worksheet35

WORKSHEET 35 : Local Stream Studies

What is the relationship between depth of the stream and how fast a river travels?

DO THESE 2 EXPERIMENTS AT BOTH SITE 1 AND 2

EXPERIMENT 1 : HOW FAST DOES A RIVER TRAVEL?

First find the right bank, left bank and midstream. Stand in the middle of the stream and face the direction the stream is travelling; the right bank will be the same side as your right arm.

Set up the poles 2 metres apart using the metre sticks.

Using a stopwatch, time how long it takes a cork to travel 2 metres at the right bank, left bank and midstream.

Fill your results in the table below.

EXPERIMENT 2 : DEPTH OF THE WATER/STREAM

First find the right bank, left bank and midstream. Stand in the middle of the stream and face the direction the stream is travelling; the right bank will be the same side as your right arm.

Using the ruler, measure the depth of the water in centimetres (from the river bed to the river surface) at the right bank, left bank and midstream.

Record your results in the table below.

SITE THREE	RIGHT BANK	MIDSTREAM	LEFT BANK
Time a cork takes to travel two metres	seconds	seconds	seconds
Average Time	seconds	seconds	seconds
Stream Depth	centimetres	centimetres	centimetres

SITE FOUR	RIGHT BANK	MIDSTREAM	LEFT BANK
Time a cork takes to travel two metres	seconds	seconds	seconds
Average Time	seconds	seconds	seconds
Stream Depth	centimetres	centimetres	centimetres

EXPERIMENT 3 : WIDTH OF THE STREAM

Using a tape measure, measure in metres and centimetres how wide the stream is at

site 3 and site 4.

Write your results below:

WIDTH OF STREAM AT SITE THREE : ______________________________

WIDTH OF STREAM AT SITE FOUR : ______________________________