Geography CLIL Project st 1 A - 1 st D 2016-2017 1
UNIT E EUROPE: INLAND WATERS CONTENTS Book Pages E2. River's Course 60-61 3-5 E3. European's Rivers 62-63 7 L52 Danube's delta, World Heritage L52 8 L56 Loira's Estuary L56 8 E4. Italian's rivers 64-65 9 E5. Italian and european's lakes 66-67 11-12 L54 Garda lake L54 13 L55 Ladoga lake L55 13-14 Handout Pages 2
E2. RIVER'S COURSE A RIVER is a natural wide flow of FRESH WATER (acqua dolce) across the land. The water in rivers comes from rainfall, from snow and ice melting, and from water inside the Earth, called groundwater (As you studied in the water cycle with Ms. Magdalena!). Rivers carry this water downhill to lakes, sees and oceans. The picture show the PATH of the river, from the SOURCE, where it starts to the MOUTH, the part where it meets the sea. The area of a land from which a rivers collects its water is called its DRAINAGE BASIN. A WATERSHED is a ridge of high land that divide two drainage 3
baisins. A small river which joins a bigger river and a river which forms a lake are called TRIBUTARIES. A river which form a lake is called TRIBUTARY, a river which exit from a lake is called OUTFLOW STREAM. A CONFLUENCE is where two rivers meet. A LEVEE is a wall built to stop a river from OVERFLOWING. A MEANDER is curve of a river or stream. The RIVER BED is the bottom of the channel. The RIVER BANKS are the sides of the channel. When the water reaches the top of the banks the river is BANKFULL. A FLOOD is when the water flows over the top of the banks and onto surrounding land. UPPER COURSE: a river changes as it flows downhill along its path. Many rivers begin in mountain areas, the water runs into steep and deep valleys and they're narrow and shallow. Here you can find a WATERFALL. MIDDLE COURSE: away from the mountain the water flows more smoothly in broader channels and larger valleys and starts to form large bends or meanders. LOWER COURSE: finally the river widens out into a broad ESTUARY or sometimes splits to from a DELTA. RIVERS' ACTION A river shapes the landscape by the work of erosion, transportation and deposition. 4
EROSION: removal of soil and rocks from the bed and banks of the river by Hidraulic action (the power of the water), abrasion, solution. TRANSPORTATION: moving the soil and the rocks downhill. DEPOSITION: dropping the soil and the rock along the course. 5
QUESTION TIME What's the name of the place where a river starts? What's the name of the place where a river meets the sea? How many type of mouths are? In a lake you usually have two rivers, what are their names? The river bed is... What's the name of the wall built to stop the river from overflowing? Where can you find a waterfall? Where the river is narrow and where is wide? What happens when the water of a river goes in the surrounding land? What action do the river do? Describe them. 6
E3. European's rivers Copy on your notebook the map at page 62 but with the English name, you find in this map. A casa fatti un po' di copie della mappa muta (silent map) ed esercitati a mettere i nomi al posto giusto per memorizzarli con la loro posizione. Rivers to memorize: Tagus, Ebro, Loire, Seine, Thames, Rhine, Elbe, Oder, Denube, Vistula, Don, Volga. The LONGEST river in Europe is Volga, during the winter it's iced. The second longest river is Danube, it has the second BIGGEST dreinage baisin. 7
L52 DANUBE'S DELTA: WORLD HERITAGE Danube flows through 9 countries, for about 2900 Km and ends into the Black sea with 4 major branches. It has a delta mouth, creating an alluvial plain with an extension of more than 5000 Km 2 between Romania and Ukraine. The delta is the youngest land in Europe, it changes continuing, carved by the river. Danube carries about 50 tons of alluvial debris in a year. Only 10% of the land is always over the sea level, the majority is a marsh with small islands covered and discovered by the tide. The area is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ) World Heritage site, because it's important for biodiversity. L56 LOIRA'S ESTUARY Loira river is in France, is long 1020 km and its drainage basin covers 115000 Km 2, a fifth of all France. Its mouth is an estuary. Loira flows into Atlantic Ocean. The ocean's tides rise and low every 6 hours and mantains the mouth free from debris. Fresh and salty water mix for about 40 Km. There live many species of fish and migranting birds, some are rare. The environment is changed by the humans activities. Factories pollute the water and people remove sand from the bed to make it navigable. Now there's a plan to protect the area. 8
