Benchmark 4C The Physical Setting: Processes that Shape the Earth

Benchmark 4C
The Physical Setting: Processes that Shape the Earth
Grades 6-8, page 73

Some changes in the earth's surface are abrupt (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) while other changes happen very slowly (such as uplift and wearing down of mountains). The earth's surface is shaped in part by the motion of water and wind over very long times, which act to level mountain ranges.

NSES Content Standard D
Earth and Space Science: Changes in the Earth and sky
Grades K-4, page 134
The surface of the earth changes. Some changes are due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering, and some changes are due to rapid processes such as landslides, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

NSES Content Standard F
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Changes in environments
Grades K-4, page 140
Some environmental changes occur slowly, and others occur rapidly. Students should understand the different consequences of changing environments in small increments over long periods as compared with changing environments in large increments over short periods.

NSES Content Standard D
Earth and Space Science: Structure of the Earth system
Grades 5-8, page 160
Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment, while destructive forces include weathering and erosion.

NSES Content Standard D
Earth and Space Science: Origin and evolution of the earth system
Grades 9-12, page 189
Interactions among the solid earth, the oceans, the atmosphere, and organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the earth system. We can observe some changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale, but many processes such as mountain building and plate movements take place over hundreds of millions of years.