Rivers of Life
Rivers Through Time Project Outline:
Objective 1: Complete preparation activities.
Objective 2: Start to make historic maps & begin creative art/writing projects.
Activity 1: Mapping the Past
Activity 2: On-going Artistic and Literary Expressions
Objective 3: Tools of the Trade
Activity 3: Stratigraphy and Cross-Dating
Activity 4: Artifact Classification
Objective 4: Introducing Garbage Archaeology
Activity 5: It’s in the Garbage
Objective 5: Paper Time Machines - Post Cards
Activity 6: Post Cards from the Past
Objective 6: A Stream Walk
Activity 7: Stream Reconnaissance
Activity 8: A Walk on the Wild Side
Objective 7: It’s Clean Up Time!!
Activity 9: Conducting your River Clean Up
Objective 8: River Junk as Artifacts and as Art
Activity 11: Junk that Imitates Art
Objective 9: Complete mapping, creative art, & writing projects.
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Project Introduction
Rivers Through Time will take your students from the present, back through history, and into
prehistory as they learn to see their watershed and community through the eyes of
anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians. This project can easily be combined with
elements of the other three ROL projects. For example, you can focus on historic aspects of
flooding, or do a Steamer Trunk exchange using artifacts concerning watershed history.
Note: The activities planned for objectives 4-7 involve a river-bank clean up and doing a garbage
archaeology analysis and sculpture of the junk collected by your students. This activity is a land
activity—for reasons of safety it is recommended that you keep students on the river bank and
that they not wade along shore to retrieve garbage visible in the stream. As an alternative, your
class can do a cleanup of a city lot, ravine, or street that is within walking distance of your
school. This is a perfectly acceptable option that may simplify the logistical challenges of
scheduling, adult leadership, and transportation. Since lots, ravines, and streets drain into rivers
via the nearest storm sewer or creek, removing litter will benefit local waterways.
OBJECTIVE 1: COMPLETE PREPARATION ACTIVITIES
Preparation Activities:
Getting Ready for Rivers of Life
The activities below are recommended to help your class prepare for their online river adventure.
The first activity, Introducing You and Your Watershed, introduces your class at the start of the
program. Next is an activity that introduces watershed mapping—an activity that is common to
all projects.
Preparation Activity 1: Introducing You and Your Watershed
Introduce your class and community to your fellow Rivers of Life participants by submitting this
information in the Introduction Discussion Item in the Conference Center at the start of the
program. That way, we will know who is with us. Please include the following information:
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Identify your class, grade level, school, and community.
Identify your latitude and longitude (you may want to post a world map with pins
marking locations of other Rivers of Life schools).
Identify your school’s watershed, the river that flows through it, and the ocean it
eventually empties into (see following exercise if your students need help answering this
question).
Tell which of the four Rivers of Life projects you’ll be undertaking.
Share any other brief comment or greeting (a couple of paragraphs at most, please),
including any work or study your school has done regarding rivers.
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Send, via e-mail or US mail, a photo of your class or school for posting in the Rivers of
Life Conference Center.
Preparation Activity 2: Mapping Your Watershed
All four projects involve mapping activities that have common elements as well as elements
specific to each project. This introductory mapping activity introduces the concept of a
watershed and basic features of a river system, including river source, tributaries, confluences,
river mouth, and direction of flow.
For this activity, in addition to using a highway map and the topographic maps as described
below, U.S. schools can also consult the watershed maps found at the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Surf Your Watershed web site: http://www.epa.gov/surf/. These maps will help
students recognize the borders of their watershed and its position in relationship to nearby towns.
More detailed larger-format maps of each watershed can be requested from the EPA web site,
though these maps may not be available for all watersheds. The larger-format EPA watershed
maps can be received via the Internet or US mail.
Background
How do rivers change as they flow across the land? How do human activities affect the wellbeing of streams and rivers?
You don’t need gills and fins to appreciate how important rivers are for maintaining and
enhancing life. We draw an estimated ninety percent of our drinking water from the world’s
rivers—yet that only represents ten percent of the water they provide us. Irrigation uses 65
percent and industry another 25. The world’s rivers were original highways and are still
important for commerce, transportation, and recreation. Their banks have become sites for some
of our greatest cities. Since ancient times, rivers’ mysterious ways and ever-shifting personalities
have inspired musicians, poets, artists, and writers.
