Landforms & Water Features — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Why is the top of a mountain often colder than the bottom?
A) It is closer to the sun
B) Higher air is cooler and thinner
C) Mountains make their own ice
D) The grass is cold
As you go higher, the air gets thinner and colder, so mountain tops often have snow even in summer.
2. Why do very few plants grow in a hot desert?
A) Too many animals eat them
B) The sand is too soft
C) There is very little rain
D) It is too cold
Deserts get very little rain, so most plants cannot survive. Only tough plants like cactus can live there.
3. Why do polar bears live near the icy ocean and not in the desert?
A) They like sand
B) Their thick fur keeps them warm in cold places
C) Deserts have no food
D) Oceans have no fish
Polar bears have thick fur and fat for cold places, and they hunt seals in icy ocean waters.
4. How can a tall mountain change the weather on one side of it?
A) It blocks clouds, making one side dry
B) It makes snow fall everywhere
C) It heats the wind up
D) It causes earthquakes
Tall mountains block clouds and rain, so one side gets lots of rain and the other side is much drier.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The top of a tall mountain is often covered with snow all year.
Mountain tops stay so cold that snow does not melt, even in warm months.
2. A desert is hot and dry because it gets very little rain.
Deserts get under ten inches of rain each year, which makes them very dry places.
3. Animals that live in cold places often have thick fur to stay warm.
Thick fur keeps warm air close to an animal's body, which helps it live in cold places.
4. The air near the ocean is often cooler in summer than land far away.
Ocean water warms up slowly, so the air near the coast stays cooler in summer than inland air.
5. Land near a ocean often gets more rain than land far from water.
Ocean water turns into clouds that move over the land, so coastal areas often get more rain.