4. Pretend this is all the water in the world.

5. This 2 ½ cups represents all fresh water.

6. Out of the 2 ½ cups comes ¾ cup representing all unfrozen fresh water.

7. One-fifth of this ( ¼ tsp) is in the Great Lakes.
This 1 ¼ teaspoons is all the water in lakes and rivers.
One-fifth of this ( ¼ tsp) is in the Great Lakes.

9. How to draw watersheds
This activity, designed to help students define the boundaries of a watershed, is part of the Watershed Wonderland lesson found at Michigan Geographic Alliance website under Online Resources.

10. W A T E R S H D
A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it (ground water) or drains off of it (surface water) goes into the same place.
drained by a river, river system, or other body of water
separated from other watersheds by higher land (drainage divide)
Human activity within a watershed in one location can affect all locations
In the contiguous US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds.
Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. A watershed is like a large bathtub. When a drop of water hits anywhere in that bathtub, it eventually finds its way to the drain. The edges of the bathtub define the watershed boundary. They can cross county, state, and national boundaries.

11. Watershed Wonderland
Find and label the Saginaw Bay and the Saginaw River.

12. Watershed Wonderland
Trace the Saginaw River….

13. Watershed Wonderland
and all its tributaries.

14. Watershed Wonderland
And trace the other rivers flowing into the bay.

15. Watershed Wonderland
Without crossing a river, outline the Saginaw Bay Watershed.

16. Watershed Wonderland
Put a dot on the mouth of the Muskegon River.

17. Watershed Wonderland
Trace the
Muskegon River
and its tributaries

18. Without crossing a river, outline the Muskegon River Watershed.
Watershed Wonderland
Without crossing a river, outline the
Muskegon River Watershed.

19. Watershed Wonderland
Using 4 different colors, trace the rivers flowing into each of the Great Lakes that surround Michigan.

20. Watershed Wonderland
Drawing boundaries (without crossing a river) shows the watershed boundaries for all the Great Lakes.

21. Watershed Wonderland
These lines represent the higher elevations in Michigan, and are near the sources for all our rivers.

22. This map shows the locations of highlands in Michigan
Michigan Elevation
Watershed Boundaries
Great Lakes Watershed Boundaries
This map shows the locations of highlands in Michigan

23. (source) Michigan Elevation Notice where the rivers of Michigan start!
Which way do all rivers flow?

24. Explain this sentence:
Michigan Elevation
Explain this sentence:
The topography
of Michigan
determines
the direction
of the rivers
in Michigan.

25. Find the mouth of the Muskegon River
Michigan Elevation
Find the mouth of the Muskegon River
Find the mouth of the Muskegon River

26. Draw the Muskegon Watershed boundaries
Michigan Elevation
Draw the Muskegon Watershed boundaries

27. Where does our water come from?
Highlands of Michigan

28. Downhill to Lake Michigan
Where does our water go?
Downhill to Lake Michigan

29. Where does our water go?
Can you name the Lakes and Rivers on its journey?
Can you name the Lakes and Rivers on its journey?
St. Lawrence River
Lake Huron
Lake Michigan
Lake Ontario
St. Clair River
Lake Erie
Lake St Clair
Detroit River

30. Can you draw the Great Lakes Watershed?

31. Start on the south side of the St. Lawrence River
Remember not to cross a river!

32. Great Lakes Watershed

33. What is the largest watershed in the U. S.?
Let’s try the same thing with the major watersheds of the US. We’ll do the largest one first – what do you think that is?
Start with dots on either side of its mouth

34. You can start your drawing on either side of the Mississippi River’s mouth (define that word).

35. Mississippi
Watershed
It will look something like this. Don’t worry if yours isn’t exact. Just be sure you haven’t crossed a river.

36. Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
This is the Mississippi River Watershed. It is the largest river system in North America. It drains all or parts of 31 U. S. states and nearly 40% of the landmass of the continental United States. What might be some problems when so many states have needs and impacts on the same watershed?

37. Columbia River Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
Drawing our line between the Snake and the Sacramento Rivers gives us a general outline of the Columbia River Watershed, although we can’t tell from this map that it extends into British Columbia, Canada. That means, not only several states, but also 2 different countries need to agree on how to use and take care of the watershed. What is dividing the Columbia River Watershed from the Mississippi Watershed? (Rocky Mountains).

38. Columbia River Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
California
Watershed
It’s hard to tell from this map, so look at your topographical map. What mountain range feeds the California Rivers? They flow out to what ocean through an opening in the Coastal Ranges.

39. Columbia River Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
California
Watershed
Colorado
Watershed
We can draw the divide between the Rio Grande and the Colorado, but looking at the topo map shows us that there are lots of mountains around the Colorado River.

40. Columbia River Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
California
Watershed
Colorado
Watershed
Because of the mountains, there is another divide here that separates an area of land into its own watershed, with some very unusual characteristics. Because the area is surrounded by mountains, and is noted for its lack of rain, it is called a closed drainage basin and there is no outflow of water to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans. All the precipitation that falls in this area either evaporates or seeps into the ground. What is this area called?

41. Columbia River Watershed
Great Basin
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
California
Watershed
Colorado
Watershed
This area is called the Great Basin, and includes the highest point in the contiguous US (Mt. Whitney, 14,494 feet above sea level), as well as the lowest point (Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level).

42. Columbia River Watershed
Great Basin
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
California
Watershed
Colorado
Watershed
Rio Grande Watershed
Gulf Coast
Watershed
The hills in West Texas form a watershed boundary between the Rio Grande Watershed and the Gulf Coast watersheds. Both of these flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and since the land is so flat, the slow-moving rivers form deltas.

43. Columbia River Watershed
Great Lakes
Watershed
North Atlantic
Watersheds
Great Basin
Mississippi
Watershed
Mississippi
Watershed
California
Watershed
Colorado
Watershed
South Atlantic
Watersheds
Rio Grande Watershed
Gulf Coast
Watershed
Similar to the Gulf Coast watersheds are the South and North Atlantic Watersheds. The rivers in these smaller watersheds flow east to the Atlantic Ocean from the mountain range that stretches from Canada to Georgia. What is the name of that important range? (Appalachian Mts). The rivers are shorter in this area of the country. The Great Lakes Watershed, containing 20% of the world’s fresh water, drains to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River System.

44. Draw an arrow in each of the watersheds you have labeled to show the general direction the water flows toward its mouth. (Define the term). Draw a line that shows the division between rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean (or Gulf of Mexico, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean). What is this line called?

45. It runs generally through the Rocky Mountains from Northern Canada to Mexico.

46. Watersheds are another way to regionalize the United States.