Materials
 highway map
 USGS or other topographical maps and photocopies of those maps
 colored pens
Procedure
Wherever you stand on planet Earth, you’re always within a watershed—an area of land that
drains into a river or stream. Explore the concept of a watershed by studying the course followed
by a nearby stream.
Step 1. Using a highway map, choose a small nearby stream to explore. Since a large stream
may cover many of the topographic maps used in this activity, choose a stream less than about 16
km. (10 mi.) long.
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Step 2. U.S. schools can order copies of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic “topo”
map (or maps) that show the length your stream. Schools in other countries can check with
government offices to see if similar topographic maps are available. A state index of USGS topo
maps and the maps themselves ($4 each) can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MAPS.
Also, local outdoor stores may have topo maps of streams in your area.
(Note: To introduce the basic features of a watershed, this activity can be completed
using any single topographical map [or contiguous series of maps] that has an entire
watershed within its borders—it doesn’t have to be a map of a nearby stream. To save
time finding and ordering local topo maps, you may find it easier to purchase from a local
outdoor store topo maps of a regional or national wilderness area, which are more likely
to be stocked than local maps of developed areas. )
Step 3. Photocopy the parts of the maps that show your stream and carefully tape the
photocopies together to form one large map.
Step 4. Mark with colored markers the source and mouth of the stream, confluences (meeting
points) with any tributaries, wetlands, connected ponds or lakes, and any dams or rapids.
Step 5. Figure out which way the stream is flowing on the map by studying the elevation
numbers on those contour lines that cross the stream (descending elevation numbers indicates
downstream flow). Draw directional arrows on the stream to show which way the water flows.
Step 6. Trace the watershed boundaries of a small creek that drains into your stream. Follow the
creek to its source, then continue uphill until contour lines indicate the land begins sloping
downward. This ridge is the “height of land” separating the creek’s watershed from neighboring
ones. Trace this meandering ridge line in both directions until you’ve drawn the boundaries of
the creek’s watershed.
Reflection Questions
 How many other small watersheds can you find on your map?
 What do colors and symbols on the topo maps suggest about how land is used in your
stream's watershed?
 Can you estimate the height of any dams by studying the map’s contour lines? Do symbols
and colors suggest what any dams may be used for?
OBJECTIVE 2: MAPPING THE PAST
Activity 1: Mapping the Past
Background
This activity builds on the basic watershed mapping activity described in Preparation Activity 2,
above. The basic mapping in that activity introduces important components of watersheds and
rivers. In Mapping the Past, your students will create map features that express how humans
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have interacted with your watershed’s lands and waters through history. Students can develop
these maps throughout the length of the Rivers of Life program, either in conjunction with or
instead of other activities in Rivers Through Time.
Defining Boundaries. Watersheds can be considered at multiple levels of scale and you
will have to define the boundaries for your school’s watershed for this mapping project.
The size you choose is up to you, but we suggest something between 10 and 100 square
miles (26-260 square kilometers). You can explore the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Surf Your Watershed web site (http://www.epa.gov/surf/),which can generate
local watershed maps throughout North America that you can print (see page 15 for
assistance in printing web pages). To make best use of these maps, you may want to
enlarge them with a photocopier and have your students trace their features on butcher
paper or newsprint to create a baseline map that they can add features to in this activity.
Procedures
Step 1. Discuss with your students the following questions and list responses on the blackboard.
The intent is not to come up with definitive answers, but to have students assess what they know
and don’t know and which questions are interesting. Note and point out which questions are
more readily answered and which would require study and research.
1. What are “your” watershed’s boundaries?
2. What primary rivers and streams occupy your watershed and where are their sources?
3. Where are the predominant natural communities in your watershed, i.e., forests, prairies,
wetlands, lakes, streams?
4. What cultural groups (including different native tribes) have lived within your watershed
since post-glacial times, where have they lived, and what economic activities have
sustained them?
5. In what different ways have the watershed’s rivers and lakes been used by people in the
past compared to today’s uses?
6. What kinds of land use have taken place historically in the watershed and which natural
resources have they relied on?
7. What impacts have historic land uses and uses of waterways had on the watershed’s
natural communities?
8. Which human communities in your watershed have developed along river banks and why
have they developed there?
