Geography – River and Life

1. Geography – River and Life (Nice title!)

2. Pronunciation hints: • topography /tɘ.`pɔ.grɘ.fi/ • rejuvenation /ri.`ʤu.vɪn.`e.ʃɘn/ • Taroko /tɘ.`ro.ko/ • Italy /`ɪ.tɘ.li/ • agriculture /`æ.grɪ.kʌl.ʧɚ/

3. Some Vocabulary • to carry (v.): to move while supporting • The river carried the sediments downstream to the sea. • The river carries a load of sediments everywhere it goes. • to deposit (v.): to lay down, put in place (when used of rivers and streams: to leave sediments) • The river deposited its load at the base of the mountain. This formed an alluvial fan. • The river deposits larger stones and sediments first, and then deposits smaller pieces further from the mountain.

4. sediment (n.): small pieces of soil, stone and organic material; the “leftovers” of erosion. • The heavy rain washed a lot of sediment into the river. • After the flood, the streets were filled with sediment from the river. • deposit (n.): the materials left by river water when the water recedes (goes down). • The river deposits on the banks of the Nile make the soil very good for agriculture. • The terraces were formed by river deposits as the river cut into the soil below.

5. volume (n.) the measurement of water in a river • The Amazon River is the river with the highest volume of water in the world. • stage (n.) a specific position or period in a process • The river terraces are formed by the different stages of erosion. This terrace formed in the youth stage, this one during the mature stage.

6. Comparatives: • big, bigger than, biggest • long, longer than, longest – the longest river in Taiwan • deep, deeper than, deepest – the deepest gorge in Asia • shallow, more shallow than, most shallow – the most shallow river in America • small, smaller than, smallest • fast, faster, fastest – the fastest river in Taiwan • slow, slower than, slowest – the Amazon river is slower than the Mississippi River

7. Use “the” with superlatives (the highest mountain, the deepest gorge, the fastest river) • Use “ ____ than” to compare two things (The Nile is longer than the Amazon)

8. Cyndi – this is an excellent presentation! The pictures and Google maps make it very clear, and students will be able to understand a lot from your illustrations, as well. Very nice!