Science Common Sense

1293 - What are the effects of external and internal forces on landforms.

Imagine you have a big clay model of the Earth's surface. External and internal forces are like different ways you can play with it.

External Forces: These are forces that come from the outside, like:

1. Weathering: Like when you leave your clay model outside and it starts to get wet and crumbly (water and wind making it weak).
2. Erosion: Like when you take a toy car and drive it over your clay model, making little paths and wearing it down (wind, water, or ice moving bits away).
3. Deposition: Like when you make a new road on your clay model using fresh clay, building up new land (bits carried by wind or water and left in a new place).

Internal Forces: These are forces that come from inside the Earth, like:

1. Volcanoes: Like when you put a firework under your clay model and it blows up, making a new mound (volcanic eruption).
2. Earthquakes: Like when you shake your clay model and it breaks apart (plates under the Earth moving).

These forces can make big changes to landforms like:

• Creating new mountains or volcanoes
• Changing the shape of rivers and lakes
• Making land rise or fall
• Creating new islands or destroying old ones

Just like how you can change your clay model by playing with it, these forces can shape the Earth's surface over time.