Waterforms of Pennsylvania

Lesson 2

5 Themes of Geography• 1. Location – location of city or your community

• 2. Place – where something is in relation to its surroundings ex. City in contrast to smaller communities

• 3. Human-Environment Interaction – how people depend on the environment or change land

• 4. Movement – connection between places and patterns of movement

• 5. Region – ex. Tourist, political, business, rural, urban, suburban, or even school district

5 Landform Regions of Pennsylvania

Vocabulary – 3 minutes to copy into your notes, leave spaces between words

• Tributary• Reservoirs• Freight• Commerce• Headwaters• Source• Waterbed

• Mouth• Wetlands• Hydroelectric

Power• Glacial forces

Rivers and Tributary Systems

• 45,000 miles of rivers, tributaries, and 256 lakes.• Tributary – smaller stream flowing into a larger

stream of lake• Reservoirs – an artificial lake where water is

stored and collected for water supply• 3 major river systems– Western Pa – 3 rivers– Susquehanna River– Delaware River

Western PA River Systems

• Allegheny River Headwaters– Begins in Pennsylvania, flows into New York, and

back into PA. Flows southward towards Pittsburgh• Monongahela River– SW Pennsylvania, begins in West Virginia and flows

northward to Pittsburgh.– Youghiogheny River – starts in Maryland, flows into

the Monongahela. Wild river – white water rapids.

• Ohio River– Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet in

Pittsburgh to form a third river – Ohio River.

– Important in the development of PA and other states they were used as transportation routes for commerce (freight).

– Commerce – the exchange or buying and selling of commodities

– Freight – Cargo

Susquehanna River System

• Headwaters starts in New York, flowing southward through the entire state.– Headwaters – source of a stream– Source – the beginning of a stream of water

• Major tributaries:– West Branch of the Susquehanna– Juniata Rivers

• Serves as a watershed for central PA• Watershed – geographic area or region into which all the

creeks and tributaries flow into a large river.

• Too shallow to allow travel.• Mouth of the Susquehanna River is

Chesapeake Bay– Mouth – part of a river where its water empties

into another body of water.

Delaware River System

• Begins in New York• Forms a natural border between Pennsylvania

and New Jersey• Two major tributaries:– Lehigh River– Schuylkill River

• Philadelphia is a major deep-water port located on the Delaware River– Large ocean ships use this port

Lakes and Wetlands

• More than 2,000 small lakes in PA• Only 76 of them exceed 20 acres in size• Natural lakes created by glacial forces –

created by force when glaciers once covered northern Pennsylvania, digging holes which later became lakes.

• Wetlands – lowland area, such as a marshy or swampy place, that holds moisture.

• Excellent habitat for wildlife.• 200,000 acres of wetlands in PA, mainly

located in the northeast and northwest.

• Reservoirs – An artificial lake where water is stored and collected for a water supply.– Helps keep water flowing at a steady pace during

drier times and prevents flooding after large storms or winter melt.

– Hydroelectric Power – producing electric by harnessing the power of flowing water

– Other uses include recreation – fishing, boating, swimming, and water-skiing, for Pennsylvanians and tourists.

Reservoirs and Dams