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.

We All Live Downstream
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”
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
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”
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; Sierra Newt, California, copyright Corbis

© 2001 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.