Your Mission
You use your river. Who else uses your river? Your teacher? Your neighbor? Your best friend? Your pet? You might be surprised to find out who (and what!) is using your river!

River Review
What is a river? Does that seem like a silly question? Why, everyone knows what a river is! But try this experiment: Ask 10 people, “What is a river?” You might get 10 different answers! That’s because every river is different. Yet all rivers have many features in common. For example, every river has a source and a mouth. Can you see some other things that every river has in common?

Who Uses Rivers?
Thousands of years ago, people settled near rivers, where they found fish to eat, fresh water for drinking, and water for cooking and bathing. How do people use rivers today?

Look at the drawing of an imaginary river, “A River Runs Through Town.” (Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.) Count the ways that people and wildlife are using the river in their everyday activities. What other ways could people or wildlife use water from rivers?

A Model River
To get a better picture of a river system, you’re going to make it “rain” on a model watershed. Imagine that the highest point of the model is a mountain. Slowly pour some “painted rain” on the top of the “mountain” and watch where the “river” flows. What features does your painted river have? (A source? A mouth? Does it have tributaries?)

If people and wildlife lived in your model watershed, everyone would share the water. Even if you live far away from a river, you are connected to your river.

River Wrap-Up
Who’s using rivers? Lots of people, in lots of ways. Want to learn more about river systems? Travel along a river to see for yourself; start upstream at the river’s source, and follow the river downstream to the sea. Don’t miss a great quiz about the world’s great rivers! (Michigan State Department of Environmental Quality) (ThinkQuest)

Take Action—Geography Action!
So many people depend on rivers! And so many people use rivers! You can give rivers a helping hand by using less water and by doing everything you can to keep rivers clean.

Start at home, and help Showerlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who are hot on the case of figuring out how much water your family uses. (National Geographic Society)

Do other people in your school know how much people and wildlife rely on rivers? Display your painted watershed, and other drawings or photographs of rivers, and let everyone know how important rivers are.

Whatever you decide to do, tell us about it! Fill out the Geography Action! survey, and learn what other students are doing for rivers!

Activity adapted from “The Comprehensive Water Education Book,” page 151, courtesy of the International Office for Water Educations, Utah State University. For additional activities, please contact us at 800 922 4693. “A River Runs Through Town” illustration from the 1993 Geography Awareness Week teacher’s handbook. © 1993 National Geographic Society. Illustration by Barbara L. Gibson.

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Photographs (left to right): Amazon River, Brazil, by George F. Mobley; Castle Bruce River, Dominica, by Bruce Dale; Sierra Newt, California, copyright Corbis

© 2001 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.