Method. Do not start by naming landforms — start by asking three questions about each feature you can see, and let the answers name the agent.
- What shape is it? A narrow V-shaped cut, a broad U-shaped trough, a rounded hollow, a ridge, a flat step?
- What is it made of? Solid rock, rounded pebbles, angular gravel, fine sand, sticky clay? Rounded stones have travelled in water; angular ones have not travelled far; sorted sand of one size means wind or waves.
- Which way does it face, and what is nearby? A river, the sea, a hill slope, a bare dry plain, a limestone quarry?
What a good answer needs: at least three features you have actually seen; the agent for each; and the one piece of evidence that made you decide. Then use this table to check yourself.
| If you see … | The agent is probably … | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A stream in a V-shaped notch, with rounded pebbles in its bed | Running water | Water cuts downward at a point and rounds stones by rolling them |
| A flat strip of fine silt beside a river, farmed and slightly raised at the bank | Running water — deposition (floodplain and levee) | Silt is dropped when a river overflows and loses speed |
| Small channels or gullies cutting a bare slope after rain | Running water — erosion | Run-off concentrates into channels wherever the soil is bare |
| A sandy shore, low ridges of sand behind it, or a rock cliff facing the sea | Waves and currents | Waves both deposit sand and undercut rock at the shoreline |
| Ripples or low mounds of clean sand on a dry plain | Wind | Wind sorts particles by size, so dune sand is all of one grade |
| A broad U-shaped valley, or scattered boulders quite unlike the local rock | A glacier, in the past | Only ice carries huge boulders far and widens a valley into a U |
| A limestone area with hollows, springs, or a cave | Underground water | Slightly acidic water dissolves limestone from within |
| A steep road cutting with fresh debris at its foot | Gravity, helped by weathering | Weathered rock loses support and slips downslope |
Sample answer: Behind my school there is a low hill and a small stream. In the stream bed the stones are smooth and rounded and the channel is a narrow V, so the agent here is running water. Where the stream leaves the hill it spreads out and the ground is flat and silty, and farmers grow vegetables on it — that is deposition by the same stream, a small alluvial fan. On the bare part of the hill slope, where the trees were cut, the last monsoon left a set of small gullies about knee-deep: again running water, but eroding this time, and only where the soil had lost its cover. Near the school gate the rock in the compound wall has cracked where a peepal root has grown into it — that is biological weathering, not erosion, because the pieces have not moved anywhere.