Land reclamation

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/land-reclamation

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the technical term?Land reclamation (or land creation, landfill)
2. What is the strategic applications?Urban expansion, infrastructure development (airports, ports), coastal defense, economic development
3. Why do people build new land from the ocean?It gives cities more space for homes, airports, ports, and can protect coastlines from storms and rising seas.
4. How do engineers create new land?They first build dikes or seawalls to hold the water back, then dredge sand or silt from the sea and pile it inside the protected area.

Containment structures: Engineered barriers like dikes and seawalls used to enclose areas for reclamation.
Dredging: The excavation of material from beneath a body of water, typically for creating channels or obtaining fill material.
Polder: A low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes that has been reclaimed from the sea or a river.