What to do? 1) The Water CycleUse the worksheet ‘water cycle’ to explain where all the water in the Windermere Catchment comes from.

Learning Objectives•To understand where rain comes from and where it goes to•To improve spatial awareness and knowledge of local towns, rivers and mountains•To know what a catchment is and terms such as watershed and confluence•To first hand measure, record and present rainfall data•To consider how rainfall varies throughout the catchment and why this occurs.

What do you need?Large master copy of the map of the catchmentBlank map of the catchment (1 per group)Colouring pencils (red, orange, blue) 1 set per group

3) Memory MappingThis is a great activity to improve spatial awareness and knowledge of the local area as well as confidence using maps.Arrange the pupils in groups of 2 to 5. Give each group a blank catchment map and colouring pencils or crayons (blue, orange and red). The aim is for each group to recreate the map of the catchment with as much detail as possible. Allow one person from each group to view the completed map for 30 seconds. They then return to their group and describe the map to the rest of the group who draw as directed by the first person. After 2 minutes, repeat with another member of the group, until every person in the group has had a turn to see the original map. Extend the exercise by using a 1:50,000 scale map of the area and adding on human characteristics of the local area such as roads, piers and visitor attractions or by giving each pupil their own map to colour in with the lakes, rivers, mountains and settlements.

2) Where does all the water go?Look at the map of the Windermere catchment and trace the course of one of the rivers. Use a map of Cumbria to see where the river Leven ends up. Reassemble the hand-crafted jigsaws of the catchment (available from CDEC for Cumbrian Schools) to identify places the children might know such as towns, rivers and famous mountains. Look at how each of the rivers flow into Windermere, many of which first go through another lake such as Elterwater or Rydal. Introduce the terms ‘catchment’, ‘watershed’, the line around the outside of the catchment and ‘confluence’. As an extension activity, try drawing around each of the pieces to create your own map or assembling the jigsaw without the frame.

Water water everywhere!57

Rock samples are available from CDEC

Extending the activity/Finding out more

5) Graph your rainfallTeach the pupils how to produce a histogram with the ‘graph your rainfall’ worksheet to see how the rainfall varied during the week they recorded it.

6) How much does it really rain?Using the table on the worksheet ‘Comparing rainfall’ compare the monthly rainfall figures of Elterwater to different areas of the catchment. Choose a location and graph the rainfall data for each month.

7) Rain shadowsThe rain shadows sheet looks at the total rainfall over a year in different areas of the catchment. It shows the rain shadow effect – as you go further away from the mountains there is less rain. This is due to the effect of relief rainfall, where warm, moist air from the Atlantic is forced to rise up over the mountains. The clouds condense, creating rain on the side of the mountain facing towards the sea.

8) RocksFind out about the different types or rocks in the catchment. Explain how rocks found in the more mountainous areas of the catchment such as Andesite were formed when huge volcanoes exploded around 500 million years ago (e.g. igneous rocks). Link it with images to somewhere undergoing volcanic eruptions in present day. Compare the shape of the land in the North (rugged and craggy) with pictures of the South (softer, more gently rolling terrain). Explain that these rocks are mudstones, sand stones and siltstones, formed in warm tropical seas around 440 million years ago when we were located near to the equator (e.g. sedimentary rock). These are much softer rocks which erode more easily. Distribute samples of the different rock types around the class and encourage the children to touch them and identify any differences and similarities. If you look really close with a magnifying glass you should be able to see little crystals in the igneous rocks which were formed as the rock cooled down (the bigger the crystal the longer it took for the rock to cool down). Explain how the rock from the mountains is eroded and washed down to the sea eventually forming new sedimentary rocks and starting the rock cycle over again.

9) Rocks and waterLink the rocks to the water cycle by testing the properties of each rock type. Do they let water through, e.g. are they permeable? Andesite is impermeable, which means that water is forced to flow over ground or through the soil rather than through the rock. This means that there is often a higher rate of soil erosion.

How does it link to the curriculum?

Geography - KS1 Use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to key physical features, including: mountain, lake, river, valley, and key human features, including: town, village - KS2 Describe and understand key aspects of:• physical geography, including: rivers, mountains• human geography, including: land use, economic activity

10) Make a daily weather diary

11) Live rainfall dataUse live rainfall data from the MET office website to watch warm and cold fronts move across the area.

4) Make a rain gaugeUse the hand-out ‘making a rain gauge’ to make a rain gauge, either as one class or individual students at home. Measure the rain over one week and record the data on the ‘How much has it rained?’ worksheet.

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Evaporation by the sun

Lake Windermere

Rain

Sun

Flow over the land to the river

Flow along rivers

Flow through the soil to the river

Interception by trees

Key Terms

The water cycle59

Map of Lake Windermere’s Catchment

5km

Scale

Langdale Pikes

(736m)

Red Screes (776m)

Thornthwaite Crag (784m)

Hart Crag (822m)

Fairfield (873m)

Ill Bell (757m)

Cold Pike (701m)

Pike o Blisco

(705m)

Swirl How (802m)

Wetherlam (763m)

Bowfell (902m)

Crinkle Crags

(815m)

Stony Cove Pike (763m)Great Rigg

(766m)

Grasmere

Hawkshead

Elterwater

Ambleside

Windermere & Bowness

Lake Winderm

ere

Esthwaite

Cunsey Beck

Great Langdale Beck

River Rothay

River Brathay

Mill Beck

Elterwater

Grasmere

Rydal Water

Trou

t Bec

k

River Brathay

River L

even

Esthwaite W

ater

Key Watershead Lake River Mountain Village/town

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Map of Lake Windermere’s Catchment

5km

Scale

Key Watershead Lake River Mountain Village/town

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What you will need:• An empty plastic bottle (2 litre fizzy drink bottle would be ideal) • Scissors • Sticky tape • Ruler• Measuring beaker

What to do:1. Cut around the plastic bottle about two thirds of the way up.

2. Turn the top part of the bottle upside down and place it inside the bottom part - fix it in place using the tape – see picture

3. Make a scale in centimetres on a piece of tape, using a ruler, and fix it to the side of your bottle.

4. Find a place outside to put your rain gauge. Make sure it is in open space and away from trees.

5. Dig a hole and bury your rain gauge so that the top is sticking out about 5 cm out of the ground. This will stop the rain gauge from blowing down on windy days.

6. Check the rain gauge every day at the same time, measure the amount of rain collected, and empty the bottle.

How to make a rain gauge62

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Comparing rainfall

Rainfall is measured everyday and then calculated as an average per month.This is the average rainfall per month in Elterwater over a year.

Month J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rainfall (Millilitres)

100 64 76 58 64 69 74 93 103 107 110 108

Your turn: Pick a place from the table and draw your graph in the space below, remember to write the name of the place in the title.

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MJ F A J A S O N

20406080

100

M J DMonth

Rain

fall

in M

illili

tres

Graph to Show Rainfall Over the Year in …………………

0

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Bowness1020 mm

Rain shadows

Langdale 1320 mm

Grasmere 1250 mm

Ambleside 1050 mm

Ulverston 1000ml

Langdale Pikes (736m)

Red Screes m776m)

Thornthwaite Crag (784m)

Hart Crag (822m)

Fairfield (873m)

Ill Bell (757m)

Cold Pike (701m)

Pike o Blisco (705m)

Swirl How (802m)

Wetherlam (763m)

Bowfell (902m)

Crinkle Crags (815m)

Stony Cove Pike (763m)

Great Rigg (766m)

Which is the wettest place?

…………………………………………

Why do you think these places get very different amounts of rain?

………………………………………………………………………...……………………………

Which is the driest place?

…………………………………………

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