9. What animal and plant species once native to your watershed have become extinct and
what caused their becoming extinct?
Step 2. After reviewing these questions, organize your students into small groups and discuss
and rank the questions according to levels of interest. For the top five or six questions in each
group’s list have the students brainstorm what additional sources of information would be useful
for answering the question more fully. Then, as an entire class, rank the questions according to
interest and brainstorm and list sources of information useful in answering the questions. You
might want to add suggestions, including: historic site visits; searching for historic post cards at
antique shows and shops; historical society or library visits; field trips to document land use;
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interviewing family and community members; arranging for classroom visitors; using Internet
resources; and conducting newspaper, magazine, and book research.
Step 3. Once the top 4-6 questions have been selected, divide students into small working groups
that will be responsible for research and map development of a chosen question. Work with them
in developing a research plan that coordinates classroom resources—i.e., arrange for classroom
visitors or field trips that can assist most or all groups with their research.
Step 4. When students have assembled enough information to begin adding it to their base maps,
they can develop the following map features:
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a set of symbols to represent data, such as locations of natural communities; historic
tribal boundaries, villages, and burial mounds; habitats of now-extinct species; and
locations of current towns and cities (changes in time may be represented by changing
color or shape of symbols or creating multiple maps)
a legend revealing the meaning of map symbols
a scale
a north arrow to orient the map to the cardinal directions
Activity 2: On-going Artistic & Literary Expressions
Background
The information and experiences uncovered by your class in their explorations of the history and
culture of your watershed can naturally inspire various forms of creative expression. You can
start these at any time during the Rivers of Life program and continue them in conjunction with
or instead of other activities suggested below. Here are some ideas:
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create drawings and paintings of historic sites or events
write a play of past events or lifeways
prepare albums of historic photos with written non-fiction captions, poetry, or fictional
accounts
find and assemble examples of music, artwork, or writing by local groups of different
ethnic traditions that expresses various perspectives toward rivers or nature.
record on audio tape or video tape oral interviews of community members with different
experiences, cultural perspectives, and areas of expertise relating to local rivers.
Transcribe segments of oral history interviews and print them beside accompanying
photographs or drawings that depict the subjects discussed.
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OBJECTIVE 3: TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Activity 3: Stratigraphy and Cross-Dating
(This activity is adapted from Intrigue of the Past, an archaeology curriculum developed by the
US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management)
Background
How can archaeologists tell how old objects are that they dig from the ground? How can they
reconstruct how people lived hundreds or thousands of years ago based on the scattered remains
of their long-ago lives?
One way is through a careful analysis of the objects found in a particular place using
stratigraphy and cross-dating. The following activity introduces these concepts.
Vocabulary
cross-dating: the principle that a diagnostic artifact dated at one archaeological site will
be of the same approximate age when found elsewhere.
diagnostic artifact: an item that is indicative of a particular time and/or cultural group: a
computer would be a diagnostic artifact of the modern age.
spatial: concerned with space
strata: many layers of earth
stratigraphy: the arrangement of layers of earth representing different geologic events.
stratum: one layer of earth.
temporal: concerned with time
Procedure
Step 1 - Setting the Stage. Stack five books on a table. Tell the students that the books were
placed in their positions one at a time. Ask them which book was placed in position first. Which
one was placed last? Have your students imagine that each book represents a layer of sediment
collecting on the earth’s surface for hundreds or thousands of years. Each book can be thought of
as a strata, or a single layer of sediment. The idea that the oldest layers always are found on the
bottom of undisturbed layers of sediment is called the Law of Superposition.
Step 2. Using the “Site Near Richfield” activity sheet as a guide, draw a layer near the bottom of
the backboard. Show how artifacts are deposited as people live on top of the layer. Then a new
layer of sediments is deposited on top of that, by natural processes or by another group of people
leaving different types of artifacts. This happens several times until the stratigraphy is built up to
present-day levels.
Step 3. Distribute the “Site Near Richfield” activity sheets to the students. Have students answer
the questions using the information on the stratigraphy drawing.
Step 4. The artifacts on the activity sheet have been dated based on the age of the stratum in
which they are found. Ask your students if they found similar artifacts elsewhere, whether or not
they would know approximatley how old the artifacts are. (Answer: yes). How would they
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know? This concept is known as cross-dating. It is the process by which an artifact type that has
been dated in one place can be dated when found elsewhere.
