1. South Carolina Landform
Regions
(and facts about Landforms)
SC

2. Where is South Carolina?
Here we are!
South
Carolina
borders the
Atlantic
Ocean.
North America
United States of America
Eart
h
SC

3. South Carolina Landform Regions
Map
Do you remember your 3rd
grade South Carolina Landform
Regions? Can you name these?
Our state is
divided into
regions,
starting at the
mountains and
going down to
the coast.
SC

4. Did You Know?
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
The Southern Atlantic States have about the same
regions as we do in South Carolina.
So, during this study, you will also hear about other
states. What you hear about that landform region in
Virginia, for example, is much the same in South Carolina.

5. Blue Ridge Mountains
Landform
Regions
The Blue Ridge
Mountain Region
is only 2% of the
South Carolina
land mass.
SC

6. Facts About the Blue Ridge
Mountains . . .
1, The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the
Appalachian Mountain Range.
2. Many streams begin in the mountains.
3. These are the oldest mountains in America.
4. The Blue Ridge Mountains are Folding
Mountains.
5. The Blue Ridge Region takes up only 2% of
South Carolina’s land mass.

7. Types of Mountains
There are four different types of
mountains:
Folded Mountains
Upwarped Mountains
Fault Block Mountains
Volcanic Mountains

8. Folded Mountains
Folded mountains form when rock layers
squeezed from opposite sides buckle and
fold. The Appalachians, or Blue Ridge
Mountains are Folded mountains.
Types of Mountains

9. Blue Ridge Mountains, SC

10. Upwarped Mountains
Upwarped mountains form when crust is
pushed up by forces inside of the Earth.
Examples: Southern Rocky Mountains and
Adirondack Mountains
Types of Mountains

11. Adirondack Mountains,
NY
Yes! There are really mountains in the state of
New York!

12. Fault Block Mountains
Fault-block mountains are made up of huge
tilted blocks of rock which are separated
from surrounding rock by faults.
(Examples: Grand Tetons and Sierra Nevada Mountains.)
Types of Mountains

13. The Tetons

14. Volcanic Mountains
Volcanic Mountains are cone-shaped
mountains created from pile-up of
molten materials.
(Examples: The Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington,
and the Hawaiian Islands.)
Types of Mountains

15. Mt. Ranier, Washington
Mt. St. Helens, Washington
The water in Crater Lake, Oregon
is just this blue!
The Cascades is a volcanic
mountain range in the
Northwestern United States.
Crater Lake,
Oregon—see
the cone
island in the
water.

16. PiedmontLandform Regions
If you could see the
Piedmont Region from
space and without the
foliage, you would
notice it is sort of a
huge plateau.
SC
Greenville Spartanburg Union Greenwood Rock Hill Abbeville

17. Facts About the Piedmont
Region . . .
1.The Piedmont is the largest region of
South Carolina.
2. The Piedmont is thought to be a large
plateau (raised high land that is usually
flat on the top).
3. The Piedmont is NOT flat, but is hilly.
4. The Piedmont contains many of our
largest cities in South Carolina.
5. The Piedmont is often called The
Upstate.

18. What do we know about the
Piedmont of the Southeastern
Atlantic States?
Let’s watch a three minute video showing us
about the Piedmont.
You will look for information about the “fall line”
that divides the higher Piedmont region from
the lower, softer, Coastal Plain region.
You will find out how early pioneers used the
rivers and waterfalls to their advantage.

19. What do we know about the
Piedmont Region of our
Southeastern States?
The Piedmont of the Southeastern
States, StreamlineSC

20. Movie Follow-Up
What IS the fall line?
How did the fall line hurt transportation
in the early years of our country?
What did the settlers build at the fall line
so they could use the power from the
falls?

21. Sandhills Landform
Regions
Do you wonder why
the Sandhills are so
sandy? They used to
be the coastline of
North America
millions of years ago.
SC
Columbia, Our State Capitol

22. Four Facts About the Sandhills
Region . . .
1. The Sandhills are covered with the left
over sand dunes when it was SC’s
coastline millions of years ago.
2. The Sandhills are next to the fall line
where the land slopes down and the
rivers become waterfalls.
3. The Sandhills are hilly.
4. The Sandhills has softer ground than
the Piedmont.

