River Systems and Drainage Basins Map reading activity lesson plan.
Science Statements and Content Expectations
E.ES.07.82 Analyze the flow of water between the components of a
watershed, including surface features (lakes, streams,
rivers, wetlands) and groundwater.
Earth Science Literacy Principles’ Big Ideas- Big Idea 5: Earth is the water planet
Misconceptions: Surface water can flow uphill. If a river appears to
flow North/South on a map, North is uphill.
Knowledge Needed/ Background Information: Students need previous
knowledge on reading of topographic maps. Students need to have
basic understanding of the water cycle.
Key terms :
Drainage basin: An area drained by a river system.
Elevation: The height of a thing above a reference level; altitude.
Precipitation: Any form of water, such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail, that
falls to the earth's surface.
Surface runoff: Rainfall not absorbed by soil.
Topographic map: Graphic representation of the surface features of a
place or region on a map, indicating their relative positions and
elevations.
Water cycle: The cycle of evaporation and condensation that controls
the distribution of the earth's water as it evaporates from bodies of
water, condenses, precipitates, and returns to those bodies of water.
Also called hydrologic cycle.
Materials needed:
Handout worksheet for the lesson.
Topographic maps of area around Kalamazoo river for Marshall,
Saugatuck, Plainwell, and Kalamazoo. (One set for every group of 4
students)
Map of the Kalamazoo river.
Map of United States Rivers.
Map of Great Lakes and their profile of surface elevations.
Lesson
Engage (warm up)
Students work in groups of 4. Students observe a map of the United States for
the Mississippi drainage basin. They first trace the Mississippi river then it’s
tributaries to observe the size of the drainage basin. Then they identify three
rivers on each side of the Mississippi river that drain into it. This is written on the
first part of the handout/worksheet.
Explore
Students observe the map of the Kalamazoo river. They form a
hypothesis of the direction it flows. Then they observe the topographic
maps of 4 areas of the river to discover which way is downhill and
where the river is flowing. Teacher rotates around the classroom to
observe that students are reading the maps correctly and filling in the
data chart on the handout/worksheet.
Explain
Clarify that there is water that infiltrates into the ground, evaporates,
transpires from plants and is used by people and animals. What we are
discovering today is what happens to surface water. Guide the
students to recognize that water flows downhill. The next part should
be discussed as a class after students have had a chance to think about
it themselves.
Elaborate
Students then answer the questions on the handout worksheet. Water
flows downhill. Infer where the Kalamazoo River starts and ends.
Evaluate: The responses on the handout/worksheet should agree with
the map discoveries made in this lesson.
Extend: Students observe the maps of the Great Lakes. One is a birdseye view and one is a profile showing surface elevations. Students
need to observe the elevation of each Great Lake and infer that the
water flows toward the Atlantic. On the hankout/ worksheet, they
answer the following questions: Describe the direction the water flows.
Explain where the water from the Kalamazoo river goes. Where does
the Kalamazoo River get its water from? These answers should be
discussed as a whole class after students have first explored them in
their groups of 4.
Handout/ Worksheet:
River Systems and Drainage Basins Map reading activity
Observe the map of the rivers in the United States. Find the Mississippi River. It
is the largest drainage basin in our country. Highlight this river. Now highlight the
rivers that flow into it. (They must connect) Highlight any river that connects to
the rivers you highlighted.
Find the Continental Divide. All water that lands here either drains into the
Pacific (West) or Mississippi River (East) depending on which side of the Rocky
Mountains it lands on. List at least 3 rivers that seem to flow from the
Continental Divide to the Mississippi.___________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Find the Appalachian Mountains Water that lands here either drains into the
Atlantic Ocean (East) or toward the Mississippi River (West) depending on which
side of the mountains it lands on. List at least 3 rivers that seem to flow from the
Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi
River.______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Observe the topographic maps for the Kalamazoo River and complete the data
chart below.
Map of Kalamazoo
River at…
Saugatuck
Otsego
Kalamazoo
Marshall
Elevation of the
river (ft.)
Highest
elevation in the
area (drainage
basin)
Lowest
elevation in the
area (drainage
basin)
Water flows downhill. Infer where the Kalamazoo River starts and
ends. What direction does it flow?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Observe the maps of the Great Lakes region. Describe the direction
the water flows. (Toward or away from the ocean)
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Now explain where the water from the Kalamazoo river goes.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Where does the Kalamazoo get its water from?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
River Systems and Drainage Basins Map reading activity
answer key
Observe the map of the rivers in the United States. Find the Mississippi River. It
is the largest drainage basin in our country. Highlight this river. Now highlight the
rivers that flow into it. (They must connect) Highlight any river that connects to
the rivers you highlighted.
Find the Continental Divide. All water that lands here either drains into the
Pacific (West) or Mississippi River (East) depending on which side of the Rocky
Mountains it lands on. List at least 3 rivers that seem to flow from the
Continental Divide to the Mississippi. Missouri, Yellowstone, Powder, North
Platte, South Platte, Republican, Arkansas. Canadian, Red River, Brazos
Find the Appalachian Mountains Water that lands here either drains into the
Atlantic Ocean (East) or toward the Mississippi River (West) depending on which
side of the mountains it lands on. List at least 3 rivers that seem to flow from the
Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.
Observe the topographic maps for the Kalamazoo River and complete the data
chart below.
Map of Kalamazoo
River at…
Elevation of the
river (ft.).
Saugatuck
Otsego
Kalamazoo
Marshall
580 ft.
695 ft
754 ft.
898 ft.
Highest
elevation in the
area (drainage
basin)
800 ft.
800 ft.
850 ft.
950 ft.
Lowest
elevation in the
area (drainage
basin)
600 ft.
700 ft.
760 ft.
900 ft.
Water flows downhill. Infer where the Kalamazoo River starts and
ends. What direction does it flow? The Kalamazoo river starts inland,
east of Marshall and flows toward Saugatuck, northwest emptying into
Lake Michigan.
Observe the maps of the Great Lakes region. Describe the direction
the water flows. (Toward or away from the ocean)
Water in the Great Lakes flows from west to east toward the Atlantic
Ocean.
Now explain where the water from the Kalamazoo river goes.
After water drains from the Kalamazoo river basin through the
Kalamazoo river into Lake Michigan, it flows eastward. It goes through
the straights of Macinac into Lake Huron. Then it goes south through
the St. Clair river and Lake St. Clair and the Detroit river. Then it goes
northeast through Lake Erie and the Niagra River, down Niagra Falls
into Lake Ontario. Then it flows northeast through the St. Lawrence
River and Seaway and into the Atlantic Ocean. (Provided there is no
water diversion and the water does not evaporate, become
groundwater, etc.)
Where does the Kalamazoo get its water from?
Kalamazoo gets its water from the Kalamazoo river drainage basin.
Surface water (from precipitation in the water cycle such as rain, sleet,
snow, and hail) that lands in parts of southwest Micigan flows to the
Kalamazoo River.
Resources:
Maptech Terrain Navigator for Michigan: Southwest Kalamazoo Grand
Rapids, www.maptech.com, 1998 Maptech, Inc.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/water+cycle
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/drainage+basin
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/elevation
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/precipitation
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/topography
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/runoff
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/rivers/
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/kalamazoo.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Lakes.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Lakes.svg
Kalamazoo River - Otsego
Kalamazoo river – Marshall
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/kalamazoo.html
Kalamazoo River Map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Lakes.svg
Great Lakes Profile showing elevation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Lakes.svg
Map of the Great Lakes drainage basin.