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Activityengage

MappingtheWorld'sWatershedsHowdoestopographyshapeawatershed?

OverviewStudentslabelmajorriversandoutlinewatershedsonaworldmap.Theycomparetheshapesofvariouswatershedsanddiscusshowtopographyinfluencestheirshapes.

Directions1.Studentslocateanearbyriveronaworldmap.

AskavolunteertopointtotheareawherestudentsliveontheWorldPhysicalMapmakerKit.Askadifferentvolunteertouseabluemarkertotraceanearbyriverorstreamonthemapalongitspathtotheocean.Haveathirdvolunteeruseablackmarkertotraceallofthestreamsandriversthatflowintothatriver.Explainthatasmallerriverorstreamthatflowsintoalargerriveriscalledatributary.

2.Discusshowwatershedsconnecttotheocean.

DiscusshowalllandonEarthispartofawatershed.Awatershedisanentireriversystemoranareadrainedbyariveranditstributaries.Whenitrains,orsnowmelts,watersoaksintogroundandbecomespartofthegroundwater,oritrunsoffofthelandorthroughstormdrainsintothenearbystreamsorrivers.

Forthecompleteactivitywithmediaresources,visit:http://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/mapping-watersheds/

Yourwebbrowser(Safari7)isoutofdate.Formoresecurity,comfortandthebestexperienceonthissite: Updateyourbrowser Ignore

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Watershedsconnectustotheoceanbecausemuchofthewaterthatfallswithinawatershedasprecipitation"drains"intostreamsandrivers.Thiswaterflowsinriverstotheocean.

3.StudentslocatemajorriversonEarthandtracewatersheds.

Havestudentsworkinpairs.Assigneachpairtworiversfromthelistbelow.Haveonestudenttracethepathofariverwithabluemarkerfromitsstarttoend,whereitmeetstheocean.Havethesecondstudenttraceallofthetributariesthatflowintothatriverwithablackmarker.ThisprocessisthesameastheonethestudentvolunteersperformedinStep1.Oncemostofthetributarieshavebeenhighlightedinblack,instructthepairto"connectthedots,"outlininginathirdcolorthepointsfromwhereallofthetributariesstartandthepointwherethemajorriverjoinstheocean.Thisshouldcreateanoutlined"bubble"aroundeachmajorriverandallofitstributaries.Explaintothestudentsthattheyareoutliningwatersheds.SuggestedRivers:

AmazonAmurColumbiaCongoKolymaLenaMackenzie-PeaceMekongMississippiMurray-DarlingNigerNileOb-IrtyshOrinocoParanaSaintLawrenceYangtzeYellowYenisey-AngaraYukon

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4.Studentscompareandcontrastwatershedshapes.

Havepairscompareandcontrasttheshapesofthetwowatershedstheydrew.Ask:Howaretheshapesofthetwowatershedssimilar?Howaretheydifferent?Callonpairstosharethedifferencesandsimilaritiestheyfoundbetweentheirtwowatershedswiththerestoftheclass.

5.Studentsanalyzewhywatershedsareshapeddifferently.

Ask:Whydoyouthinkwatershedsareshapedthewaytheyare?Studentscantrytopicturewhatthelandwithinthewatershedslookslike.Ifawatershedislargeandwide,howmightthelandbeshaped?Ifawatershedissmallandnarrow,howmightthelandbeshaped?

Explainthattopographyistheshapeofthesurfacefeaturesofanarea.Differentwatershedshavedifferentshapesbecausethetopographyofthelandwithinthewatershedisdifferent.Ifawatershedisnarrowandsmall,thatprobablymeansthatthelandwithinthewatershedissteep.Ifawatershediswideandsprawling,thelandwithinthewatershedisflatter.Ifstudentsarehavingahardtimevisualizinghowtopographyinfluenceswatershedshape,useapieceofpapertodemonstratetheconcept.Todemonstrateasmallandnarrowwatershedwithsteeptopography,havestudentscurlthesidesofapieceofpaperupward.Askwhatwouldthiswatershedlooklikefromabove?Laythepaperflattodemonstratealargeandwidewatershed.Repeatthesamequestionasbefore,askingagainwhatthiswatershedwouldlooklikefromabove.Thecurledpaperasviewedfromabovewilllookmuchsmallerthantheflatpaper.

6.Studentsdrawtheirlocalwatershedandcompareittotheshapesofotherwatersheds.

