides. Landslides are
downhill movements of rocks and earth. Landslides
can happen on the land or the ocean floor. Landslides
underwater can cause huge waves. Landslides on the
land can bury large areas.
Earthquakes can cause
damage in cities and in
nature.

What are weathering
and erosion?
Weathering
Landforms are always changing. This happens
when rocks in landforms break apart. Weathering is
any action that breaks rocks into smaller pieces.
Weathering goes on all the time. It causes changes
over time. Some changes might take a year. Others
could take hundreds of years.
Plants can cause weathering. Their roots grow into
rocks. As the roots grow, they break apart rocks.
10
Water mixed with decayed
material in soil can also cause Boulder
weathering. This water changes
the minerals in the rock. The
rock grows weak and starts to
break apart. Water can also seep
in and freeze in the cracks of a
rock. Then the water expands. Cobble
Ice pushes against the rock and
breaks it apart over time.
Ice changes rocks in a different
way. Glaciers are huge bodies of
Pebble
ice. Rocks and ice scrape against
the ground as a glacier moves.
This makes valleys wide and
Sand
smooth. Rocks of all sizes drop
to the ground when the glacier
melts. These rocks and soil line
Silt
the edges where the glacier used
to be. Clay
Look at how weathering
has broken down this
boulder into smaller and
smaller pieces.
11
Erosion In dry places such as deserts, wind often causes
erosion. Wind can pick up dry sand and soil. It blows
Sometimes weathered materials are picked up and
them to other places since there aren’t many plants
carried away. The movement of weathered materials is
to hold them down. The particles bump into rocks
called erosion. Glaciers, gravity, wind, and water can
and cause small grains to break
cause erosion.
off. Slowly the rocks change.
Water erosion is the most common form. Rivers move
bits of rock. During floods, mud and sand flow over a
river’s banks. Rainwater washes soil away from hills.
Erosion can make new islands. Rivers carry rocks
and soil to the ocean. They build up over time into
islands. Then wind and waves
change their shape.

12 13
 Living things can cause erosion. Some squirrels
tunnel through soil. Worms can mix and carry soil to
new places. Groups of ants move soil to make nests.
When an animal tunnels, it allows water and air
into the ground. Then the air and water continue
the erosion.
Erosion caused the
hole in this cliff.
14
Gravity causes erosion by pulling rocks downhill.
This material moves slowly unless the slope is steep.
Weathered material moves very quickly on steep
slopes! The movement of wet soil is called a mudflow.
When rocks slide quickly down a hill, it is called
a rockslide.
This hillside eroded. The side
of the hill slumped down.
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Vocabulary
Glossary What did you learn?
core
core the innermost layer of Earth 1. What forces can cause erosion?
crust
crust the outer layer of Earth 2. Name the different layers of Earth.
erosion
erosion the movement of weathered material 3. How do volcanoes erupt?
landform
landform a solid feature formed on Earth’s crust 4. In this book you have
lava
lava molten rock that erupts from a read about how weathering affects landforms.
volcano Write to explain how weathering can change
magma landforms. Use examples from the book to
magma hot, partly melted rock that is under support your answer.
mantle
pressure
weathering 5. Sequence What happens during an
mantle the part of Earth just beneath the crust
earthquake?
weathering any action that breaks rocks into
smaller pieces

Illustrations: 3, 4, 7 Big Sesh Studios

Photographs: Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its
attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott
Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom
(B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd)
Opener: ©David Muench/Corbis; Title Page: Big Sesh Studios; 2 ©David Muench/Corbis; 5 (BC) ©Pat
O’Hara/Corbis, (CR) ©Royalty-Free/Corbis; 6 ©Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images; 8 (CR) ©Spencer
Grant/Photo Researchers, Inc., (B) ©Lloyd Cluff/Corbis; 9 (BL) ©Ken M. John/Photo Researchers, Inc.,
(BR) ©La Prensa Grafica/AP/Wide World Photos; 10 (R) ©Fred Whitehead/Animals Animals/Earth
Scenes, (BR) ©Jeremy Horner/Corbis; 11 Natural History Museum/©DK Images; 12 ©DK Images; 13
©La Prensa Grafica/AP/Wide World Photos; 14 ©William Manning/Corbis; 15 ©David Muench/Corbis

ISBN: 0-328-13829-0

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior
to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any
form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For
information regarding permissions, write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman,
1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
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