Step 5. Give the “Cross-dating” activity sheet to the students. Ask the students to imagine that
Richfield is a town ten miles away from their town. Have them determine the approximate age of
the artifacts based on the information from the “Site Near Richfield” activity sheet.
Step 6. Ask the students if they would be able to study the stratigraphy of a site if the strata had
already been mixed up by illegal digging. If someone took an arrow point, what kind of
information would he or she have removed from the site?
Extension
Undertake a field trip to compare the stratigraphy visible along a road cut with that of a river
valley cliff. Measure and draw the layers on graph paper. How are they different? Describe the
strata by comparing differences in color and texture and other observable characteristics.
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Activity 4: Artifact Classification
(This activity is adapted from on the Intrigue of the Past, an archaeology curriculum developed
by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management)
Materials
 “Ancient Artifacts” and “Classification” activity sheets for each group.
Vocabulary
artifact: any object made or used by humans.
sherd: a broken piece of pottery
Procedure
Step 1. Tell the students to imagine they are a team of archaeologists. The team has completed
excavation on an ancient site in the American Southwest. They are now ready to begin analyzing
the artifacts brought back to the laboratory to find out about the people who lived at the site.
They will use a series of questions to structure their inquiry.
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What was the diet of the site’s residents?
What did they use for personal adornment?
How many different ways did they decorate their pottery?
How many different kinds of raw materials did they use to make their tools?
Step 2. Distribute the “Ancient Artifacts” and “Classification” activity sheets. Working
individually or in small groups, have the students cut out the artifacts on the “Ancient Artifacts”
activity sheet. They should group the artifacts so they can answer the questions on the
“Classification” activity sheet. Have the students answer the research questions and tell how they
classified the artifacts to do that.
As the students work they will find that objects move from one category to another depending on
the question asked. For example, the two pieces of shell could be used to answer questions
concerning diet and adornment. Thus, they could be classified as food remains and as jewelry.
Step 3. Have students create one or more questions of their own. How might they classify their
objects to answer these questions?
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Classification Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________
1. What was the diet of the site’s residents?
2. What did they use for personal adornment?
3. Describe the different ways they decorated their pottery.
4. Name the different kinds of raw materials they used to make their tools.
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OBJECTIVE 4: INTRODUCING GARBAGE ARCHAEOLOGY
Activity 5: It’s in the Garbage
(This activity is from on the Intrigue of the Past, an archaeology curriculum developed by the
US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.)
Background
Garbage doesn’t lie. By studying what people have thrown away, archaeologists can learn a great
deal of information about a culture that is hard to uncover by talking with people about what they
do. The unstable or unwanted remnants of everyday life end up in the garbage. This is as much
true of people today as it is of prehistoric peoples who left no written record about their lives.
Bill Rathje, an archaeologist, is a pioneer in the study of contemporary American garbage. He
has learned many things about the relationships of human behavior and trash disposal—
information that is useful in studying people of the past and the present. He has found that people
will often tell an interviewer what they believe is appropriate behavior, but their garbage tells
another story. People frequently say they eat lots of fruit and vegetables, yet their garbage shows
they do not. Another example is that people say that they recycle more than they actually do.
Just as we do not throw our trash any old place, neither did prehistoric people. Their garbage
heaps are called middens, and are a rich source of archaeological information about their
lifeways. Layers of trash also tell a story over time. Archaeologists excavate middens slowly and
carefully, recording the location of the artifacts and samples recovered from the midden. They
analyze the tiny fragments of prehistoric meals (bone slivers, seed hulls, plant parts) and charcoal
from cooking fires. The animals and plants these remains came from can be identified and
archaeologists can learn very precise information about the economies of past people.
If a midden is disturbed and layers mix, it becomes impossible to interpret the lifeways of past
people. Vandals looking for artifacts dig in middens and they destroy irreplaceable information
about the past, tearing pages from the history book of time. Everyone can help by not digging at
sites or collecting artifacts.
