DISCUSS:

Why do you think a river flows?

Come up with some ideas!

DISCUSS: Here’s a map showing real rivers in North America. Do the starting points of the rivers have anything in common? What about where they end?

River Map

Video trouble?

Anchor Connection
Discuss. Look at the "Wonder" column of your class See-Think-Wonder chart.
Have any questions been answered by the past lesson?

Step
01/14

Think-Pair-Share. Where do rivers start? Where do they end?

Step
02/14

Study the map. Then discuss. Where does the Strange River start? Where does the Missouri River start? Where do the rivers go after they come together?

Step
03/14

Review, then think-pair-share.

Step
04/14

Review, then think-pair-share.

Step
05/14

Review, then think-pair-share.

Step
06/14

Review, then think-pair-share.

Step
07/14

Get out your River Drawing Number 1. What will you change on your next drawing? What will you keep the same? When you are done, be sure to keep this worksheet safe! You will need it later.

Step
08/14

Get a new copy of the Strange River worksheet. Write your name. This is River Drawing Number 2.

Step
09/14

Draw mountains at the start of each river to show where they start. Leave empty space around the mountains. We’re going to add labels!

Step
10/14

Now, write the word mountain next to each mountain. You might write the word in a different spot than we did. That’s OK! Then draw a line to each mountain.

Step
11/14

The very start of a river is called the source. Label the source of each river. Then draw a line to each source.

Step
12/14

Draw the river ending at a beach at the ocean.

Step
13/14

The end of a river is called the mouth. Label the mouth on your drawing.

Step
14/14

Think-Pair-Share. Do you have any new ideas for why the two rivers are such different colors? When you are done, save your worksheet! You will need it later.

forest

1 of 16

a place with lots of trees

pond

2 of 16

an area of still water, larger than a puddle, but smaller than a lake

lake

3 of 16

a large area of water with land all around it

ocean

4 of 16

a large area of salt water that covers the Earth

river

5 of 16

a long, thin area of water that flows

flow

6 of 16

to move along

Video trouble?

float

7 of 16

to rest on top of water without sinking

Video trouble?

stream

8 of 16

a small river

map

9 of 16

a drawing of a place that shows where things are

pattern

10 of 16

something that happens again and again and again in a way that can be predicted

plains

11 of 16

large areas of flat land with few trees

hill

12 of 16

a high area of land that isn't as tall as a mountain

mountain

13 of 16

a high area of land with steep sides

rain

14 of 16

water drops that fall from clouds

model

15 of 16

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with

experiment

16 of 16

a test used to discover new information about a question

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Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Exploration

forest by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Aleksey Stemmer

baby owl by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Watthano

deer by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Pierre Watson

frog by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Jay Connors

tadpoles by Aquarium and Terrarium Life

stream by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Maksym Darakchi

kid holding bottle by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: spwidoff

bottle floating by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Fotohunt

bottle floating down a river by LittleBigVoice

water bottle by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: janonkas

ocean by iknowcaleb

tubing on American River by Beyond Limits Adventures

barge by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Lacokozyna

wind in tree by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Meryll

flowing river by Doug Von Gausig

clear stream by Don Bendickson

kid floating in water by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: MaszaS

plains by Richard Webb

hills by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: chaivit chana

mountains by Jon Sullivan

Activity

mountain - aerial view by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: gagarych

spray bottle by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Africa Studio

Crumple Mountain Base printout	Print 15 copies
Blank Paper (8.5 x 11") Recycled is fine as long as one side is blank.	Details 30 sheets
Markers Ideally dark blue or dark green. Choose a color that looks like water.	Details 15 markers
Table Covering (eg. Trash Bags)	16 bags
Dot Stickers We prefer stickers because they are easier to distribute in a classroom. Tape also works.	Details 60 stickers
Spray Bottles	8 bottles

If you floated down a river, where would you end up?

forest

pond

lake

ocean

river

flow

float

stream

map

pattern

plains

hill

mountain

rain

model

experiment

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Assessments

Image & Video Credits

16 mins

30 mins

Share this lesson

Student link

Google Classroom

Email parents

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Assessments

Online resource

Activities

Transcripts

If you floated down a river, where would you end up?

forest

pond

lake

ocean

river

flow

float

stream

map

pattern

plains

hill

mountain

rain

model

experiment

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Assessments

Image & Video Credits

Activity Prep

16 mins

30 mins

Share this lesson

Student link

Google Classroom

Email parents

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Assessments

Online resource

Activities

Transcripts

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