InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Science and Society > Student Materials > Section 2: Physical Hydrology > Module 3: Rivers and Watersheds > Water moves through the landscape
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Water Science and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.

Water moves through the landscape

The most obvious way water moves through a landscape is via stream and river channels. There is no formal definition to distinguish between brooks, creeks, streams and rivers, but generally speaking the former terms refer to smaller waterways and the latter refer to larger waterways. The terms stream and river are often used interchangeably. There are over 3.5 million miles (5.6 million kilometers) of streams and rivers in the US. If all the streams and rivers throughout the US were lined up one after the next, they would extend the distance from Earth to the moon and back...seven times! That is an incredible length of streams to be monitored, protected, regulated, and (occasionally) repaired by federal, state and local agencies, as well as industry and non-profit organizations and individuals. In addition, streams sculpt much of the surface of the Earth, forming a multitude of beautiful patterns and awe-inspiring features, as shown in Figure 1.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »