Erosional coastal landforms
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain erosional processes and describe the coastal landforms they create.
Key learning points
- There are four types of erosion: abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition and solution.
- The geology of a coastline will have an impact on the rate of erosion.
- Coastal landforms, such as arches, are formed through erosional processes over millions of years.
- The sequence from a headland to a stump is: headland, cave, arch, stack, stump.
Keywords
Erosion - the process of Earth’s surface, e.g. rock or soil, being worn away and transported from its original site
Landform - landforms are natural features created by processes such as erosion or deposition
Geology - the geology of an area is its physical structure and the rocks and minerals that exist there
Rate - a measure of the quantity, frequency or speed at which something happens or occurs
Common misconception
Students may think that soft rock is physically soft to the touch, like a pillow.
Geologically soft is not the same as being soft like a pillow. All rock feels solid when touched, even soft rocks. Rock that is classified as soft, like clay, can crumble and break more easily than rock which is classified as hard, like granite.
Teacher tip
If you have some small samples of different types of hard and soft rock to pass around the room, students can feel how they are all 'solid', even though some of them are 'hard' and some of them are 'soft'.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a landform?
Q2.What is the difference between erosion and weathering?
Q3.Match the key words to their definition.
natural features created by processes such as erosion or deposition
the process of Earth’s surface being worn and transported away
the physical structure, rocks and minerals that exist in an area
a measure of the quantity, frequency or speed
Q4.What is an erosional coastal landform?
Q5.What is a headland?
Q6.Why is rock described as being 'soft'?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which term refers to rock being worn away?
Q2.The four types of erosion are:
rock carried by waves knock against a cliff face and wear it down
waves force air into cracks on a cliff face weakening the rock
rock is dissolved by seawater
rocks carried by waves knock against each other
Q3.Put the coastal landforms in the order that they are formed.
Q4. tells us about the type of rock at a coastline.
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: Erosional coastal landforms, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: Erosional coastal landforms, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 geography lessons from the Coasts: what shapes life at the coast? unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.