What Causes a Mountain to Form?

Imagine Earth's crust like a blanket. When this blanket gets pushed up, it makes mountains! This can happen when two big pieces of Earth, called tectonic plates, crash into each other or when hot rock from deep inside the Earth pushes up through the ground.

Mountains are like giant bumps on Earth's surface. They form in different ways: by collision, where land masses bump into each other, or by volcanic activity, where lava rises and piles up to make new mountains.

When tectonic plates move together, the pressure builds up until it pushes rock layers upward, like a giant accordion being squeezed. Volcanoes can also create mountains when molten rock (lava) flows out and hardens on top of each other.