Part 3: Researching a River

Researching a River The Seine, Zambezi, and Limpopo, The Amazon, Danube, and Colorado. Exotic adventures come to mind when we hear the alluring names of some of the world’s most famous rivers. Every river is unique in its own way, and the cultures of river-based communities are all quite distinct. Nonetheless, all rivers—and all river-based communities—have some features and characteristics in common. In this part of the activity, you will choose and investigate one of the largest and most famous rivers of the world. How has it acted as a cradle of settlement and culture? What essential resources does it provide? How has human intervention affected it?

Use the a Physical map from an Atlas, the Gazetteer, and regional maps to locate and label one of the rivers listed below on an Outline Map of the World.

Forty of the World’s Most Famous Rivers Amazon Euphrates Murray-Darling Saskatchewan Amudar’ya Fraser Niger Seine Amur Ganga (Ganges) Nile Senegal Brahmaputra Huang He Ob Thames Chang Jiang Indus Orinoco Tigris (Yangtze) Irrawaddy Parana Volga Colorado Lena Po Yenisey-Angara Columbia Mackenzie-Peace Rhein (Rhine) Zambezi Congo Mekong Rhône Danube Mississipi Rio Grande Dniepr Missouri St. Lawrence People are dependent on rivers in many ways, yet they take actions—often unthinkingly—that change the river and cause environmental degradation. Conduct research to find out more about the river you chose in the question above . Look for information on the following: • the river system: – its length – the size of its watershed (You can estimate this using the scale of map in the Atlas.) – the drainage pattern – significant parts (such as a large delta) – major countries and cities through which it flows – the body of water into which it flows • how the river affects the lives of the people who depend on it • how humans have changed and affected the river • features of the natural environment or various ecosystems through which the river flows • historical and cultural importance • economic importance b) Now present the results of your investigation in one of the following ways. Include as much interesting information as you can. • a written travel piece for Canadian Geographic magazine • an original story, poem, song (the lyrics), or myth or legend about the river.