The River Fieldwork Task
Geographers do not just read about rivers, they go and measure them. Learn the methods for investigating how a river channel changes, and the six-stage enquiry process that turns your data into a conclusion.
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Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
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Down by the river
Geographers do not just read about rivers, they go and measure them. In the river fieldwork task you investigate how a real river channel changes, and collect your own data to answer a question. This module explores the methods you use and the enquiry process you follow.
River fieldwork words
Four ideas run through this topic:
Measure or describe?
Which of these is a quantitative method in river fieldwork?
- Measuring the width and depth of the channel
- Sketching the shape of a waterfall
- Describing how the river looks
- Taking a photo of the bank
Two kinds of data
A good enquiry uses both kinds of data.
Match the stage
- Formulate a question
- Collect the data
- Present the data
- Draw a conclusion
- Decide what you want to find out
- Measure the river and record landforms
- Draw graphs, maps and diagrams
- State what the evidence shows
Measuring discharge
Discharge is the amount of water flowing past a point each second. To find it, measure the width and the average depth of the channel to get its area, then measure how fast the water flows. Discharge is width times depth times velocity, in cubic metres per second.
Find the discharge
A river is 4 metres wide, with an average depth of 0.5 metres, and the water flows at 2 metres per second. Discharge is width times depth times velocity. What is the discharge in cubic metres per second?
On the riverbank
Which THREE would you do in a river fieldwork task?
- Measure the discharge of the river
- Sketch the landforms you see
- Use a flood-risk map as a secondary source
- Guess the results without measuring
- Ignore any data that surprises you
Downstream discharge
In a typical river, discharge increases downstream as more water joins. Starting from the given point, plot the discharge at sites 2, 3 and 4 further downstream.
The enquiry process
Put the six stages of a geographical enquiry in the right order.
- Formulate the enquiry question
- Choose methods and collect the data
- Process and present the data
- Analyse and explain the data
- Draw an evidenced conclusion
- Reflect on the enquiry and its limits
Complete the idea
In the river fieldwork task you collect your own _____ data by going out and measuring. Measuring the width, depth and velocity lets you work out the _____ of the river. Sketching the landforms gives _____ data. A flood-risk map from the Environment Agency is a _____ source. A good enquiry ends by drawing an evidenced _____.
True or not?
Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE about river fieldwork.
- Measuring the discharge is a quantitative method.
- A flood-risk map is a secondary source of data.
- Sketching a landform gives quantitative data.
- Primary data is data that someone else collected.
- A good enquiry skips drawing any conclusion.
Field choices
Choose the best method or source for each task.
- You want to measure how fast the river flows. What do you use?
- You want to record the shape of a meander. Which method fits?
- You need to know which areas near the river flood. What secondary source helps?
Plan the enquiry
Explain how you would carry out a fieldwork enquiry to investigate how a river channel changes downstream.
- State an enquiry question you could ask
- Give one quantitative method you would use
- Give one qualitative method you would use
- Explain how you would present and use the data