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Year 11
AQA

River fieldwork

I can collect primary and secondary data in a river environment to help me answer a geographical question.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

River fieldwork

I can collect primary and secondary data in a river environment to help me answer a geographical question.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. There are many geographical enquiry questions that you can investigate along the course of a river.
  2. Data collection methods in a river landscape can examine flood management and a river's agreement to the Bradshaw model.
  3. Secondary data can provide contextual information about particular rivers and comparable data.

Keywords

  • Channel morphology - the physical size and shape of a river channel, including the sediment (bedload) it carries

  • The Bradshaw model - a theory about how river processes change from source to mouth

  • Flood management - strategies used to prevent a river over topping its banks following a period of intense rainfall

Common misconception

River processes are independent variables that shape river features.

Rivers are complex systems where processes and features both affect each other at different times. This means that students need to disengage with the idea that one variable is going to be independent of another as they present and analyse data.


To help you plan your year 11 geography lesson on: River fieldwork, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

River fieldwork is an excellent opportunity for students to develop teamwork and leadership skills. Multiple variables have to be measured using different pieces of equipment so roles can easily be rotated between group members.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

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Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - outdoor learning
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Supervision

Adult supervision required

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the term used to describe stones, pebbles and rocks found and carried in a river?
Correct answer: Bedload
Sediment
Litter
Bankfull
Q2.
Erosion, transportation and are the three main river processes.
Correct Answer: Deposition
Q3.
Which of the following is not a defence used to prevent river flooding?
Channel dredging
Afforestation
Correct answer: Groynes
Channel straightening
Q4.
One of the measurements geographers make in river fieldwork is of the wetted perimeter. What is a perimeter?
The straight line distance across something.
Correct answer: The distance around the edge of something.
The average depth of something.
The amount of space inside something.
Q5.
What does an altimeter measure?
Correct answer: Altitude (the height of the land)
pH
Temperature
Oxygen levels in water
Q6.
The area of land where precipitation flows downhill into rivers is known as a ...
Confluence
Correct answer: Drainage basin
Watershed
Tributary

Exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following statements are true?
Correct answer: Channel morphology characteristics are affected by river processes.
Correct answer: River processes are affected by channel morphology characteristics.
River processes are not affected by human features.
Channel morphology characteristics are not affected by human features.
Q2.
Sort these steps for measuring flow velocity into the correct order.
1 - Measure out a 5 metre section of river using markers.
2 - Place the float at the foot of the upstream marker.
3 - Start a timer as soon as the float is released.
4 - Stop the timer and collect the float when it reaches the second marker.
Q3.
The width is the width of the water in the channel if water were at the top of the channel height.
Correct Answer: Bankfull, bank full
Q4.
During a field work enquiry, what model might geographers compare a real life river to?
Correct answer: Bradshaw
Burgess
Butler
Bircher

Additional material

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