HaveavolunteeroutlinetheshapeofthewatershedoftheriverfromStep1.Havestudentstakeastepbackfromthemapandcomparetheshapeoftheirlocalwatershedtotheshapesoftheotherwatershedsthathavebeendrawnonthemap.Discussthetopographyofstudents'localwatershed.

Tip

Ifyoulaminatethemap,youcanusedryorweterasemarkersinsteadofregular

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markers.Additionally,laminatingthemapensuresthatyoucanreuseit.

Modification

YoucanadapttheactivityfordifferentMapMakerKitsizesasneededfordifferentsettings.

ExtendingtheLearning

Havestudentsmakepredictionsonwhatthelandcoverlookslikewithintheirwatershed.UsingtheMapMakerInteractive,havestudentstesttheirpredictionsbylookinguptheirwatershedandusingthedifferentlayerstoexplorethelandcover.

ObjectivesSubjects&Disciplines

GeographyPhysicalGeography

ScienceEarthscienceGeologyOceanography

LearningObjectives

Studentswill:

identifymajorrivers,tributaries,andwatershedsexplainawatershed'sconnectiontotheoceancompareshapesofwatershedsandrelatethemtotopography

TeachingApproach

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Learning-for-use

TeachingMethods

CooperativelearningDiscoverylearningDiscussionsHands-onlearning

SkillsSummary

Thisactivitytargetsthefollowingskills:

CriticalThinkingSkillsAnalyzingApplying

GeographicSkillsAcquiringGeographicInformationAnalyzingGeographicInformation

NationalStandards,Principles,andPractices

NationalGeographyStandards•Standard1:Howtousemapsandothergeographicrepresentations,geospatialtechnologies,andspatialthinkingtounderstandandcommunicateinformation•Standard3:Howtoanalyzethespatialorganizationofpeople,places,andenvironmentsonEarth'ssurface•Standard4:Thephysicalandhumancharacteristicsofplaces

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OceanLiteracyEssentialPrinciplesandFundamentalConcepts•Principle1g:Theoceanisconnectedtomajorlakes,watershedsandwaterwaysbecauseallmajorwatershedsonEarthdraintotheocean.Riversandstreamstransportnutrients,salts,sedimentsandpollutantsfromwatershedstoestuariesandtotheocean.

PreparationWhatYou’llNeed

MaterialsYouProvideMarkersPaper

RequiredTechnologyInternetAccess:RequiredTechSetup:PrinterPlug-Ins:Flash

PhysicalSpaceClassroom

SetupWallorfloorspacelargeenoughtodisplayagiantmap

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GroupingLarge-groupinstruction

OtherNotesThisactivityworksbestwiththeWaterPlanetMegaMap.Printandassemblethemapasaclassorbeforeclass.Usetheassemblyvideoprovidedtohelpwiththisprocess.Ifyoudonothaveroomforthelargemap,printseveraltabletopmapsforthestudentstouseinsmallgroups.

ResourcesProvided:WebsitesNationalGeographicEducation:WorldPhysicalMapMakerKit

ResourcesProvided:undefinedMapMakerKits101

Background&VocabularyBackgroundInformation

Duringthewatercycle,watertravelsthroughwatershedscomposedofstreamsandriversandflowsintotheocean.Whenprecipitationfallsandthelandhasabsorbedallthewateritcan,theremainingwatertravelsasrunoffoverthegroundwithinthewatershed.Awatershedisthelandincludedaspartofanentireriversystem,oranareadrainedbyariveranditstributaries.Thisrunoffdrainsintothetributariesandriverandeventuallymakesitswaytotheocean.Weareallconnectedtotheoceanthroughthisprocess.Theshapeofwatershedsisgreatlyinfluencedbytheland’stopography.

PriorKnowledge

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[]

RecommendedPriorActivities

None

Vocabulary

Term PartofSpeech Definition

groundwaternoun waterfoundinanaquifer.

precipitationnoun allformsinwhichwaterfallstoEarthfromtheatmosphere.

river noun largestreamofflowingfreshwater.stormrunoffnoun rainwaterfromstorms.topography noun studyoftheshapeofthesurfacefeaturesofanarea.tributary noun streamthatfeeds,orflows,intoalargerstream.

watershed nounentireriversystemoranareadrainedbyariveranditstributaries.

ForFurtherExploration

Maps

UNEP:MajorRiverBasinsoftheWorldUSGS:ScienceinYourWatershed

Websites

WaterResourceseAtlas:WatershedsoftheWorld:GlobalAtlas

Funder

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