This page includes links to resources to go along with my Science on the River Unit. Find the Science on the River and other nature-based learning materials in my Shop!
1.) Rivers research project:
Here are a few web resources (external links) to help get you select a river to research and get started:
- On this National Parks Service webpage, click on a state to see a list of its rivers with basic info about each one!
- Launch the USGS Streamer application from this American Geoscience Institute webpage. The Streamer application is great for finding the headwaters and mouth of any river in the U.S.
- Explore the National Wild and Scenic River System by state with this online tool! Are there any designated rivers in your state?
- Explore select rivers in the US and filter by region with this online tool from American Rivers.
- Browse rivers on this interactive map from the National Rivers Project. This tool is especially great for rivers in the eastern part of the US, where it has the most coverage. Click on a river to view more details about it!
2.) Additional free lesson plans and activity ideas from around the web for educators and parents (external links)
- Rivers, Ponds, and Lakes free lesson plan from the University of California (~kindergarten)
- Watershed Wisdom lesson plan from Rocky Mountain PBS (grades 3-5)
- Discovering the Watershed free lesson plan from Perdue University (~5th grade)
- National Geographic’s In Your Watershed activity (grades 6-8)
- Check out several free lesson plans from the Rivanna Stormwater Education Partnership (various, ~grades 6-12)
- Friends of the Chicago River has tons of free river-related lesson plans for various age groups
- Utah State University offers river and water quality lesson plans, projects, and an activity book (various age groups)
3.) Additional reference website links (external links)
- The USGS explains how streamflow is measured, on this helpful webpage
- The University of Houston explains discharge, with a few multiple choice questions at the end to check for comprehension.
- The National Weather Service explains hydrographs and flooding
- A page about hydrographs, from Penn State University, with lots of nice examples at the bottom.
- Learn more about braided and meandering streams, from the National Park Service.
- Physical Geology by C.C. Plummer, D.H. Carlson, and L. Hammersley is my favorite geology textbook. They have a wonderful chapter on rivers and flooding (Ch 10). It’s a high school to college-level textbook with beautiful photographs, illustrations, vocabulary, and more!
