Finding Mountain Patterns on a Map

Finding Mountain Patterns on a Map: Grade 4 Science Worksheet

Are mountains spread evenly over Earth, or do they follow a pattern? Students read a world map made from real NOAA elevation data, where striped areas show high land. They find three famous mountain ranges and discover that high land lines up in long bands.

Key Science Vocabulary

• map key: the box that tells what each symbol on a map means
• mountain range: a long chain of mountains
• elevation: how high land is above the sea
• pattern: something that lines up or repeats
• continent: one of Earth’s seven large areas of land

What Students Do

• Read a short teach box on map keys and mountain ranges
• Part A: find each range on the map and circle its continent
• Part B: three pattern questions about which coast, what shape, and which continent has no high land
• Visual answer key with the ranges outlined in red

Standards

NGSS 4-ESS2-2: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Also supports CCSS RI.4.7 (interpret information shown visually, such as maps and tables).

Where It Fits in Grades 3 to 8

Earlier grades name landforms like mountains and valleys. Grade 4 reads maps to find patterns in where those landforms are. In middle school, students explain these patterns with plate tectonics.

Teaching Tip

Have students trace the Andes from north to south with a finger before they answer, then ask where else they see a long band. Takes 8 to 10 minutes.