Land and Water
I.
Earth
a. Land (27%)
b. Water (73%)
II.
Water (73%)
a. Fresh (2.8%)—ground water, glaciers, clouds, surface waters
b. Salt (97.2%)
III.
Water Cycle
a. evaporation—sun changes water from earth’s surface into water vapor
b. condensation—water vapor changes back into a liquid because the air
temperature above the Earth is cold (clouds formed)
c. precipitation—any form of water that falls from clouds (rain, sleet, snow,
hail)
d. transpiration—plants give off water through stomata which puts water
back into the environment
IV.
Vocabulary
a. soil—uppermost layer of the land
b. geologists—scientists who study landforms
c. erosion—wearing away and moving particles of soil and rock(caused by
wind, flowing water, glaciers, or waves)
d. sedimentation—depositing(setting down) particles of soil and rock
e. weathering—breaking down of rocks into various earth materials
f. gullying—continuous flow of water that creates a ditch
g. sediment—soil components that have been eroded or deposited by moving
water
h. velocity—speed
i. aerial view—view from above
V. Landforms (3 Main Types)
a. Mountains
b. Plateaus (high and level)
c. Plains (flat land)
VI. Soil
-made up of inorganic matter (rock fragments) and organic matter (living and
decayed plant/animal material) air, water
VII.
Water
a. source—origin(start) of a stream
b. springs—water that feeds many streams
c. tributaries—lots of small streams join together to make a river
d. runoff—water that flows over the surface of the land
e. surface water—lakes, streams
f. ground water—water that has fallen to earth as rain, snow, or other
precipitation that seeps into the ground
g. filter—separates items
h. wastewater—water that has been used (goes down the drain)
i. flow—amount of water that passes a given point in the channel in a
given amount of time
j. flood—body of water that overflows its banks
k. flash floods—sudden increase in runoff that may last from a few
minutes to a few hours
l. flood stage—water level at which a river overflows its banks
m. levees—high ridges along the banks of streams that prevent or
minimize flooding
n. natural levee—made in nature
o. artificial levee—human created to provide extra protection from floods
p. flood-control dam—barrier that controls the direction and flow of
water
q. reservoir—stored water
r. hydroelectric power—electricity generated from stored water
s. main stream or trunk—large stream, or river, principal channel in a
river system and the smaller streams (tributaries) resemble branches of
a tree
t. dendritic—branching pattern of streams
u. meanders—large, sweeping curves
VIII.
Parts of a stream system
a. rill—narrow channel carved by runoff
b. gully—rill widened by flowing water
c. channel—course along which water moves
d. stream—naturally flowing body of water
e. tributary—stream that flows into a larger stream(river) or a lake
f. river—flowing body of water-lots of volume (forms from tributaries
coming together)
g. head—beginning of a stream
h. mouth—point at which water from a stream enters another
i. drainage basin—all of the land drained by a river and its tributaries
j. delta—flat plain created by deposition of sediment at the rivers mouth
k. floodplain—flat area paralleling a section of the stream and made up
of loose sediment
l. valley—long, low area covered by a stream or glacier and bounded by
higher areas on both sides
m. canyon—deep, steep-walled gorge carved in rock by the erosive action
of a stream or glacier