Glen Canyon & Dams
Earth's Water & Maps
Weathering & Erosion
Rivers & Sediment
Engineering & Hazards
100

What giant structure built on the Colorado River creates Lake Powell and controls water flow?

What is the Glen Canyon Dam?

100

Most of Earth's surface is covered by water. Is most of that water fresh water or salt water?

What is salt water?

100

What is the process called when rocks are broken down into smaller pieces by water, wind, or ice?

What is weathering?

100

Tiny pieces of rock, sand, and soil carried by moving water are called what?

What is sediment?

100

What water-related natural hazard occurs when too much rain or melting snow overflows riverbanks?

What is a flood?

200

Give one reason why people build dams on large rivers.

What is to store fresh water, generate electricity (hydroelectric power), or control flooding?

200

What type of map uses lines or colors to show the high and low elevations (shapes) of the land?

What is a topographic physical map?

200

What is the term for when broken rock and soil are carried away by moving water or wind?

What is erosion?

200

What happens to sediment when a fast-moving river slows down as it enters a lake or ocean?

What is the sediment drops to the bottom (deposition)?

200

What is an engineered structure built along the side of a riverbank to help prevent flooding in towns?

What is a levee (or dike / floodwall)?

300

How does building a dam affect the plants and animals living downstream?

What is it changes water temperature, blocks sediment/nutrients, or changes natural water flow?

300

Due to gravity, which direction does river water always flow across the land?

What is downhill (from high elevation to low elevation)?

300

What happens when water freezes inside tiny cracks in a rock?

What is the water expands and breaks the rock open (ice wedging / physical weathering)?

300

What fan-shaped landform is created at the mouth of a river when dropped sediment builds up over time?

What is a river delta?

300

If engineers plant grass and trees along a bare dirt hill, what problem are they trying to stop?

What is soil erosion or mudslides?

400

What type of renewable energy is created when water flows through a dam to turn turbines?

What is hydroelectric power (or water power)?

400

Where do most rivers and streams eventually empty out into?

What is an ocean (or sea / large lake)?

400

How did the Colorado River create the deep Grand Canyon over millions of years?

What is by cutting through rock through weathering and erosion?

400

Does fast-moving water carry more sediment or less sediment than slow-moving water?

What is more sediment?

400

Why do scientists and engineers build small-scale stream table models in science class?

What is to observe and test how water shapes land without waiting for real-world time or causing real damage?

500

Before the Glen Canyon Dam was built, what natural event happened every spring in the canyon due to melting mountain snow?

What is seasonal flooding?

500

What do we call an area of higher land that separates water flowing toward different rivers or basins?

What is a ridge (or divide / watershed boundary)?

500

How do plant roots help prevent water erosion on a hillside?

What is they anchor and hold the soil together?

500

Why did sediment stop building up downstream after the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed?

What is because the sediment gets trapped behind the dam wall in Lake Powell?

500

When designing a solution to a water problem, engineers must follow rules like budget or space. What are these rules or limits called?

What are constraints (or requirements / criteria)?