Family Activities: Kindergarten-Fourth Grade
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Dams Are Everywhere!

Parents can read the October 1997 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine article “Down the Zambezi” aloud to children in kindergarten through fourth grade; children who are strong readers can also read portions of it aloud to their parents! After reading the article, discuss life on the Zambezi River, particularly the effect the Kariba Dam has had on nearby human and animal communities.

Explore the Geoguide Online dam as well.

Then take an inventory of dams in your neighborhood. Note that there are all sorts of dams—or things that behave like dams—in the world around us. Leaves in gutters can become dams, causing water to pool and overflow during rainstorms. A stalled car on a narrow road can become a dam to the flow of traffic, creating a “reservoir” of waiting vehicles and displacing motorists onto alternate-route “spillways.” See how many dams and things that resemble dams you can find within a short walk or drive of home.

Melanie Campbell of West Indianola Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, contributed family activities for this Geoguide.