Floodplains and Deltas

Floodplains and Deltas

Floodplains and Deltas

A Short Reader

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.97

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		yearly, provided, floodplains, pharaohs, sediment, form, irrigation, fans, deposition, low-lying, banks, along, silt, floodplain, such, eventually
	content words:		Nile River

Print Floodplains and Deltas

Print Floodplains and Deltas (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Floodplains and Deltas

Leave your feedback on Floodplains and Deltas (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Floodplains and Deltas
By Cindy Grigg

¹     Floodplains form along rivers. Deltas form where rivers empty into the sea. Many ancient civilizations flourished because of these landforms.

²     As water in a river flows down a slope, it plucks sediment from the land. Other streams join it, forming a broad river basin. The water carries soil, sand, and sediment downstream. As the water reaches flatter ground, it slows down. When the water's speed slows, the larger sediments are dropped. This is called deposition. The sediment builds up a floodplain. A floodplain is a low-lying area along a river that often floods after heavy rains. The river eventually empties into an ocean. At the river's mouth, the water loses its force and drops all its sediment. A delta is formed. Deltas are often shaped like fans or triangles. Sometimes they look like a bird's footprint.

³     Floodplains and deltas make fertile farmland. The sediments deposited in floodplains and deltas are called silt. Silt is rich in nutrients. The Nile River in Egypt is famous because of its fertile floodplains. Without the yearly flooding of the Nile, the pharaohs and their grand .....
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books

Prepare for an entire week at once!