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COASTS

Information and ideas all to help learn more about the geography topic of coasts. There are coastline images to help illustrate the different coastal features that can be found at the coasts. Plus there are ideas for making geography models that make learning about coasts fun. Also, to help illustrate the topic, there is a great coastal diagram and links to more useful geography resources all to help you learn about the geography topic of coasts in a fun and interesting way.
Geography topics for you to learn and enjoy

Make a geography model - 3D Coasts

We really love this idea and we take our hats off to the British School in Boston for coming up with it. If you click on the picture, it will take you to their website where you can see more examples of coastal features created in clay. 

Geography topics for you to learn and enjoy
pictures for use when learning about Geography

What features can be found at coasts?

bay
cape
cove
gulf
headland peninsula
cliff
arch

The white cliffs of Dover, UK

Coastal Geography | cliffs | coast pictures | coastal images | coastline images | coastal features
cave
stack
stump
beach  
dunes  
spit  
lagoon
salt marsh
fjord 
Here is a list of features that can be found at coasts. How many can you recognise? 

Why not build up a picture gallery of coastal features? 

There are lots of different features here that can be found at the coast. Why not use the internet to find definitions for all these terms? Or build up a picture gallery of all these features by searching for them using google images or bing image search?

What coastal processes shape the coasts?

coast pictures | coastal images | coastal geography KS3 | coastline images | coastal features
How are the coasts shaped? What forces shape the land?  Below is a list of processes which help shape the coast.

You can make a labelled diagram.

Why not draw a labelled diagram explaining how these processes take place?
Hydraulic action –
 
 
Corrosion –
Attrition – 

Abrasion - 
the weight of a wave crashing on a cliff face, pushing the air in cracks and caves, under pressure, to force open the crack/cave
chemicals in the sea water dissolve the rocks
small rocks are smashed against each other making smaller rocks.
little rocks getting picked up by the waves and being smashed on to the cliffs

What coastal processes shape the coasts?

Tides –
Waves –
Sea level change –
Currents –
Longshore drift – 
the rising and falling of the sea caused twice a day by the moon’s gravity
long bodies of water, created by the wind, crashing on the shore
higher sea levels lead to greater erosion shaping the coasts.
water moving in a certain direction, like wind in the air, currents in the sea
carries sand down the beach
Coastal Geography | cave | coastline images | coastal features

Matching activity

As a learning task, can you match up a process that shapes the land with a features that is found at coasts? 
For example, 
Hydraulic action forms caves and 
longshore drift forms spits.
How many more pairings like this can you form?
 

Cave formed by hydraulic action

Coastal diagrams

This coast diagram is an excellent illustration of the different terms used in the study of coasts. Diagrams help make the content more accessible. For more information, click on the image to go to the website it came from for more information.
coastal landforms diagram | coastal features

Facts about coasts

  • Altogether in the world, there is 312,000 kilometers of coastline.
  • Coastlines are not fixed. They are constantly moving due to erosion and by changing sea levels. 

Coastal comic strips

Here we have a novel and creative way to show the transition of a cliff into the different coastal features that can be created by the sea. This example comes from the talented pupils at Webber School, Milton Keynes. 
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