Vocabulary
artifact: any object made or used by humans
classification: systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to established
criteria
chronology: an arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred.
context: the relationship artifacts have to each other and the situation in which they are
found
culture: the set of learned beliefs, values, and behaviors generally shared by members of a
society.
evidence: data which are used to prove a point, or which clearly indicate a situation
hypothesis: a proposed explanation accounting for a set of facts that can be tested by
further investigation.
inference: a conclusion derived from observations.
midden: an area used for trash disposal
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observation: recognizing or noting a fact or occurrence.
Procedure
Step 1 - Setting the Stage. Read to your students the following quote attributed to a famous
anthropologist, Franz Boaz: “...man never lies to his garbage heap.” Have your students
brainstorm what they think their family’s garbage could tell about them. (You can suggest these
ideas: family size, income, and preferred foods and activities).
Step 2. Explain to your students that they are going to be archaeologists, analyzing garbage
(middens) to learn about the people who threw the garbage away. Demonstrate some of the
information that can be learned from garbage by examining the trash from your classroom waste
basket.
A. Before emptying the waste basket, ask your students where they would expect to find
the oldest garbage in the waste basket and what their reasons are for thinking so. (On the
bottom is the oldest trash, on the top is the most recent garbage.) Have them test their
hypotheses by examining the garbage and arranging the trash in chronological order. Ask
them to look for any dated items in the trash, such as newspapers or post-marked
envelopes or product dates with which they can establish a precise date for strata within
the trash.
B. Ask what culture is this garbage from? Could the garbage be mistaken for that of
another culture? Would the garbage in your classroom waste basket be the same or
different from classroom garbage in another country? Your town 100 years ago? Are
basic human needs represented in the trash?
C. Based on their observations, what can your students infer about the behavior of the
people who threw away the garbage in your room and about the origin of the garbage?
Would the cafeteria trash be the same as that from the wood shop? The library? How
might a single person’s garbage different from that of a family with many children?
Might a vegetarian’s trash be different from a meat eater’s?
D. Sort the trash into piles based upon some type of similarity. This is a classification,
perhaps including categories like paper, food containers, other office supplies.
E. Point out that the trash is obviously from a classroom because you have presented its
context—that is, the relationship artifacts have to each other and the situation in which
they occur. Ask how the context would be different if the same trash that is in your waste
basket were mixed with other garbage in your town’s landfill. Would inferences that your
students could draw about these same artifacts be different because of the different
context?
F. Have your students construct a scientific inquiry by developing a hypothesis as to how
the waste basket from another grade level or part of the school might be different from
the one in your room. For example, they might hypothesize that trash from a class of
young children might have few papers with cursive writing. Have them test their
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hypotheses by studying a waste basket from the room in question. Classify the trash into
two categories: papers with and papers without cursive writing. Ask them to evaluate
and accept or reject their hypothesis.
Step 3. Divide the class into groups of 4 to 6 students and give each group a bag of trash from a
different room in the school. Have each group analyze their trash using activity sheet “It’s in the
Garbage.”
Step 4. Ask the students to visit each other’s “middens” and have a spokesperson from each
group present a summery of their findings.
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It’s in the Garbage
Activity Sheet
Name:_______________________
Directions: Use this activity sheet to take notes during your “excavation.” When you have
completed your excavation, use the information to write a report about the garbage that addresses
the items below. You must give reasons for your answers based on the “evidence”: the artifacts
that support your answer.
1. Could you tell when your garbage was thrown away? If yes, how? If no, why not?
2. List two or more inferences you can make about the person(s) who threw the trash away.
3. Where did your garbage come from? How do you know?
4. Which basic human needs does your garbage show are being met?
5. Name two or more of the categories that you used to classify your trash.
6. How do you know this garbage is from your own culture?
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OBJECTIVE 5: PAPER TIME MACHINES—POST CARDS
Activity 6: Post Cards from the Past
Background
Post cards reveal fascinating insights about places and people, and how each influences the other.
The Rivers Through Time area of the Rivers of Life web site will feature a number of historic
post cards taken along the Mississippi River since the late 1800s. Visit the web site with your
students to examine these images. In addition to the following activities, you’ll also find
activities associated with these post card postings on the web site.
1. Prominent landmarks and vistas featured in historic post cards can be visited today and
photographed as they appear now.
2. Your students can call antique dealers to see if local historic post cards are available.
They can also visit local historical societies and use historic photos instead of postcards.