E4. ITALIAN RIVERS Copy the map of italian rivers at page 64 on your notebook. Work with a silent map to memorize names and positions. Rivers to memorize: Po, Dora Baltea, Ticino, Lambro, Adda, Oglio, Mincio, Tànaro, Trebbia, Taro, Adige, Piave, Isonzo, Reno, Arno, Tevere, Volturno, Simeto, Salso, Tirso, Flumendosa. Italian rivers aren't long because Italy is long and narrow. Sources are on Alps or Appennins. Rivers with source on Alps have a major flow rate, thanks to precipitations and snow and ice melting in spring. The longest river in Italy is Po, its source is in Alpi Cozie, Mount Monviso, at 2020 bsl (below sea level). It's long 652 Km. It flows into Adriatic sea with a delta mouth. It has 141 tributaries, sorted in left tributaries (at north, from Alps) and right tributaries (at south, from Appennins). Rivers from Appennins receive water only from precipitations not from glaciers. In summer some are dry. The rivers which flow into Mar Tirreno are LONGER because the watershed is FARER. 9
QUESTION TIME Localize the river Rhine: source, mouth. What's the longest river in Europe? Is Po a long river, compared to the other european rivers? What kind of mouth does Danube have? Where? How many countries does it flow through? Why is it protected by UNESCO? Where's Loire? What kind of mouth does it have? What do tide do in the mouth? Why is Loire's estuary in danger? 10
E5. ITALIAN AND EUROPEAN'S LAKES Lakes are large areas of water surrounded by land and not connected to the sea except by rivers or streams. Type of lakes Glacial: They're formed when a glacier erodes the land, and then melts, filling the space it has created. In Italy glacial lakes are the biggest and they're all in North Italy in Prealpi (Maggiore Lake, Como Lake, Iseo Lake, Garda Lake). Most lakes in Europe are glacial lake (about three quarters) Landslide: lakes can be created by a landslide. Alleghe lake in north Italy. Oxbow: An oxbow lake is an old meander, cut off by deposition of soil and rock (debris). Trasimeno in central Italy. Crater: Crater lakes are formed in volcanic craters and calderas. Bolsena lake in central Italy. Coastal: A sand spit, sand transported by the sea, close a gulf and form a lake, also called lagoon. Lesina lake in south Italy. The biggest lake in Europe is Ladoga lake. Caspian sea is the biggest lake of the world, it's called sea because is big and its water is salted. Copy the map of italian and european rivers at pages 66-67 on your notebook in the rivers map. Work with a silent map to memorize names and positions. Lakes to memorize: d'orta, Maggiore, di 11
Lugano, di Como, Iseo, di Garda, di Alleghe, Trasimeno, di Bolsena, Laguna di Orbetello, di Bracciano, di Lesina e Varano; Ladoga, Caspian sea, Geneve, Constance. 12
L54 GARDA LAKE It's the biggest lake in Italy, it's surface is 370 Km 2 divided and is located among Trentino, Lombardia and Veneto regions. The maximum lenght is 52 km and the maximum width 17 km. Tributary is Sarca river and the outflow stream is Mincio. The nothern part is long and narrow, embed among mountains, and the depth is between 300-350 m. The Southern part is large and deep around 80 m. The origin of the lake is glacial. Climate is mild, particularly in northern part, because mountains stop cold winds from North and the lake's water in Winter returns the heat stored in Summer. People settle on the lake banks starting from Prehistory. There're a lot of animal and plants species (more than 2000): orchids, exotic plants, olive, vine, limon, trouts and carps. L55 LADOGA LAKE Ladoga lake is in the North-West of Russia, near the city of Saint Petersburg. It's the biggest lake in Europe. Its outflow stream is Neva River, it flows into the Finland Gulf. It's a glacial lake, it's size is 18400 Km 2 (bigger then Lazio), its perimeter is 1570 Km long (almost the distance between Milan and Palermo). It contains 650 islands with a total surface of 450 Km 2. Its drainage basin is large 259000 Km 2 (bigger then Italy), including 50000 lakes and 3500 rivers. The weather is cold, average temperature is 15 in July and -10 (minus 10 or 10 under zero) in January. The lakes surface freezes 13
from December to May, with a layer half metre thick. Flora: quality fish, for example salmon; a lot of birds species, in particular migrant birds like ducks, swans etc. 14
QUESTION TIME What's a lake? How is formed a glacial lake? How is formed a coastal lake? What kind of lake is Como lake? Where in Italy are glacial lakes? Where is Garda Lake? What's the tributary of Garda lake? What's the outflow stream of Ladoga lake? What does it happen to Ladoga lake in winter? 15