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Exploring Freshwater Ecosystems: Rivers, Lakes, and Watersheds

Discover the wonders of freshwater ecosystems like rivers, lakes, and watersheds. Learn about tributaries, watersheds, river basins, and the importance of surface water in our environment. Explore how watersheds feed into larger river systems and ultimately to the oceans. Dive into the interconnected network of freshwater resources that sustain life on Earth.

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Exploring Freshwater Ecosystems: Rivers, Lakes, and Watersheds

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  1. Surface Water • We know that precipitation (rain, snow, sleet and hail) will soak into the ground or it runs downhill into surface water. • What is surface water? • Water found on the surface of the Earth such as rivers, lakes, streams or ocean

  2. Fresh Surface Water Locations— Rivers, Streams, and Lakes • What is a river? • A large channel along which water is continually flowing down a slope—made of many streams that come together (tributaries) • What are tributaries? • streams and smaller rivers that feed into a main/large river • What is a stream? • A small channel along which water is continually flowing down a slope—made of small gullies • What is a lake? • A body of water of considerable size contained on a body of land

  3. What is a watershed? an area of land that drains water to the lowest point—a river, stream, lake, or ocean

  4. Everyone lives, works or plays in a watershed. Watersheds drain water to the lowest point.  In the diagram below, the land within the white line is the watershed that drains into the tributaries that will eventually flow larger river and then on to the ocean

  5. Watershed Animation • http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module01/whatiswatershed.htm

  6. Winston-Salem has 1 main • Watershed: • High Rock Lake • Yadkin River (NC) • PeeDee River (SC)

  7. A group of interconnected watersheds form a river basin.

  8. What is a River Basin/Watershed? Encompasses all land surface drained by tributaries (streams and creeks) that flow downhill eventually into one large river. • A river basin’s final destination is an estuary or ocean.

  9. River Basin/Watershed Analogy…. A bathtub catches all water falling within its’ sides, a River basin (watershed) sends all the water falling on surrounding land into a central river and out to an estuary or ocean.

  10. Fresh Water Locations—River Basins and Watersheds • Forsyth county is located mainly in the Yadkin/Pee Dee River Basin • The largest river basin in NC is the Cape Fear River Basin

  11. North Carolina River Basins Durham NC is made of 17 river basins 5 will flow into the Mississippi River Basin The other 12 will flow into the Atlantic Ocean 11 originate in NC Only 4 are entirely contained within NC: Cape Fear, Neuse, White Oak, and Tar-Pamlico

  12. Some river basins will become watersheds to another LARGER river basin such as the Mississippi River Basin. • In NC the New, Watauga, French Broad, Little Tennessee, Hiwassee all flow into the Ohio River Basin and then to the even larger Mississippi Basin

  13. Mississippi River Basin’s watersheds are large areas.

  14. Mississippi River Basin

  15. River Basin Vocab 13 Tributaries: streams and smaller rivers that feed into a main/large river Watershed: an area of land that drains water to the lowest point—a river, stream, lake, or ocean. Several Watersheds make up a River Basin River Basin: an area of land that drains water into a large river

  16. Google Drive • Log in to your Google Drive acct • Click on the “people” or Shared with me • To SUBMIT YOUR WORK hare it with me • Type my name: • cynthia.stoffregen@dpsnc.net • UNCHECK “Notify people via email” • Click “Share and Save”

  17. Work Cited: • http://triangleenvironment.wikispaces.com/CleanWater • http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/watershed1.htm • http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2005/08/15/focus2.html?page=all

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