Horrible Geography: Raging Rivers

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Floodplain Modeling - In this activity (a part of the Natural Disasters unit), students design and create models of rivers to examine floodplains and how dams change the shape of rivers. Kaje, Janne. "Snoqualmie Watershed Water Quality Synthesis Report" (PDF). King County . Retrieved 30 January 2013. Every river has a starting point called a ‘source’, most are on mountains because that is where rain often falls. Water collects and starts to flow down as a stream. Several of these small streams join together to form a river. At this stage the water is fast flowing and can create rapids, waterfalls, gorges and valleys. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity. What is the water cycle? It is how water moves around the Earth. What are the processes that make the water cycle work? Part of the water cycle is evaporation and another part is precipitation. Precipitation includes rain and snow, which can soak into the ground or puddle on the pavement. Engineers design ways for rainwater from a storm to move into storm sewers or the ground instead of flooding roads or communities.

De-Graft: Well historically, people used rivers to transport goods and bring trade to different areas. So, what kind of things do you think were transported on this river in the past? Briefly describe the water cycle and the role rivers play in the movement of water around the Earth. Engineers help design communities, including the sidewalks, lighting systems, roadways and buildings. It is the job of these engineers to make sure that they design ways for rainwater to move throughout the community without causing flooding that might harm the people living there.To help with this, engineers design storm drains into sidewalks or roads so that the rain has a place to go. Sometimes they design grassy areas next to sidewalks and roads to give the rain water places to go. Engineers might also design walls (barriers) on the sides of rivers to prevent flooding onto a road. Next time you are walking or driving around your community, see if you can find the paths that engineers have designed to keep the rainwater from forming puddles or floods. Is it working? Refer to the associated activity Floodplain Modeling where students design and create models of rivers to examine floodplains and how dams change the shape of rivers. Rivers often start in upland areas like this, from lakes, marshes and glaciers or even springs that bubble out of the ground. De-Graft: That is cool. When we talk about rivers, one word that comes up is ‘flooding’. Do either of you two know what it means?

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Explain some of the ways that engineers work with communities to protect rivers and prevent floods. Ryley and Maisie are joining me on the bank, or the side of the river. They’re studying the river by taking photos of all the different things they can spot. King County: Raging River Flooding Information, USGS gage data, map, alert phases, and recent high flows". Archived from the original on 2004-02-17. Semi-permeable: This land cover can soak up some water, but not as much as permeable surfaces. Examples: Farmland, soccer fields and lawns.

Idea Web: Ask students to develop an idea web around the water movement for their local environment. How much precipitation is there? Is most of the precipitation rain, snow or something else? Where does the precipitation go? Are there many paved areas? Are there any rivers? Are there examples of how engineers have designed paths for the rainwater to flow off the pavement and onto grassy areas or rivers? Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter. De-Graft: You’re absolutely right. Hundreds of years ago, the River Severn was actually the second busiest river in the whole of Europe.

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Close your eyes and think about when it rains on the school grounds. What happens to the water if it rains onto a grassy area? Right, the rain water soaks into the ground and plant roots "drink" the water. What happens if it rains onto the sidewalk or parking lot? Correct again! The rain water collects in puddles or runs off of the sidewalk into the grass or the street. Have you ever seen a really large puddle on the sidewalk or road where the rain has nowhere to go? Sometimes these puddles are so big that they make it hard to get to the other side (of the puddle, or the sidewalk!). Open your eyes. Maisie: Really small ripples in the river and because of the Sun, it's been reflecting onto it and making it all gold. Engineers consider constraints (limitations) when building a community. These constraints might include the material and time requirements of building up the community, as well as the social, ethical and environmental considerations that are imposed by the building up of the community. As with most large projects, knowledge comes with experience. Engineers building up the community of Chicago did not have the experience they have now in knowing the effects of large communities of paved areas (which leave little land exposed to soak up rainwater). If those engineers had known then that this would become a problem, they might have planned scattered parks and areas with permeable surfaces to "soak up" the storm water. However, since the city was already designed and built as it is today, engineers are working to improve that situation by designing and maintaining a very expensive system for managing storm water underground to prevent floods. The river begins in the valley formed by Rattlesnake Ridge to the east and Taylor Mountain to the west in the Raging River State Forest, managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. It flows northwest, crossing State Route 18, and then continues north past Tiger Mountain, crossing Interstate 90 near Preston, Washington, and joining the Snoqualmie River near Fall City, Washington. The Raging River watershed is part of the larger Puget Sound drainage basin. The average annual flow in the river is 149 cubic feet (4.2m 3) per second [4] and the drainage area is 32 square miles. [5] History [ edit ] In the winter of 2012 the Washington Department of Natural Resources began a public planning activity to guide the development of recreation opportunities in the Snoqualmie Corridor, including specifically the Raging River State Forest.

Karen Sykes (February 13, 2003). "Hike Of The Week: Take your dog and bike to these nearby woods". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I’m in a place called Ironbridge where the River Severn runs through. And later locals Riley and Maisie will be joining me on the riverbank to explore. But first, let’s zoom out. a b Ervin, Keith. "Raging River forest acreage to fill gap in I-90 Greenway". Seattle Times . Retrieved 30 January 2013. The lower half of the Raging River from Preston to Fall City is 5 miles (8.0km) long and has been rated as a class III+ (difficult) section for kayaking. [7] See also [ edit ] I’m on the River Severn at this point here on the map… But the river actually starts up in the Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales here, and runs all the way into the Bristol Channel down here. The second longest river in the UK after the River Severn is the Thames, which stretches right across here and all the way through London.

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Let's start by learning about the different parts of the water cycle, as illustrated in Figure 1. (Make the attached graphic of the water cycle into an overhead transparency to show students.) Permeable: This type of land cover easily soaks up excess water. Example: Land with native plants growing on it. This type of land usually has not been compacted by human activities.