1. HYDROSPHERE – OS MAPWORK
Using an OS map, you should be able to describe the main
characteristics of a river and its valley
This question is not unlike the one you faced at S.G.
You will be asked to describe the Physical features of a river
and perhaps its valley – do not mention bridges, settlement etc.
Remember to give grid references – marks are given for this!

2. HYDROSPHERE – OS MAPWORK
Weak Answers:
The river starts off straight, flowing N and then swings to the W,
before going NE and then NW, NE again and then NW, N, NW and
back NE and N. The river has a lot of meanders. It flows under a
bridge at and goes through woodland at
What do you think of this answer?
1. First sentence = 1 mark. General comment on direction is enough
2. Gets two marks but could have got two for simply saying:
‘The river meanders to the NW’
3. Woodland and bridge references are irrelevant
4. No grid reference given for meanders
5. No mention of valley
6. No mention of any other features

3. HYDROSPHERE – OS MAPWORK
Strong answer:
The river meanders to the NW. An example of a meander is found at
The river is roughly the same width throughout the section
and could be in its middle course. There are 2 tributaries with
confluence points at and There is an ox-bow lake at
There is an embankment at suggesting that the river
is prone to flooding here. The valley has a flood plain which widens
from 500m wide in the South to 2km wide in the North. The East side
of the valley is gently sloping to over 30m whereas the West side is
steep, rising to over 70m.
What do you think of this answer?
Can you draft up a list of questions you should be aiming to
answer?

4. HYDROSPHERE – OS MAPWORK
Can you draft up a list of questions you should be aiming to
answer?
Physical Features of River:
What course is the river in?
STRAIGHT OR MEANDERING?
DOES IT GET WIDER AS IT FLOWS DOWNSTREAM?
DIRECTION OF FLOW?
SPEED? GENTLE OR STEEP SLOPE?
Features to note if present (give grid references)
Braiding, embankments, oxbow lake, meanders, waterfalls
Tributaries
How many? From which direction do they come?

5. HYDROSPHERE – OS MAPWORK
Physical Features of Valley:
Trend – E.g. North to South, East to West etc.
Shape – U-shaped or V-shaped, gorge, steepness of valley sides
Width – How wide is the valley floor? Can you measure?
Features – flood plain, interlocking spurs
Height – valley floor and valley sides
E.g. valley floor descends from 300m to 290m
valley sides rise from 100m to over 400m

6. HYDROSPHERE – OS MAPWORK
PAST PAPER QUESTION 2005
Using appropriate grid references, describe the physical
characteristics of the River Bleng and its valley from
(Stockdale Head) to (where it meets the River Irt).
8 MARKS
Complete in groups
Take 10 minutes to get down as much information as possible
Swap with another group – add to their answer (3mins)
Swap again, look at the marking scheme grade the answer in front of you

7. ANSWERS: PAST PAPER QUESTION 2007
The river Teme is in the lower section of its course between
and Describe the physical characteristics of the river and
its valley in this section.
ANSWERS:
Descriptions may include the following points:
meanders, ox-bow lakes, tributaries, cut offs, small pools
broad flat floodplain, alluvium, gently sloping valley sides
height of land and easterly flow of river could also be credited
braiding
islands or eyots (806533)
river terraces.
Up to 1 mark for specific map evidence ie grid references or
names.
(Maximum 1 mark for repeated references to same feature (eg Meander/ tributaries/confluences/direction of flow etc)

8. CORE HIGHER GEOGRAHY TEXTBOOK
Answer questions 1  4 on page 72
Maps on page 73