1. As a stream forms, it erodes soil and rock to make a channel.
Rivers
As a stream forms, it erodes soil and rock to make a channel.
Over time the stream transports rock and soil downstream, making it longer and wider

2. A streams ability to erode is influenced by 2 factors
1. Discharge – The amount of water that a river carries in a given amount of time
increases during a storm
More energy = faster flow = more erosion

3. 2. Load – the materials carried by a stream (sand, pebbles, rocks, etc)
The size of streams load is affect by speed

4. Have a jar of types of load and shake it up
Have a jar of types of load and shake it up. Show students how heavier materials float toward the bottom

5. Deposits
After rivers erode rock and soil, they deposit their load downstream
After the river erodes and transports all of that soil sand and rock, where does it go? Miners during the Gold rush in 1850s found most of their gold in the bends of rivers where most of the sediment was deposited

6. Deltas
When a river meets a large body of water its current slows Its load is deposited in a fan-shaped pattern called a delta

7. 1. Flood Notes 2. River Stages 3. GW Simulation
Play around with the map and observe different rivers
Find a river somewhere in the United States at each stage. Write down the name of the river and its height:
Major Flooding
Moderate Flooding
Minor Flooding
Near Flood Stage
No Flooding
Read pages on Floods and floodplains.
Take detailed notes for all 3 sections
On a separate piece of paper, answer #1 & 6 on page 221. On that SAME paper, do Task #2.
3. GW Simulation

8. River Systems
A stream that flows into a larger stream is called a tributary
Have students come up to the sink. Get a cup of water and pour on the corner, let them observe what happens to the water. It will bunch up, and create smaller streams, which eventually join larger streams, and then go down the drain. Smaller streams are tributary's. The side of the sink is the watershed/drainage basin.

9. River Systems River systems are divided into regions
Have students come up to the sink. Get a cup of water and pour on the corner, let them observe what happens to the water. It will bunch up, and create smaller streams, which eventually join larger streams, and then go down the drain. Smaller streams are tributary's. The side of the sink is the watershed/drainage basin.

10. A watershed is smaller than a river basin
River Systems
A watershed is an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas
Have students come up to the sink. Get a cup of water and pour on the corner, let them observe what happens to the water. It will bunch up, and create smaller streams, which eventually join larger streams, and then go down the drain. Smaller streams are tributary's. The side of the sink is the watershed/drainage basin.
A watershed is smaller than a river basin

11. River Systems
A river basin sends all of the water falling within it to a central river and out to an estuary or to the ocean.
Have students come up to the sink. Get a cup of water and pour on the corner, let them observe what happens to the water. It will bunch up, and create smaller streams, which eventually join larger streams, and then go down the drain. Smaller streams are tributary's. The side of the sink is the watershed/drainage basin.

12. Topography – determines where water in the watersheds will drain

13. There are 17 river basins in NC