Poem: Boats sail on the rivers


}Boats sail on the rivers,
} 
}Boats sail on the rivers,
}And ships sail on the seas;
}But clouds that sail across the sky
}Are prettier far than these.
}There are bridges on the rivers,
}As pretty as you please;
}But the bow that bridges heaven,
}And overtops the trees,
}And builds a road from earth to sky,
}Is prettier far than these.
} 
}By Christina Rossetti
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Project


Project: The river that carries us/ the river that flows/ I´m a river.

+ With your partner choose a river from the list proposed:

            Thames, Avon ( England), Severn (Wales), Water of Leith ( Scotland), Liffey ( Ireland), Mississippi , Colorado ( US) Columbia River and Hillborough River ( Canada), Yarra and Murray ( Australia)

+ You will have three weeks to find information about it. You may be interested in these aspects:
                        * Geographical aspects
                        * Cities / Towns
                        * Relevant people
                        * Animals and plants
                        * Curiosities
                        * A famous song/ A video link

+ Layout: choose a title for your project. Use two or three cardboards DINA A4. You can write on both sides of your paper. Handwrite your project. You can use images to illustrate your work.

+ Include the poem written from the activity: Boats Sail on a River.

+ Finish your project with a personal reflectionby answering this question: Where does my river take to me ? ( Physically or imaginarily)

+ You will present your project to your American teacher and finally, you must hand it out to your English teacher.
                                    * Check your work before writing your final version
                                   * A neat clean layout is necessary
                                   * Team work is an essential part of the result
                                   * Show us your best !

US Geography Rivers



Major Rivers in the United States

Mississippi

The Mississippi River is one of the most important rivers in the United States. It flows 2,340 miles north to south from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. Together with the Missouri River, it forms the fourth largest river system in the world. The source of the Mississippi is Lake Itasca in Minnesota.

In the early history of the United States, the Mississippi River served as the westernmost border of the country until the Louisiana Territory was purchased from France in 1803. After that, the river was a symbol of the start of the American frontier. Today the river is an important transportation waterway, carrying goods from the middle of the country to the port of New Orleans and into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River travels through several states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It acts as the border between several of these states. It also travels through several major cities including Minneapolis, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans.

Missouri

The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States at 2,540 miles long. Together with the Mississippi River, it forms the fourth largest river system in the world. It begins in Western Montana and flows to the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis. It travels through several states including Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

The first explorers to travel the entire length of the Missouri River were Lewis and Clark. They used the Missouri to make their way west when exploring the Louisiana Purchase. The river played an important role in the early history of the American frontier as the major trails to the west, such as the Oregon and Santa Fe Trail, began at the Missouri River.

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande flows 1,900 miles from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it travels through New Mexico and serves as the southern border of Texas between the United States and Mexico. Major tributaries of the Rio Grande include the Rio Conchos, the Rio Chama, and the San Juan River.

Hudson

The Hudson River flows 315 miles north to south in eastern New York. It is a fairly short river when compared to many of the other rivers on this page. However, the Hudson played an important role in the early history of the United States. When the Erie Canal was opened in 1825, the Hudson was connected to the Great Lakes. This created a trade route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes region. It had a major impact in the growth of New York City.

Colorado

The Colorado River flows 1,450 miles from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California. Along the way it passes through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico. The river is famous for carving out the Grand Canyon over the course of millions of years. Today the Colorado is an important source of water and power for the southwest United States. The Hoover Dam was built on the Colorado in 1936. It formed Lake Mead and provides power to the city of Las Vegas.

Columbia

The largest river in the northwest region of the United States is the Columbia River. It stretches 1,240 miles from the Canadian Rockies, through Washington state, and along the Oregon-Washington border to the Pacific Ocean. The river is an excellent source of power and is home to Grand Coulee Dam, the largest power producing dam in the United States.



Yukon River in Alaska

Yukon

The Yukon River is the third longest river in the United States at 1,980 miles. It begins at Llewellyn Glacier in Canada and flows north to Alaska where it proceeds to travel west across the state to the Bering Sea.

What is a river?

A river is a flowing, moving stream of water. Usually a river feeds water into an ocean, lake, pond, or even another river. Rivers can vary in size and there is no hard definition or rule on how big a flow of water must be to be categorized as a river. Water from a river can come from rain, melting snow, lakes, ponds, or even glaciers. Rivers flow downhill from their source. They are considered part of the freshwater biome.