What is a watershed?
A watershed is all of the land surrounding a body of water (like a river, lake, or even a puddle) that drains into it. When the watershed gets precipitation, the runoff will flow into that body of water, which will keep flowing downward until it reaches the ocean.
Characteristics
1: "Drainage divides" are high areas of land in a watershed, like hills or mountains. They separate watersheds from each other.2: Runoff is part of the water cycle- precipitation and snowmelt become surface water that drains into the main body of water. 3: Tributaries are small streams that flow into larger ones. They each have their own watersheds that also combine when they flow together. 4: This is off the model because it represents groundwater or aquifers, which is still part of the watershed even if you can't see it. This is when precipitation seeps through permeable surfaces (like penetrable or pervious) going underground!
Human Impacts
Agriculture
Agriculture is a human impact that affects watersheds in a few different ways. When farmers plant the same crops over and over again, it erodes soil and pollutes the runoff. It can also be polluted by fertilizer and pesticide that farmers use to treat their crops. All of these pollutatants will travel downstream into the body of water, harming the aquatic life and possibly even our water supply.
Watershed Model
Gabby
Created on October 7, 2025
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Transcript
What is a watershed?
A watershed is all of the land surrounding a body of water (like a river, lake, or even a puddle) that drains into it. When the watershed gets precipitation, the runoff will flow into that body of water, which will keep flowing downward until it reaches the ocean.
Characteristics
1: "Drainage divides" are high areas of land in a watershed, like hills or mountains. They separate watersheds from each other.2: Runoff is part of the water cycle- precipitation and snowmelt become surface water that drains into the main body of water. 3: Tributaries are small streams that flow into larger ones. They each have their own watersheds that also combine when they flow together. 4: This is off the model because it represents groundwater or aquifers, which is still part of the watershed even if you can't see it. This is when precipitation seeps through permeable surfaces (like penetrable or pervious) going underground!
Human Impacts
Agriculture
Agriculture is a human impact that affects watersheds in a few different ways. When farmers plant the same crops over and over again, it erodes soil and pollutes the runoff. It can also be polluted by fertilizer and pesticide that farmers use to treat their crops. All of these pollutatants will travel downstream into the body of water, harming the aquatic life and possibly even our water supply.