1. LEQ: How can I determine watershed patterns and their divides on a map?
Lesson Key terms: watershed, drainage basin, tributary, dendritic, elevation, headwaters, divide

2. Runoff Water that flows over the ground surface.
Is affected by the 3 factors we have already discussed.
Amount of and the rate of precipitation
Ground cover and its permeability
Topography (the shape of the land)
Runoff always flows from higher elevations to lower elevations.
Can flow in any compass direction (ie North, East, South, or West).

3. Watersheds
The land area that supplies runoff to river system and its tributaries.
Also known as drainage basins.
Have a dendritic (tree like) pattern with the streams branching irregularly like the branches of a tree.
Streams begin at the headwaters closest to the highest elevations in the watershed and always flow toward lower elevations.

4. Divides The boundary between watersheds.
Determined by the highest elevations (or ridges) that separate one watershed from another.
Streams on either side of the divide flow in different directions.
Streams or rivers never cross a divide.

5. Review A watershed is a drainage basin.
All runoff flows in watershed from the higher elevations to the lower elevations
The river or stream system that drains the runoff in a water form a dendritic pattern.
Divides are the boundaries between watersheds, and are always at the highest elevations.
Practice worksheet