Activity 1. Stream Table Observations

Objective: To learn about how a stream forms while learning how to make accurate observations.

Background: Streams are one of the driving forces of erosion that can transport sediment from one end of a watershed to the other over time. Erosion and deposition also occur right within a stream as well. With the use of a stream table, you will be able to see the processes that take many years in nature on a much shorter time scale.

List of materials:

1. Stream table with running pump

2. Pencil with eraser

3. Figures 9-9 and 9-11 from Brief Review in Earth Science: The Physical Setting (Prentice Hall, 2002), or alternative figures illustrating the key terms below.

Procedure:

1. Start with a “blank” stream table.

2. Turn on the pump (medium speed).

3. Watch the stream that forms over 10 minutes.

4. Listen as your teacher identifies different features that form while the water is running.

5. Sketch the resulting stream and its formations.

6. Label the stream with as many of the key terms as possible.

7. Use the provided figures to help with your labeling.

8. Can you label where erosion and where deposition would occur in the provided figures after observing the running stream table?

Key terms for labeling

Meander Deposition Cut bank

Delta Channel Point bar

Floodplain Tributary Stream

Erosion Watershed Mouth

Stream bank Sediment V-shaped Valley