The River Tweed (KS2/2nd Level)

Rivers feature in landscapes all across the world. They come in all shapes and sizes; they can be deep or shallow, wide or narrow, and they can be anywhere between 1km long and 6,000km long, but no two rivers are the same.

So what do they all have in common?

All rivers are a body of water in which water flows from a start point to an end point.

Earth is the only planet known to have water. In fact, 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. So where does it all come from?

All of the water on Earth is continually being recycled through what is known as the water cycle (also known as the hydrological cycle). This means that the same water is being carried round and round the world, again and again.

As it goes through the cycle, water can be in three different states: solid (as snow or ice), liquid (as water) or as a gas (as water vapour).

Rivers play a really important role in the water cycle, helping to transport freshwater and nutrients to areas right across the world.

It is not just their role in the water cycle that make rivers important!

As mentioned above, all rivers are bodies of water that flow from a start point to an end point. Along their journeys, rivers constantly change. This is (largely) due to three key processes that occur in a river: erosion, transportation and deposition.

The path that a river takes along its journey is referred to as its course. Along its course, the characteristics of a river (such as width, depth and speed of flow) change. We can use these characteristics to split the course of a river into three stages: the upper course, the middle course and the lower course.

Explore the course of the River Tweed using the map below and discover the different features of the river along its journey.