US Geography Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

US Geography Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this US geography vocabulary puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our social studies unit. The kids could point to the US on a map but had no idea what words like peninsula, tributary, or plateau meant when we talked about American landforms. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like mountain, hill, plain, plateau, river, lake, ocean, coast, border, peninsula, island, desert, forest, swamp, and valley. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the geography terms finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about the difference between a gulf and a bay. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple landform and compass drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers draw one US landform and label it on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.