The Water Cycle and Watershed

DO NOW 1. Where do rivers and lakes get their water supplies from? 2. Where is the final destination of the water form rivers? (describe the beginning and the ending of the river flow)

Bill Nye the Science Guy Sums it up… Water Cycle Jump Video

Let’s Review… THE WATER CYCLE!!!

a) Once water comes back to the earth – some of it percolates into the soil. It then becomes part of the soil moisture, permafrost (like in the tundra) and groundwater supply. What is this process called?

b) Some times precipitation that falls to the earth does not sink into the ground – but runs along the surface. Sometimes it will later infiltrate the soil. Sometimes it will evaporate again. Sometimes it will collect in rivers and lakes. It moves from high elevation to low elevation. What process is this?

C) Water on the surface of the earth collects in rivers, streams, ponds, oceans, etc. This collection of water is called?

Surface Water Sources (the water we can see)

What is a watershed?? An area of land that is drained into a particular river or river system By drained we mean that all the surface run- off eventually ends up in a particular river or river system atiswatershed.htm atiswatershed.htm

Make a watershed… Take one piece of white paper and crumple it into a ball. Next partially flatten it out – should still be wrinkles Take a marker and lightly trace the “tops” of the wrinkles in the paper. These mark the boundaries of your watershed.

Make a watershed… Lightly spray some water onto your “watershed”. You should see the ink from the marker run down the “hills” of your paper. Where the ink started (originated from) represents the Head Waters

Make a Watershed… The “bottom” or your watershed is were all the water ends up pooling when if finishes running off the hills. The bottom place is known as the “basin” – could be called the river basin or the drainage basin or the watershed basin.

Make a watershed… Look at the many paths that the water followed as it dripped along the surface. It probably found many smaller wrinkles to travel in for a while before it gathered at the bottom. The smaller lines that eventually lead to the basin are called tributaries.

Hackensack Passaic Water Sheds

Another view of the same watershed…

Why is it called the “Hackensack Passaic” watershed?

What are some of the tributaries in this watershed?

Another view – same watershed

Amazon River Watershed

Watershed video clips (1 min) (1 min) (3 min)