Even if a particular dealer doesn’t carry any, he or she may be able to suggest other stores
or individuals who do. Your students can take pictures of the same places captured in
these historic cards and send both (contemporary pictures and historic post cards) on to the
Rivers of Life for posting on the web. (Note: include a self-addressed, stamped envelope
and we will return photos and post cards to you.)
3. Look for pictures that document how land use and river developments have occurred
over time. Your students can bring the pictures up to date by taking pictures of the same
places. They can study the post cards and write how land and river uses have changed as
revealed in the series of post cards. You can submit these collections for publication on
the Rivers of Life web site too.
OBJECTIVE 6: A STREAM WALK
(These activities are adapted from The Stream Team On Patrol, by John G. Shepard, Abdo and
Daughters, Minneapolis, 1993.)
Activity 7: Stream Reconnaissance
Background
You can think of this activity as a kind of field reconnaissance mission that will accomplish two
goals. It will give your class a face-to-face introduction to a local stream and some of its features
and will let your students see what work needs to be done to clean it up. It will also allow you to
plan your river cleanup so that you make the best use of the time you have available. If you’re
planning to conduct a ravine, lot, or street clean up, you should still visit the site by yourself
ahead of time and with your class and involve them in planning your clean up.
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Procedure
Step 1. To compliment the information that you have gathered about your stream and its
watershed, your students should consult local or state river management agencies, river
stewardship organizations, and/or city parks departments to see if staff can recommend areas that
are in more desperate need of being cleaned up—maps and other supplies may be available as
well.
Step 2. Based on the research you have conducted, you should personally inspect a couple of
possible stream sections that are no more than a half mile long. The stream sections you choose
should include cleaning up sites appropriate for your group—sites with litter may be best for
younger children while high school students may be able to deal with sites containing large
objects. Also consider nearby stream and land-use features such as tributaries; storm sewer
discharge pipes; eroding stream banks; and examples of stream-bank housing, commercial, or
agricultural development.
Note: Make sure that the site you choose to clean up with your class has none of the
following hazards:
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Possible chemical hazards, such as sealed barrels and chemical containers. If you find
sealed or rusted barrels containing any kind of chemical, contact your area’s pollution
control authority.
Biological hazards, such as syringes or animal carcasses.
Steep banks or unstable areas.
Step 3. Make plans for where you will work with your collected junk after completing your
cleanup. An area outside your school with space to store and spread out your garbage may be
best. Consult your school administrator and/or janitorial staff for ideas. Also let them know
you’ll need a place to dispose of the garbage you collect when you are through with the project.
Step 4. Before you leave for your outing you will need to contact land owners for permission if
your stream section passes through private property. You may want to ask a naturalist from a
nearby nature center to join you to help interpret natural phenomena you’ll encounter on your
walk.
Activity 8: A Walk on the Wild Side
Materials Needed:
 A notebook and pencil for everyone,
 camera and film,
 first aid kit,
 a magnifying glass,
 topographic and stream maps,
 compass,
 water for drinking,
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NOTE: Identify bathroom facilities near your site!!
Procedure
Step 1. Before leaving for your stream walk, read an explorer’s journal segment or passage from
an account by an early traveler or settler that describes your stream. This can do wonders to set
the mood, instill a sense of expectation, and provide a point of contrast to the conditions you may
discover on your stream walk.
Step 2. When all is ready, set out on your expedition, keeping the following safety tips in mind:
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Volunteer adult or older student leaders may be needed to help keep watch of your
students.
For younger students, assign pairs of “buddies” and make it clear that buddies are to stay
together and watch out for each other. Older students can be assigned to small groups
instead of pairs.
Make the rules crystal clear: stay on shore, no wading and no rock hopping out into the
stream.
Beware of sharp objects and any broken glass and be careful walking over and around
boulders and fallen trees.
Step 3. Note on your map the locations of creeks entering the stream; road crossings; farms,
homes, factories, and other development; dams and structural changes; stream banks without
vegetation where soil is washing into the stream; and storm sewer discharge pipes and pipes that
drain rain water from farm fields. Also note any changes in the color or smell of the water and
record where these occur.
Step 4. Also note where garbage has been dumped or washed downstream and, in general, how
much litter is found in each part of your stream. Note what kinds of development surround any
areas with heavy litter.
Step 5. Look for, list, and note the location of wildlife in and around the stream, including fish,
birds, and land animals. Note surroundings of any wildlife sightings.
