⛰️ How Are Mountains Made?
4th Grade 🌍 Geography
Most mountains form when giant pieces of Earth’s crust, called plates, push against each other and fold the land upward.
Earth’s puzzle pieces
The outside of Earth is broken into huge plates that move very slowly — about as fast as your fingernails grow. Where two plates crash together, the land crumples and rises, like a rug pushed against a wall.
Folded mountains
The Himalayas, with Mount Everest, are still rising because the plate carrying India keeps pushing into Asia. The Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians were also made by plates.
Volcanic mountains
Some mountains are volcanoes, built from lava and ash that pile up over many eruptions. Mount St. Helens in Washington and Mauna Loa in Hawaii are volcanoes.
Mountains wear down
Wind, rain and ice slowly wear mountains down. That is why the old Appalachians are rounder and lower than the younger, sharper Rockies.
Quick quiz
What are the giant moving pieces of Earth’s crust called?
Which mountains include Mount Everest?
What slowly wears mountains down?