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Listed under:  Science  >  Earth and space  >  Landforms  >  Rivers
Video

Show me the water!

Where does the water in your tap come from? Fresh water accounts for only 3% of the earth's water supply and only 1% of that is available to us in lakes and rivers or in the atmosphere. But how much do we use for drinking water and what else do we use fresh water for? Watch this video to find out how NASA's Global Precipitation ...

Video

Engineering clean rivers

Figuring out how to clean up contaminated rivers is a big challenge. It's also tricky to work out where the most contaminated parts of a river system are and whether its fish are safe to eat. Watch this video and learn how engineering has helped to solve these problems. Why do you think engineers looked to the bottom of ...

Interactive

Save our catchment – virtual excursion

This virtual excursion offers twelve video lessons that form a sample investigation of pest species invading Australian riparian zones. Filmed on Bundjalung Country, the excursion traverses mid north coast NSW Upper Clarence River Catchment, connecting each video to companion classroom and field learning tasks. The invasive, ...

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Channel country

This ABC In Depth feature article is a case study provides a useful contrast to the irrigation developed in the Ord River. Over ten years ago Cooper Creek escaped large-scale irrigation when scientists and graziers banded together to protest the plan. But has time and more research borne out that decision? This resource ...

Image

Sketch of Moreton Bay penal settlement, 1835 - item 2

This detailed pencil sketch, attributed to Henry Boucher Bowerman, depicts Moreton Bay (Brisbane) penal settlement from present-day South Brisbane. The panoramic landscape view takes in the river in the foreground and existing government buildings necessary to a convict settlement, spread across the land behind. The buildings, ...

Image

Indigenous Australians fishing by torchlight, c1817

This is a watercolour, measuring 17.7 cm x 27.9 cm, created by Joseph Lycett in about 1817. It depicts Indigenous Australians spear fishing from three bark canoes at night. In each canoe are a man with a spear and a person holding a firebrand. On the river bank, 15 adults and a child are gathered around two fires, roasting ...

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Flooding in Brisbane, 1893 - asset 2

This black-and-white photograph of disastrous floods in 1893 shows an inundated section of the Brisbane central business district. The photograph provides a view from Adelaide Street towards the Brisbane River - past a group of men, women and children and a saddled horse at the water's edge, and down Creek Street with its ...

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Indigenous Australians at the Hunter River, c1817

This is a 17.7 cm x 27.8 cm watercolour of 12 people from the Awabakal language group with their dogs beside the Hunter River in New South Wales. It is a cloudy night but the moon has broken through and is reflected on the water. The people are gathered around campfires, possibly in two separate family groups, each with ...

Downloadable

Construct a catchment - teacher resource kit

This activity kit encourages students to investigate dams and reservoirs in their local areas, and create their own model. Activities are guided by the design thinking process, and scaffold students to work in teams to investigate their local catchment, the habitats, landforms and people that would be impacted by damming ...

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Catchment management: where the river meets the sea

Eighty-five percent of Australians live within 50km of the coast. This activity looks at the waste that washes downstream in our catchments, the impacts it has on our estuaries, wetlands and coastal areas where the rivers meets the sea. Students will: understand the different journey water takes through a catchment; learn ...

Downloadable

Story of a river

In this activity, students use a story of a fictional river to explore the impacts of various land uses on the ecological health of a river. This demonstration can be used to introduce science or geography concepts related to your local catchment e.g. land uses, water cycle, human impacts and contaminants or waste in river ...

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Catchment management: water sustainability

Water is an important resource, and is required by all living species to survive. Water is also important for many industries and businesses. This activity investigates the different land uses over time across your local catchment. OUTCOMES are for children to: understand the natural and urban water cycle; learn about the ...

Downloadable

Explaining our catchment

In this lesson sequence students use conceptual diagrams to identify features and relationships between features in the local waterway. Students create a conceptual diagram, using a hypothetical waterway from 'The story of a river'. They then create a digital conceptual diagram online using data collected from their local ...