30 December 2023

Drainage Basins
Learning Objective: To know the features of a river drainage
basin

Starter: If this is the answer, what is the question?

1.Rain, snow, sleet and hail.
2. Evaporation.
3. The process by which plants lose
water from their leaves. The water
rises in to the air.
4. Condensation.
5. The continuous movement of
water on, above or below the earth’s
surface.
If it rains inside this red line where does the water go?
 Drainage basins
In a wash basin or sink all the In a drainage basin all the water that
water drains through the plug rains within the drainage basin goes
into one river.
 Each river has it’s own drainage/river basin.

A river always flows downstream from the source to the

mouth. It changes in shape as it flows downstream
1
2

4
What is a drainage basin?
Tributary
Mouth A river which joins a larger river.
Where the river
flows into the sea,
or sometimes a Catchment
lake. The area from
which water drains
Watershed into a particular
The boundary drainage basin.
dividing one
drainage basin
from another- a
ridge of high Source
land. The upland area
where the river
Confluence
begins.
The point at which two rivers join.
 • Your book
• A template
• A stick of glue
• Scissors
• Pencil crayons- blue and
brown
• A pen
 Cut out the template.
Make sure you cut up the vertical line.
Using a brown
crayon, shade
around the
circumference
of the circle.
 Using a blue
crayon, shade the
left triangle, draw
some blue lines
running from the
top of the triangle
and branching
out towards the
edge of the circle.
1 Watershed

2 Source

3 Mouth.

Confluence
4

Tributary.
5

6 Channel
You will now need a
Drainage Basin
7 pen. Number the
following features on
your template.
 Glue the
remaining
blank
triangle.
 Stick the
glued
triangle
under the
shaded
triangle, so
it fits
neatly.
 Open your book to
a double page. Glue
the triangle and the
bottom sides of the
diagram. Stick this
firmly across the
crease of the book.
The tip of the
triangle should
correspond to the
cease.
It should look like
this!
 1 Watershed the area of high land
forming the edge of a river basin.
Give your diagram the title ‘River
Basin’. Provide a date. 2 Source where a river begins.

Write neatly the numbers and Mouth where a river meets the sea.
3
corresponding definitions into
your book. Confluence the point at which two
4 rivers meet.
Tributary a small river or stream that
5 joins a larger river.

6 Channel this is where the river

flows.

7 Drainage Basin this is the area of

land drained by a river and its
tributaries.
Close
your
book!
Open your book!