OLD MAN RIVER
Janice Smart
Burlington Elementary School
Burlington, Kansas
 
 
Overview:
Where does all the water come from, why is it stored in various northeastern Kansas reservoirs, and where does it end up? With these activities, students will be able to answer these questions and understand the importance of these reservoirs.
 
Grade Level: Third to Fifth
 
Outcome:
The students will understand the water sources of the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin and know why they are necessary for this area.
 
Geographic Themes:
Place, Location, Human/Environment Interaction
 
Kansas Social Studies Standards For Benchmarks:
The student will understand the connections among people, places, and environments in the classroom, local school, community, Kansas, the U.S., and different regions in the world.
 
National Geography Standards:
 #1 How to use maps and other geographci representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.  
 #4 The physical and human characteristics of places.  
 #8 The characteristic and spatial distribution of ecosystems on earth’s surface.  
 #14 How human actions modify the physical environment.  
 #15 How physical systems affect human systems. 
 
Performance Objectives:
  1. The students will be able to locate on a map the four reservoirs of the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin, then draw and label them on the blank puzzle map.
  2. The students will be able to locate on a map the major creeks and rivers flowing into the four reservoirs, then draw and label them on the blank puzzle map.
  3. The students will trace the water’s route after leaving the reservoirs through Kansas.
  4. The students will research and list the uses and importance of the stored water for the people of Kansas.
 
Vocabulary:
reservoir  basin 
 
Materials Needed:
Procedures:
 1. Assign students to cooperative learning groups of 4-5 members. 
 2. Play the song “Old Man River” while the groups are putting puzzles together. 
 3. State the overall objective of the lesson. 
 4. State performance objectives 1 and 2. The groups will, using various materials, locate and then draw and label the creeks, rivers, and reservoirs of the basin on the puzzle map. 
 5. State objective 3 and the students will trace the water to the Kansas River. 
 6.
State performance objective 4 and allow the students time to read the material provided to find the uses and importance of the stored water.
 
Assessment:
Cooperative maps of the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin with correct placement of the four reservoirs and major creeks and rivers flowing into them and the correct placement of the water route through Kansas. A list of at least four of the five uses for the reservoirs and why they are important to the people of Kansas.
 
Extension:
  1. Give the students a blank U.S. map and have the groups trace the water path from the Kansas border to the Gulf of Mexico, labeling the states and major rivers it flows through.
  2. Field trip to a nearby reservoir.
  3. Students make a model of a reservoir.
  4. Locate and list other reservoirs in Kansas.
  5. Locate information on the inter net about Kansas reservoirs.
 
Resources:

“Clinton Lake”, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District

  • 5.
  • Geographic Insights, KSU, Vol. VII, #1, Feb., 1997, p. 35-37.
  • “Lakes in the Kansas City District”, U. S. Army of Corps of Engineer, Kansas City District 5.
  • “Manhattan Visitors Guide”, Convention and Visitors Bureau, May, 1996, p. 18-20.
  • Martin, Charles, “History”, Kansas Geographic Alliance 1997 Summer Institute Information Guide, Kansas State Geography Dept., Summer, 1997.
  • Martin, Charles, 1997 Kansas Geographic Alliance Summer Institute Kansas River Valley Field Trip, Kansas Kansas State Geography Dept., Summer, 1997.
  • “Milford Lake”, U. S. Army Corps of Engineer, Kansas City District 5.
  • “Perry Lake”, U. S. Army Corps of Engineer, Kansas City District 5.
  • The State of Kansas Appendix to the Kansas Water Plan Summary, Kansas Water Office, Jan., 1997, p. 27
  • The State of Kansas Summary Kansas Water Plan, Kansas Water Office, Jan, 1997, p. 31.
  • “Tuttle Creek Lake”, U.S. Corp of Engineer, Kansas City District 5.
  • Weidhaas, Paul, “Tuttle Creek Project History”, Kansas Geographic Alliance 1997 Summer Institute Information Guide, Kansas State Geography Dept., Summer, 1997.

       

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