23. How are sand dunes
formed?
All sand dunes are formed the same way.
Every single one is a pile of sand built up
by the wind. Once the sand has been
picked up by the wind, it will go
wherever the wind carries it. Even
though most sand dunes are made of the
same material and formed in the same
way, they vary widely in appearance.

24. Coastal PlainLandform Regions
There is an Inner and
Outer Coastal Plain.
Can you see the
dividing line? This area
was once in the ocean
millions of years ago.
SC
Aiken Orangeburg Sumter Florence

25. Facts About The Coastal Plains
1. The Coastal Plains are very wet.
2. The Coastal Plains used to be under the ocean
millions of years ago.
3. The Coastal Plains have savannahs, which are
wild grass prairies.
4. The Coastal Plains have a lot of swamps and
marshlands.
5. Because of sediment that settled in the ocean
millions of years ago over the Coastal Plains,
there is a lot of Sedimentary Rock in this area.
6. The Coastal Plains are flat in most areas.

26. What is sediment?
Sediment (n.) Material that settles to the
bottom of a liquid
What kind of sediment settled in the Inner and
Outer Coastal Plains millions of years ago
when they were covered with oceans?
This sediment forms layers of rock
called Sedimentary Rock.

27. What Happened?
What happened to all that sedimentary rock that
is supposed to be in the Inner and Outer
Coastal Plains?
The coastal plains are fairly flat, so the rock has
that eroded over the last million or so years
has stayed in the same place as soil instead of
washing away. There is no new rock exposed
from erosion, so you do not see sediment!
Don’t you think the sediment must have
eroded into soil along time ago?

28. Flat?
Another thing about the Coastal Plains—
Geologists have learned that the coastal
plain stair-steps down gradually with six
flats and seven slopes. They believe that
this happened as the ocean receded
(moved backward) throughout
thousands of years.

29. Coastal Zone Landform
Regions
Take a look at the
city map of South
Carolina. You can
name the cities in
the Coastal Zone.
SC
Hilton Head Beaufort Charleston Georgetown Myrtle Beach

30. Facts About the Coastal Zone
1. It borders the Atlantic Ocean.
2. It has sand dunes.
3. It has marshlands, inlets, bays, barrier
islands.
4. It had Palmetto and Palm trees.
5. It has beaches.
6. It is often battered by hurricanes.

31. How Did Pioneers Use the
Coastal Zone?
What did the pioneers grow in the Coastal
Zone? Why did they grow this crop?
Watch a one-minute video to find out.

32. StreamlineSC Video
Name a way that pioneers used the
Coastal Zone of South Carolina.
Along the Southern Coastline, StreamlineSC

33. Movie Follow-Up
What crop DID the settlers grow in the
Coastal Zone?
Why was this crop grown in this region?

34. How did cities begin in
South Carolina?
Take a look at the South Carolina Cities
Map to learn where the main cities are
placed. Then look at the Rivers and
Streams Map. Can you see learn
anything by comparing the two maps?
Hint: How were rivers used when the
South Carolina colony was beginning to
settle?

35. South Carolina Cities
Map

36. SC Rivers

37. Remember . . .
 There are five landform regions in
South Carolina:
 Blue Ridge Mountains
 Piedmont
 Sandhills
 Inner Coastal Plain
 Outer Coastal Plain
 Coastal Zone

38. South Carolina 5th
Grade Science Curriculum
Standard
Structure of the Earth’s System
 Locate and describe the characteristics of South Carolina
landform regions such as Blue Ridge, Piedmont, Sandhills,
Coastal Plains, and Coastal Zone.
 Define constructive forces, which include crustal deformation
(folding and faulting), volcanic eruptions, and deposition of
sediment.)
 Describe how landforms are created as a result of constructive
forces.