The Earth Changes

Changes in the Earth’s Crust

The Earth changes very, very slowly.  It can take millions of years for the Earth to make big changes.

Changes in the Earth’s crust can make earthquakes, mountains, and volcanoes.

The crust of the Earth is called tectonic plates.

Tectonic plates can move.

They can move quickly.  This is called an earthquake.

The can move a little bit over a very long period of time.

This can make mountains.  It takes millions of years to create a mountain.

The magma inside the Earth can push up to create a volcano eruption.

Erosion, Sediment and Canyons:

Water can also change the Earth.

Rain, ice and rivers can break off pieces of rock from a mountain.

This is called erosion.

Erosion makes a mountain smaller.

It takes a very long time for erosion to make changes in the Earth.

Erosion can make a canyon.

A river breaks off rock and soil from the land.

The river cuts into the land very slowly.

This makes a canyon.

The Grand Canyon was made by a river.

It took millions of years for the Colorado River to make the Grand Canyon.