Year 9 Geography
H/W booklet: Rivers
Your homework booklet’s for year 9 Geography has been
designed to improve your exam technique. It has been proven
by researchers that consistent effort on good structured
homework’s will on average increase a students level (that’s
you!) by a whole grade. That could be the difference between
a 3 to a 4 or 6 to a 7!!
Your booklet for each unit will contain 1 H/W’s a week:
Stating: This means a 1 word or number answer. The answer is often on the
paper found by looking at a graph or a picture the same as in the exam.
You have to state 1 thing for each available mark. So a 2 mark question – state 2
things, a 3 mark question 3 things, and so on…
Describing: This means say what something looks like or what pattern there is or
maybe where things are, again the answer is often on the paper found by looking
at a graph or a picture the same as in the exam.
You have to look at how many marks are available first because for every mark
you must describe 1 thing, so if a question is for 4 marks you will have to describe
4 relevant things.
Draw/Diagram: This means you must create a picture of what it is asking about.
The best diagrams are not only labelled but ‘annotated’ with some explanations.
Same as before every 1 thing you draw or annotate gets you 1 mark so a 5 mark
question needs 5 things drawn or annotated or a mixture of both.
Explaining: This means ‘give reasons why’ so they are expecting you to use the
word ‘because’… You need to make a point and then explain why it is happening.
The marks here are a bit different as you get 1 mark for each point and a mark
for each reason why. A 4 mark question needs 2 points and a reason to go with
each. If you only give 4 points you can get a max or 2 marks. 1 point and loads of
reasons also only gets you 2 marks!
Homework
1) Water cycle
2) Using graphs and maps
3) River features
4) Case study question
5) Completion of project
Student
Signature
Teacher
Signature
Week 1: Homework 1: The water cycle (hydrological cycle)
TASKS:
1. Fill in the diagram
to the left with the 7
key words below.
2. Fill in the table
below with the key
words and explain
what each word means
in the 3rd column.
3. If you want why not
look at this website
about the water cycle
and play the game:
http://apps.southeastw
ater.com.au/games/ed
ucation_kidsroom_wc
activity.asp
Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Name
Meaning
Week 2: Homework 2: Using graphs and maps.
1. A River
a) What river is this graph about?
b) On which day is there least water in
the river?
c) What is the highest measurement of
water in this river?
2. Australia’s Rivers
a) Name Australia’s longest river
b) How long is the Paroo river?
c) Which river is 700km long?
1. The UK’s main rivers.
a) How many rivers are on the map?
b) Name 2 rivers that enter Wales.
c) Which river runs through London?
d) Name 2 rivers in the south west of the UK.
Week 3: Homework 3: River features
KEY WORDS BOX
Mouth
Source
Meander
Ox-bow Lake
Delta
Valley
Interlocking spurs
Use the diagram and key word box above to complete the sentences below.
In the upper course where the river starts you often find the _________ ,
____________ and ________________ ____________.
One of these features is the _______________ this is…
Then further down the river in the middle stage you often find _____________
and _____ _____ ____________.
One of these features is the _______________ this is …
In the lower course of the river where it meets the sea you find ____________
and the river ____________.
One of these features is the _______________ this is …
Week 4: Homework 4:
Mississippi - the Facts
The river basin is the fifth largest in the world
It is the third longest river in the world behind
the Nile & the Amazon
The flood plain is 200km wide at its widest point
The Mississippi flows through 10 states
The Causes of the 1993 Flood



Floods are normal in the mid-west - usually arriving in the spring when rain and
snowmelt fill the streams & rivers that drain the upper Mississippi Basin
In 1993 as normal this happened - the soil was still saturated from spring rains.
Normally this is followed by dry weather &has done so for the last 20 years
In 1993 Atmospheric conditions conspired to bring further torrential rains to
the Mississippi Basin
Human Causes of the 1993 Floods
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

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Urbanisation of the Flood Plain - reducing infiltration rates etc
Poorly built levees
The development of unsuitable sites for development
The channelisation of the river - especially at St Louis
Use the information above to describe the river Mississippi and explain why it had such a
bad flood.
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