Grade 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.Why does a river drop the mud and sand it has been carrying once it reaches low, flat land near the sea?
- a) It slows down there, and slow water cannot carry as much
- b) The sea pushes the mud back up the river
- c) The river is shallower there, so it holds less of everything
- d) The mud dissolves as soon as it nears salt water
3.A smaller river or stream that flows into a bigger one is called a ______.
4.The place where a river begins is called its ______.
5.Which way does a river always flow?
- a) Downhill, from higher land towards lower land
- b) Towards the nearest town
- c) Uphill in the wet season and downhill in the dry season
- d) Northwards, whatever the shape of the land
6.All the land whose rain and streams drain into one river is called that river's ______.
7.The place where two rivers meet and join is called a ______.
8.What is a delta?
- a) New land built at a river's mouth out of the mud and sand it has dropped
- b) The steep valley a river cuts near its source
- c) The rock a waterfall drops over
- d) The place where two rivers meet
Answer key — Grade 6 Geography — A river from source to sea
- 1. mouth
- 2. a) It slows down there, and slow water cannot carry as much
- 3. tributary
- 4. source
- 5. a) Downhill, from higher land towards lower land
- 6. basin
- 7. confluence
- 8. a) New land built at a river's mouth out of the mud and sand it has dropped