WATER CARVES THE LAND

• If you look at the coastlines of North America, you will notice that there are many unusual shapes along the edges of our continent. The ocean waves are responsible for weathering away bits of soil, rock, and sand wherever the water meets the land. Some beaches change more   than others. Those that experience severe storms or frequent winds change the most. Sediment carried by the water is often redeposited along another part of the coast. A bay is formed when land is worn  away  in a natural curve, creating a body of water that has a wide opening to  the sea, but is enclosed part of the way by land. The waters of a bay tend to be relatively calm.

• Ocean waves aren’t the only water sources that pick up and redeposit sediment. River systems are made up of many different rivers that join up on their journey toward the ocean. They all eventually join a major river that will take them all the way to the ocean. One example of this is the Mississippi River system, which eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico. At the mouth of the river, deposits of sediment build up. This forms a large area called a delta.

• Sometimes people have to artificially change the path that water naturally follows. Man-made lakes are created by building dams in areas where doing so will allow the lake to be a reservoir that store the region’s fresh water supplies. If the local geography is right, the dam can also use the force of gravity and rushing water to turn huge turbines, creating and storing electricity for the region’s power grid system. Water from reservoirs can also be used in irrigation projects that help farmers get enough water to grow crops. It is true that water often shapes our land, but it is also true that we can shape and control our water sources.

 Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm   your answers.

1) A bay can provide a natural harbor where ships can stop very close to land. How is this beneficial for people?

2)  Predict what could happen if too much sediment is carried away by ocean waters.

3) What kind of water would you expect to find in a delta area? Why?

4) What is one benefit of a man-made lake that was not mentioned in the reading passage?

5) Use context clues in the last paragraph to help you define the meaning of the word turbines.