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

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

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

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

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

9. Blue Ridge Mountains, SC

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

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

12. Fault Block Mountains
Types of 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.)

13. The Tetons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. Aiken Orangeburg Sumter Florence
Coastal Plain Landform Regions
SC
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.

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

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

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.