How Does Wind Change Earth's Surface?

Sand is made up of

• powdered clay.

• weathered bits of rock.

• dried out soil

• crushed animal bones.

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Hills called sand dunes form when

• the roots of plants hold sand in one place

• water deposits in valleys.

• wind deposits sand in one place

• burrowing animals dig holes.

Which of these is an example of how wind erosion can cause a problem for humans?

• It can carve deep canyons.

• It can crack large rocks in two.

• It can cut a hole in a cliff to form an arch.

• It can blow away the top layer of soil during a drought.

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What is one benefit of a windbreak?

• It can prevent a dust storm.

• It helps create sand dunes

• It makes winds much weaker.

• It can prevent plants from drying out.

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A sandblaster is a machine that shoots sand at a surface to clean it. Why is sand useful when cleaning machines and buildings?

• It is as slippery as clay because it is made of clay.

• It is as hard as rock because it is made of bits of rock.

• It can hold water like soil because it is made of soil.

• It has the odor of bones because it is made of crushed animal bones.

What an interesting rock sculpture! A human artist did not carve it, though. How did wind make the shape you see in this desert?

• It deposited soil to make this shape.

• It deposited sand to make this shape.

• It blew sand against the rock and weathered it

• It blew water against the rock and weathered it.

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The photo shows a windbreak along a farmer’s field. What is one benefit to farmers of this windbreak?

• It can prevent plants from drying out.

• It can let more sun reach the plants.

• It can prevent animals from entering the field.

• It can let more water reach the plants.

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Which effect of wind erosion causes problems for humans?

• It can blow away the dry top layer of soil during a drought.

• It can carve rocks into the shape of arches in a desert

• It can pile up sand to form sand dunes along a beach.

• It can move sand dunes one grain at a me along a beach.

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These tracks are evidence that a bear walked on this dune just hours ago. The photographer will return in a day. How will the tracks look then and why?

• The tracks will still be there because the sand in sand dunes hardly moves at all.

• The tracks will still be there because the sand will harden and form solid rock.

• The tracks will have disappeared because the wind moves and deposits sand to fill them in.

• The tracks will have disappeared because the wind will weather rock and the new sand will fill them in.

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A photographer working for the U.S. government took this photo in Kansas in 1946. It was the me called the Dust Bowl. What can you observe in the photo that shows evidence of wind erosion?

• the lack of leaves on the trees and the lack of people

• the positions of the trees and the height of the buildings

• the pattern of shadows cast by the farm shed and the trees

• the ripple pattern in the soil and the height of the soil next to the shed

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