Part Two: ...to the Open Sea

Learning Outcomes

• After heavy rain the river bursts its banks, spilling out to create a large, flat area called a flood plain.
• The river habitat supports a wide variety of wildlife.
• The importance of rivers: providing water; supporting industry and farming; attracting villages and towns; providing routes for travel.
• Reservoirs provide important recreation facilities.
• Flowing slowly across its flood plain, the river bends in loops and lazy curves called meanders.
• In meanders the river is eroding and depositing at the same time.
• Eventually a river will cut through a meander bend, changing its course and creating an ox-bow lake.
• Water from the river has to be cleaned and treated before it can be used.
• The waste water we produce is cleaned and treated before it is returned to the river.
• A tributary is a stream or small river that joins a larger river.
• The open area where the river flows into the sea is called the mouth.