Upstream, Downstream: Exploring Watershed Connections

by Rowena Rae

Overview

Do you know your watershed address?

We all have one, whether we live high up in a mountain, on an inland prairie or near the coast. A watershed is an area of land that channels rain and snowmelt into streams, rivers and oceans. Our lives are deeply intertwined with land and water and all the connections between them. Day-to-day activities—like brushing our teeth, eating a meal, getting a ride in a car or even using an electronic device—have consequences for our own or someone else's watershed.

Over the centuries we've changed the land by farming it, cutting down the trees on it, digging into it and building on it. We've also learned how to control water—where it goes and how much flows. Upstream, Downstream explores the consequences of the pressures people place on watersheds and highlights some of the heroes making a difference for watersheds around world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459823945
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	09/14/2021
Series:	Orca Footprints Series , #21
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
Lexile:	1050L (what's this?)
File size:	37 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Rowena Rae worked as a biologist in Canada and New Zealand before becoming a freelance writer and editor and a children’s author. She is the author of Chemical World: Science in Our Daily Lives, which is part of the Orca Footprints series. She writes both fiction and nonfiction from her home in Victoria, British Columbia, which she shares with her two book-loving children.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Chapter 1 A Watery World

Beginning with Basics 8

Nomads by Nature 9

Farming Frenzy 10

Putting Down Roots 11

Stomping on the Earth 16

Chapter 2 The Nuts and Bolts of Watersheds

Where the River Runs 18

Where the Lake Stands 19

Wondrous Wetlands 20

Deep Down 20

On the Land 21

Round and Round 22

The Only Constant Is Change 22

Chapter 3 Watersheds in Trouble

Build It Big 24

Rivers Under Siege 26

Demolishing Dams 27

Water for Rivers 28

Water for White Gold 29

Forests for the Future? 30

Going, Going…Not Quite Gone 33

Paving Over Paradise 34

Straight as a Ruler 35

Lost Streams 37

Go, Watersheds, Go! 37

Chapter 4 Watershed Warriors!

The Water Walker 38

Where Elephants Roam 39

The Water Man of India 39

The Chocolate Connection 40

Sprouting Roofs 41

Connections that Count 42

Resources 43

Glossary 44

Index 46

Acknowledgments 48

Editorial Reviews

The combination of Rae’s interests and expertise has produced a book that will inform and engage young readers and encourage them to make a difference by getting involved. Highly Recommended.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Rae organizes her material well and presents it in a readable way, providing enough detail to make each section interesting, but always returning to the broader picture…An informative addition to the reliable Orca Footprints series.

Booklist

12/01/2021

Gr 3–7—Rae explains what watersheds are, going beyond the typical explanation of the water cycle or the differences in bodies of water. She presents the importance of watersheds in everyone's lives, how everything in the environment affects it, and how people can protect and even improve its health. The narrative style is engaging; the layout makes it easy to read and includes well-chosen stock images. This book might resonate more with American readers if large expanses of land or water were compared to the size of a football field in addition to a hockey rink. A cursory fact check reveals that Mount St. Helens experienced pyroclastic flows in 1980, not lava as the author states. At the end, Rae also includes profiles of people who have championed for and changed the health of their local watersheds. Back matter includes a list of resources, glossary, and index. VERDICT Overall, engaging and informative. Recommended as an additional purchase.—Julie Overpeck, Gardner Park Elem. Sch., Gastonia, NC

School Library Journal