Year 6 Geography — A river from source to sea
Follow a river from its source to its mouth and name the parts of the journey — tributary, confluence, valley, delta and basin — and say what the river does to the land along the way.
Name: ________________________
1.The place where a river ends, and its water empties into the sea, is called its ______.
2.The place where a river begins is called its ______.
3.All the land whose rain and streams drain into one river is called that river's ______.
4.Tap the confluence — the place where the tributary joins the main river.
Write the number of the part.
5.Why does a river drop the mud and sand it has been carrying once it reaches low, flat land near the sea?
- a) The mud dissolves as soon as it nears salt water
- b) The sea pushes the mud back up the river
- c) The river is shallower there, so it holds less of everything
- d) It slows down there, and slow water cannot carry as much
6.Near its source a river wears away the rock it runs over and carries the pieces along with it. What is that wearing away called?
- a) Evaporation
- b) Erosion
- c) Condensation
- d) Deposition
7.A smaller river or stream that flows into a bigger one is called a ______.
8.Put these parts of a river's journey in order, starting where the river begins and ending where it stops.
- A narrow, steep, fast stretch cutting a valley
- A wide, slow stretch across low flat land
- The mouth, where the river empties into the sea
- A spring high in the hills, where the river begins
Answer key — Year 6 Geography — A river from source to sea
- 1. mouth
- 2. source
- 3. basin
- 4. 4 — The confluence
- 5. d) It slows down there, and slow water cannot carry as much
- 6. b) Erosion
- 7. tributary
- 8. 1. A spring high in the hills, where the river begins 2. A narrow, steep, fast stretch cutting a valley 3. A wide, slow stretch across low flat land 4. The mouth, where the river empties into the sea