Rivers Drainage Basins

Starter: Unscramble the following!

Starter: The answers!

We are learning to Understand the features of a drainage basin Be able to identify and annotate a drainage basin map

What is a drainage basin? A drainage basin is an area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries. The highest land forms a natural dividing line between drainage basins. Watersheds separate drainage basins.

River Basin Diagram Source Tributary Watershed River basin River mouth Sea or lake Confluence River channel

1. Source The point at which a river starts. This is usually high in the hills in V-shaped valleys 2. Mouth The point at which a river ends. This is right out on the coast. At this point the river is slow flowing wide and is surrounded by a flat river valley. COPY

3. Tributary is a stream or river which flows into a mainstream (or parent) river, and which does not flow directly into a sea. In Geography, tributaries are small streams that are closest to the source 4. Confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstream. COPY

5. Watershed This line separates drainage basins. It runs along a geographical barrier between drainage basins such as a ridge, hill or mountain. Other terms that are used to describe this are catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin & water basin. COPY

Features Source Mouth Watershed Confluence Tributary Main channel

Can you match up the letters to the correct label? Watershed Tributary Confluence a b c Source d

The Worlds’ Largest River Drainage basins

Amazon drainage basin

Amazon Drainage Basin Could you label the following features on the diagram? Source Tributaries Confluences Mouth Watershed

Mississippi Drainage Basin Could you label and of the following features on the diagram? Source Tributaries Confluences Mouth Watershed

Plenary Turn to the person sitting next to you Each of you pick a word, phrase or term you are still unsure about, and the other person has to try and explain it to you. Let’s see how we do!