Note: Teacher’s notes are in red.

By assembling a “river” from puzzle pieces, students will develop awareness of how people and wildlife use and depend on rivers; how actions within a river system can affect the entire system; and that people need to take action to maintain the vitality of river systems.

(Note to teachers: This activity has been adapted for younger children from “A River for the Future,” the “Saving Our Rivers” activity for students in grades 5-8. You may find the 5-8 activity, in which students work in groups to assemble rivers, appropriate for use with third and fourth graders.)

Your Mission
Did you drink a glass of water today? Brush your teeth? Take a dip in a swimming pool? If you did, you might have used water from a river! You depend on clean rivers. And you can help keep rivers clean! Are you puzzled? Don’t worry—you’ll soon put the pieces together.

Subjects: Geography, Language Arts, Science

Relevant U.S. National Geography Standards: 14, 15, 16

Materials

• Printout of the 2-page “River Puzzle” (Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.)
• Construction paper—about six or seven 8 ½ x 11" pieces
• Optional: Photographs from magazines of things students could add to the puzzle
• Scissors (for teacher)
• Scotch tape or a glue stick
• Crayons or colored pencils; magic markers

Introduction
Begin a class discussion by having students examine a diagram of a river. Discuss each part of the river. Explain that a river is part of a larger system—a watershed. Ask, Do you live in a watershed? (Yes, everyone lives in a watershed.)

We All Live Downstream
Ask students, How do people use rivers? Write their answers on the blackboard. Answers could include:

• Fresh-water needs (drinking; brushing teeth; taking showers and baths; flushing toilet; cooking; washing dishes, clothes, cars;
watering lawns and golf courses; cleaning sidewalks; filling fountains and swimming pools)
• Irrigating farmland, giving water to farm animals
• Recreation
• Transportation of goods
• Industry, manufacturing
• Habitats for wildlife, fish, plants

To reinforce the discussion, have students go online and take a water “tour.” (National Wildlife Federation)

If students don’t have access to a computer, print out a “poster” explaining who and what shares watersheds. (Michigan State Department of Environmental Quality)

People and wildlife use rivers every day. Almost everything we do uses water. Can you think of some ways you might use water from rivers? What kinds of wild animals live near rivers or use rivers?

See for yourself some of the ways people use fresh water. (National Wildlife Federation)

Downstream “Don’t’s”
Ask, How do people change rivers? Write their answers on the board. Answers could include:

• Building dams to store water, control flooding, or provide electricity
• Polluting with fertilizer and pesticides that run off from farms and lawns
• Disposing of oil, grease, or trash improperly; they may wash down a storm drain

People change rivers. They build dams for electricity, to help stop flooding, and to be sure there’s always enough available fresh water. People hurt rivers, too. When it rains, the water can wash pollutants from streets and lawns—trash, oil, grease, fertilizer, pesticides—into storm drains, and possibly into rivers. Doesn’t all that junk just float away and disappear?

Imagine that you walk by a stream every day on your way home from school. One day you see a crumpled piece of paper on the ground. That night it rains. When you walk by the stream the next day, the paper is gone.

What do you think happened to the trash? It rained the night before, so the rain might have washed the paper into the stream. But the trash is “gone” only from the part of the stream you see. The paper might be floating farther downstream.

Piecing It All Together
Tell students that the class will create a river out of puzzle pieces. The goal is to put the pieces together to create a healthy river that benefits all—the environment, humans, and wildlife. (There is no right or wrong way to assemble the puzzle.)

Before class, cut out the puzzle pieces (you don’t have to use all the pieces). Only two pieces—the source and the mouth—must be placed in certain positions. (Note: The width of the river is the same in every piece except at the dam and reservoir.) If students want to, have them name places (Duncan’s Dam, Maggie’s Megalopolis). Ask questions to prompt them, such as:

• Where would the source of the river be?
• Where might a farm be?
• Where could you find wetlands along a river?

Have students suggest ways that pieces might be moved, and talk about it as a group. When everyone is satisfied with the river, tape or glue the puzzle pieces on construction paper, color the river, and give the river a title.

You’re going to put together your own river! Your river system will include things people need (a dam, factories) and things people enjoy (a playground, a campground). It will include natural areas that are good for wildlife. The good news is that there’s no wrong way to put your river together! What’s most important is that you put together a river that will benefit everyone—for a very long time.

If you make the river by yourself, ask a grownup to cut the river puzzle pieces. (Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.) Need hints to make the river? Only two pieces—the source and the mouth—must be in certain places (see the river diagram for more clues). And two pieces—the dam and the reservoir—must be side by side. Move the puzzle pieces around until you’re satisfied, then tape the pieces on construction paper. Color the river and add artwork of wildlife, birds, fish, plants, trees, boats, or people.

Downstream “Do’s”
After the river is built, discuss how students feel about it. Is there anything they would change? Would they be happy if they lived near the source of the river? If they lived further downstream?

Emphasize that all rivers are different, and have different conservation needs. The important thing is that students understand that a river is part of a system, and that things within the system (the watershed) could affect the entire system.

Imagine that it’s a hot summer day. You want to cool your feet in a stream, but you can’t because it’s so dirty. That would be a shame. People need to preserve rivers, so people and wildlife can safely use rivers. It’s up to each of us to preserve and restore rivers!

Take Action—Geography Action!
Tell your family what you’ve learned about rivers! Ask them to help you make a watershed or a wetland.

Each person in your class could write a note about how he or she feels about river conservation along each side of the completed river puzzle. Display your river in the hallway of your school.

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

“River Puzzle” activity adapted from Joan Stone, Teacher-Consultant.

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Photographs (left to right): Thomson River, Longreach, Queensland, Australia, by Roff Martin Smith; Northeast Kingdom region, Vermont, by Michael Yamashita

Illustration (right): Dragonfly, copyright Corbis

© 2001 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.