OBJECTIVE 7: IT’S CLEAN UP TIME!
Activity 9: Conducting your Clean Up
Background
This activity involves taking your students to the banks of your selected stream and collecting
garbage found there. The same safety precautions should be applied here as were undertaken in
the Stream Walk activity above, including having sufficient supervision by adults or older
students, grouping students in pairs or groups, staying out of the water, being wary of hazards
(see section on stream walk above for details).
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Materials Needed:
 work gloves for everyone
 garbage bags
 first-aid kit
 sun screen
 drinking water
 site map forms (see below)
 pencils and paper for each group of 5-6 students
 one River Cleanup Activity Sheet (below) for each student
 20-foot length of string
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Rivers of Life
Garbage Archaeology Site Exploration
Instructions
1. Select a circular study site 40-feet in diameter (site size can be adjusted to mark an area with
sufficient amount of garbage to study) for each group of 5-6 students.
2. Drive wooden stakes in the ground to mark the center of each site, then have the students
mark the boundaries of a circle with a 20-foot string anchored at the stake.
3. Have students number and list each item found within their site on a separate sheet of paper
and mark the locations of all objects by number on the site map.
4. After mapping is complete, collect the debris, recycle all recycables and dispose of other
garbage appropriately.
5.
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Rivers of Life
Activity 10: The Junk Detectives
Background
Now that you are through sorting and indexing your garbage, the question is: what does it all
mean? This activity uses some of the same questions you used in the “It’s in the Garbage”
activity to see what your pile of river junk reveals about our culture, its values, and attitudes
towards rivers. Have your students complete the questions on the following activity sheet and
then discuss the questions as a class.
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Rivers of Life
River Cleanup Activity Sheet
Name:_______________________
Directions: Use this activity sheet to take notes during your “excavation.” When you have
completed your excavation, use the information to write a report about the garbage that addresses
the items below. You must give reasons for your answers based on the “evidence”: the artifacts
that support you answer.
1. Could you tell when your garbage was thrown away? If yes, how? If no, why not?
2. List two or more inferences you can make about the person(s) who threw the trash away.
3. Where did your garbage come from? How do you know?
4. Which basic human needs does your garbage show are being met?
5. Name two or more of the categories that you used to classify your trash.
6. What does this garbage suggest about your community’s attitudes toward rivers?
7. How is the garbage from the river different from the garbage you studied from waste baskets
around your school? What conclusions can you draw from these differences?
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Rivers of Life
OBJECTIVE 8: RIVER JUNK AS ARTIFACTS AND AS ART
Activity 11: Junk that Imitates Art
Background
By this time your students will have discovered how rich with meaning the stuff we call junk can
be. A discarded tennis shoe that was put together in Mexico from New Jersey plastic and cotton
grown in Asia says a great deal about how small the world has become and how interdependent
nations are. Creating an art sculpture out of your junk can give expression to what your students
have learned—it also can be just plain fun. Here are some ideas:
Procedure
Step 1. Discuss the impressions made on your students of finding and collecting garbage on the
banks of the stream. Discuss their ideas of how people’s behavior should change so that rivers
are less polluted. Explore what kind of message they might be able to communicate through
creating a sculpture of junk from the river that would motivate people to take greater care of our
waterways.
Step 2. Divide your class into small groups and review your collection of river junk. Brainstorm
free-associations of what the various objects in different combinations remind them of. Wild
ideas are welcome here, so encourage students to be open to each other’s suggestions, even if
they’re silly or bizarre. Have one student write down these ideas. Have each group select their
favorite three ideas and explore which of these might work well to address the goals identified in
the first step of the activity.
Step 3. Review any relevant cultural myths and legends you have studied related to rivers.
Step 4. Using the ideas your students have identified, create one large sculpture as an entire class
or return to small groups and make a series of smaller sculptures.
Step 5. When your sculpture(s) are completed, be sure to take close-up photos of them and send
them to the Rivers of Life so we can post your photos on the web.
OBJECTIVE 9: FINISHING UP
The final objective for Rivers Through Time is set aside to complete any mapping, art, writing,
and post card projects undertaken earlier in the program. Please mail any copies of your students’
finished work to Rivers of Life web gallery and we will post them for exhibition.
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