Name: ________________________________________ APES Activity – American Watersheds Background Questions: answer BEFORE starting the procedures below. 1. What is a watershed? What about a drainage...

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Name: ________________________________________ APESActivity – American Watersheds Background Questions: answer BEFORE starting the procedures below. 1. What is a watershed? What about a drainage basin? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What is a divide? __________________________________________________________________________ 3. What is a tributary? ________________________________________________________________________ 4. What watershed do you live in? _______________________________________________________________ Procedures: The map on the next page has a list of the principal rivers and lakes of North America. These rivers and lakes are divided into the major watersheds that they are a part of. 1. Color the squares of the legend. The rivers of the individual watersheds will all be THE SAME color. a. This means that ALL the rivers of the Mississippi watershed will be the SAME color. 2. Color the rivers and lakes according to the legend you created. a. The letters on the map identify the river and correspond to the letters in the legend. 3. Draw a line that encloses all of the rivers of the same watershed. Label the watersheds. a. Lines from different watersheds DO NOT cross. 4. Color the mountain ranges the same color. 5. Answer the “Analysis Questions”, below. Analysis Questions: 1. What mountain range acts as the continental divide in the U.S.? _________________________ 2. In the continental U.S., rain that falls to the west of the divide ends up in the _________________ ocean, while rain that falls to the East of it ends up in the __________________ ocean. 3. Name the ocean that each river system empties into: Mississippi: __________________Colorado: __________________Columbia: __________________ St. Lawrence: __________________Rio Grande: __________________ 4. Which watershed is the largest? ____________________________________. 5. What is significant about the area covered by this watershed, in terms of environmental impact? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Look at your map. The majority of rivers on the map areSNOWSPRINGfed. 7. What are the consequences of climate change for these rivers? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What are the consequences of climate change for these rivers in terms of the humans who depend on them? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. What is an estuary? What could be the consequences of climate change for the major estuaries in North America? Why? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Look up the location of Rocky Mountain National Park. Suppose you are the park manager for Rocky Mountain National Park. The decisions you make in the park can have an influence on the health of your watershed. Which watershed are you most concerned about? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. You’ve been promoted! You are now making the decisions at the two most popular parks in the U.S.: Yellowstone National Park. Just as before, the decisions you make will affect the whole watershed. Which watershed(s) are you most concerned about now? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. The Pacific Northwest boasts some of the best salmon in the world. They make yearly travels downstream from Canada (where their spawning grounds are) to the Pacific Ocean (to feed) and then back upstream again. The past few decades have seen a massive decline in the salmon population. What in or along the rivers here might be affecting the salmon population and why is it doing so? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. The St. Lawrence River is a major passageway for cargo ships from different parts of the world. These ships suck up water for ballast to make them more stable for ocean voyages. The Great Lakes have seen an influx of zebra mussels (small, clam-like organisms native to Russia) in the past century. They have no natural predators in this new ecosystems, and thus their numbers have exploded. Explain how these invasive species may have found their way into the Great Lakes. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Mississippi Watershed: · Arkansas (A) · Red (M) · Mississippi (I) · Missouri (J) · Ohio (L) St. Lawrence Watershed: · St. Lawrence (O) · Lake Superior (O1) · Lake Huron (O2) · Lake Michigan (O3) · Lake Erie (O4) · Lake Ontario (O5) Columbia Watershed: · Columbia (D) · Snake (Q) Colorado Watershed: · Colorado (C) Rio Grande Watershed: · Rio Grande (N) Mountain Ranges: · Appalachian (S) · Rocky (V) · Cascade (T) · Coast (U · Sierra Nevada (X) Webster 2016