Your Paper should be three to four text-written pages, plus one page of endnotes and one page that shows a map of the river basin

Physical Geography 100 -- River Basin Essay – Fall 2019

(3-4 page paper worth 50 Points)

Submit your essay through our class page on Canvas. The deadline is Friday, December 13th, at 11:59

p.m.; however, you may submit your Paper on River Basins any time between Sunday, December 8 th

through Friday, December 13th at ll:59 p.m. Absolutely no submissions will be accepted after

Friday, December 13 th

. Email submissions will not be accepted.

I would encourage you to not wait until 11:50 p.m. on December 13 to submit your River Basin Essay in

case you have questions or issues. I will not be checking my email after Friday, December 13 th after 10:00

p.m., and I will not be able to address any problems after that time. It is your responsibility to submit

your essay in a timely manner. Again, I strongly suggest that you do not wait until the last minute.

Style and Format of Your Paper:

 Your Paper should be three to four text-written pages, plus one page of endnotes and one page

that shows a map of the river basin. You may have only a few endnotes, two or three. Your paper

should be typed and double-spaced (1.5).

 The final page (not counted as part of the four pages) should have “endnotes”. The citations of

sources used in your paper. The one source you must use is your textbook. See the required

reading below.

You must read the following pages of Christopherson textbook as background information: Pages 409-

415, pages 433-435. You may also use the USGS (United Stated Geologic Survey) for more information:

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/rivers-streams-and-creeks?qt-

science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects. You may refer to an additional source of your choice, but

this is not required. This is not a major research paper. The purpose is to reflect on the issues surrounding

a major River Basin, one that is important to you. You may choose any major global river.

In a comprehensive discussion of your selected River Basin, address the following issues Your answers

should be in your own words, paragraph format with complete sentences, not a listing or bullet format.

Address and expand on these issues in your paper.

1.) Introduction:

a. Explain why you selected this river and what it means to you. Have you been “on” the river,

rafted in the river, fished in the river, swam in the river . . . ?

b. Description of the River Basin (including area impacted by its drainage). What is its source

and its mouth (delta)? Provide characteristics of length and volume.

2.) What affects the supply of water in the River? Discuss natural disasters such as flooding, but also

the impact of human activities. Discuss both positive and negative human impacts.

3.) How is the river used and by whom?

4.) What political and economic forces do you think are at play in planning for the river and its

dependent region? Who are the stakeholders (interested parties) and why are they stakeholders?

Stakeholders may be numerous - - residents, indigenous populations, politicians, urban officials.

5.) What are the particular hazards the human population will face with this river system in the 21 st

century? Provide details and describe.

6.) Discuss any cultural, religious, spiritual, sacred and mystical aspects to the river you have chosen.

PLAGIARISM

Do not plagiarize. If you use exact words of someone, you must use quotation marks. Cite your source directly after a

direct quote, an idea, or statistics. Place the author and year of publication in parenthesis.

ENDNOTES:

An example of the format of an endnote is below. You must read the selections in your Christopherson text. Place the

endnotes in alphabetical order. You should have no more than four or five endnotes.

Christopherson, R.W., and Birkeland, G.H., 2018, Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, tenth edition,

Hoboken, NJ: Pearson.

Email me if you have questions about this assignment. Again, do not wait until the last minute. If you have difficulty,

finding sources let me know. Always feel free to contact me.