Using the Atlas

We are learning about the Waikato River. Most of us didn’t really know where the Waikato River was so Mrs Richardson taught us how to use an Atlas. We looked at the key (or symbols) for different things like a river, which was a blue squiggly line. Towns were black circles and road were red lines. We found the Waikato River in the North Island of New Zealand. We found that the Waikato River starts with many small streams on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu. It empties into the Tasman Sea and empties into Lake Taupo. The River has many lakes that join onto it and that it passes through many towns such as Cambridge, Hamilton, and Ngaruawahia. It is joined by, the Waipa River, at Ngaruawahia. It then flows north through the Taupiri Gorge to enter the lower Waikato region. It goes further north at Huntly and then Meremere, where the Whangamarino and Maramarua Rivers join it. From Mercer, where the Mangatawhiri River joins it, the Waikato flows west and southwest. Just before its mouth at Port Waikato, the Araroa River joins from the north. There are lots of small islands that are located in the long, thin part of the river as it passes through swampy land between Meremere and the coast, the largest Island is Motutieke Island.