Rivers Review

Which characteristics about the land most likely cause a watershed to drain water?

• The ground is saturated or permeable.

• The ground is saturated or impermeable.

• The ground is unsaturated or impermeable.

• The ground is unsaturated or permeable.

Answer explanation

Being saturated and being impermeable both stop water from soaking in, forcing it to flow along the surface.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

Which part of a river provides the best evidence that water weathers and erodes the land it flows over?

• Headwaters

• Mouth

• Delta

• Tributaries

Answer explanation

Sediment deposited at the delta comes from erosion.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

A kitchen sink (not the faucet) would best represent which part of a river basin?

• An estuary

• A delta

• A watershed

• A meander

Answer explanation

Watershed collects water and sends it to a central, low point.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

What is the primary job of a river basin?

• To soak into the ground and become groundwater

• To collect all the water in a large area that runs off into a specific river

• To divide land between watersheds

• To hold water in one area permanently

Answer explanation

This is the definition of a river basin

Which is the best explanation for why estuaries form?

• Estuaries are filled in with river and ocean water.

• Estuaries are created when rivers meet the ocean.

• Estuaries are specific pieces of land where freshwater meets salt water.

• Estuaries contain brackish water and are found at the end of a river.

Answer explanation

Estuaries need the mixing of salt and fresh water to form brackish water. D, however, is just the description of estuary conditions and location, not an explanation for its formation. The land where the waters meet is not the estuary either (C), nor are estuaries like swimming pools or bathtubs waiting to be filled in (A) because if a river is diverted to a different part of the ocean, the place (land) it used to be located is not still called an estuary.

Headwaters are to Mountains as Estuaries are to ________.

• Mouth

• Watershed

• Meander

• Headwaters

Answer explanation

Estuaries are found near the mouth of a river

Which of the following doesn't belong?

• Mouth

• Delta

• Estuary

• Sediment

Answer explanation

Delta is made of sediment - by definition. So, if a student selects “sediment”, this means they are saying that Mouth, Delta, and Estuary are more closely related to each other than any of them is to Sediment...which it can’t be because delta is – by definition – made up of sediment. (Mouth, delta, and sediment can occur both at a lake or the ocean, estuary can only occur at the ocean.)

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

Which is the best explanation for why a river occurs?

• Divides separate precipitation into different river basins.

• Headwaters collect precipitation high in the mountains.

• Watersheds form from runoff and combine tributaries.

• Estuaries depend on water from rivers and the ocean.

Answer explanation

Just because A happens, doesn’t mean the water will not soak into the ground (thus not forming a river), same with B. D is true, but unhelpful for answering the question.

Which most depends on the others?

• Estuaries

• Oceans

• Rivers

• Sediment

Answer explanation

Estuaries need all three of the others to form. The ocean doesn’t depend on estuaries to be the ocean, nor do rivers to be rivers or sediment to be sediment.

Which would most likely affect the amount of water in a lake used to supply drinking water to the nearby city?

• A factory releasing chemicals into it

• Long-term drought in the area of the lake

• Use of the lake for recreation

• Amount of sediment in the lake

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4