Name: Keaton, Donna
E-mail: kneebaby75@hotmail.com
Topic: Arkansas Water Resources
Grade: Third
Time: 30 to 45 minutes
Ark. Hist. Framework: 1.1.3, 1.1.5, 3.1.2, 3.1.4
Objective: *Students will locate major Arkansas water resources.
*Students will determine the difference between natural water resources and
man-made water resources.
*Students will understand the purpose and uses of Arkansas water
resources.
Set: “Who can explain the difference between natural and man-made?”
Discuss with the class what the two terms mean and determine examples of
each.
Materials: maps of Arkansas rivers only, maps of Arkansas lakes only, maps of
Arkansas rivers and lakes, color pencils or crayons, map transparency, Venn Diagram
(enough for each student to have one)
Key Terms: lake, river, river basin, oxbow lake, tributary, streams,
man-made, natural
Key Facts: *Arkansas’ five major rivers are as follows:
Arkansas River, White River, Red River, Quachita River, and St. Francis
River
*The Arkansas River is the largest and the White River is the second
largest.
*All five major rivers empty into the Mississippi River
(tributaries).
*Arkansas has more than 30 major lakes.
*Water resources are used for electricity, fishing, boating, and
swimming.
*Man-made water resources were built to provide electricity.
Activities: Students will locate and trace each major river in Arkansas in
blue on the river map, as well as color in the lakes of Arkansas with blue
on the lake map. The students will then look at the map with the rivers
and lakes combined. As each are located, the class will talk about which
ones were natural and which ones were man-made. Discuss uses of the lakes
and places or areas in which they flow. The location of these water
resources will also be discussed with the class. As a group, the class
will read through the overhead “Rivers and Lakes of Arkansas” and orally answer
the questions about Arkansas rivers and lakes.
Closure: Ask the students to tell the difference between man-made and
natural. Allow them to share examples in Arkansas.
Assessment: Students will choose two lakes (man-made) or two rivers (natural)
in Arkansas. Each student will compare and contrast the 2 bodies of water
using a Venn Diagram. The students will then take that information gathered
and write two paragraphs about their characteristics of the two bodies of water.
In this writing assessment, they can include characteristics such as location
of the water resource and how it was created. As a follow up to this lesson,
the class will visit a state park with one of Arkansas’ water resources.
The US Army Corp of Engineers in Arkansas will talk about natural and man-made
water resources in Arkansas.
Resources: US Army Corp of Engineers (Arkansas)
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Arkansas: The World Around Us, MacMilliam/McGraw Hill; pgs 13, 131,
& 232
-----------------