Go Wild on the River: An Adventure Handbook – preview
First published 2018 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place Crosby Row, London, SE1 1YW www.nosycrow.com
ISBN 978 1 78800 070 3
The words ‘The National Trust’ and the oak leaf logo are registered trademarks of the National Trust for England, Wales and Northern Ireland used under licence from National Trust (Enterprises) Limited (Registered Company Number 01083105).
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd.
The right of Goldie Hawk to be identified as the author and Rachael Saunders to be identified as the illustrator of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed in China by Imago Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests.
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Goldie Hawk & Rachael Saunders
Note to grown-ups
Grown-ups, be warned: this book contains sharp sticks, wild animals and waterfalls!
‘What?!’ we hear you say . . .
But we believe it’s important to teach children how to do these things correctly and with due care. Along with our instructions, we’ve included plenty of reminders about safety. We know that you will supervise your children properly when engaging in these potentially dangerous activities, but we also hope that this book will encourage you to join in and rediscover the fun and magic of going
WILD ON THE RIVER!
Rivers are magical places and there’s plenty of fun to be had – whether you discover the neon blue flash of a kingfisher or the spectacle of mayflies emerging on a May morning.
Using this book, you can create amazing memories playing pooh sticks, crossing stepping stones or river-dipping for all kinds of weird and wonderful water creatures. It will help you find your first grey heron standing still as a statue, a floating, jewelled dragonfly or bright yellow marsh marigolds.
So go on – it’s time to get out into nature and enjoy the remarkable river!
Gwen Potter – National Trust Countryside Manager
ARE YOU READY TO GO WILD ON THE RIVER?
IS A RIVER?
WHAT YOU WILL NEED ON THE
RIVER
FINDING OUT ABOUT RIVERS
Finding the depth of a river
How to measure how fast a river is flowing
Riveting river facts
How to map a river corridor
Waterfalls
How to measure the quality of the water
The water cycle
WHAT TO DO ON THE RIVER
How to sift a stream
How to play pooh sticks
How to skim stones
How to build a mini raft
How to build a log raft
How to build a barrel raft
How to tie a clove hitch knot
How to make stepping stones
How to make a paper boat
How to go kayaking
Boats
Learn some nautical lingo
to make a fishing rod
go fishing
How to build a dam
How to make a tyre swing
WHAT TO SEE ON THE RIVER
Wild animals to spot – Fish
Amphibians
Water birds
Mammals
Water snails
Insects
Trees and flowers to spot
WILD WEATHER
Flooding
Freezing
WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET INto TROUBLE ON THE RIVER
If someone falls in (life-saving skills)
Currents
Eddies
How to wade through a river
How
River
remove leeches
Are you ready to go wild on the river?
Do you love adventure, getting outdoors and making a splash? Then this is the book for you!
In this ultimate guide, you will find lots of fun activities to do on or around rivers, from finding animals and wildlife to sifting streams and building your own raft. You will also learn exactly what not to do, from standing on frozen water to slipping down a waterfall.
This book is about being safe and having fun. But it’s also about having adventures. You should be willing to get a bit muddy and smelly and you absolutely must be good at working in a team.
There are three important rules for going wild on the river:
1. When in doubt, DON’T!
2. Always ask your grown-up.
3. Have fun!
LET'S GO WILD!
Always be careful, stick with an adult and don’t push anyone in!
Rivers can be very dangerous. Riverbanks (the sides of rivers, not where fish keep their money!) are slippery and even if the water isn’t deep, you don’t want to end up soggy and cold.
WHAT IS A RIVER?
Rivers are pathways of fresh water (in other words, water that’s not salty like the sea). Rivers can be big or small, wide or narrow, and sometimes two or more of them join together to create a really big river. They begin at a ‘source’, at the top of mountains or hills, and flow down to the ‘mouth’, which feeds into a sea or lake.
If a river is flowing very fast, this means it is close to the river source. If it is very slow and winding, this means it is close to the river mouth.
You often find big cities near the mouths of rivers. This is because people need water to drink and land full of nutrients from the river’s flooding cycle for farming.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED ON THE RIVER
What to take:
• A notebook and pencil
• A fishing net
• A bucket, plastic tray or jar
• A clear plastic cup (see page 17)
• Binoculars
• A magnifying glass
• A mobile phone (for emergencies)
• A map
• Duct tape
water-sifter (see pages 20-21)
• Snacks
• A towel
What not to take:
A tambourine, a hockey stick, your pet cat, knitting needles, a laptop.
• First aid kit: scissors, bandages, antiseptic wipes, gauze, tape, blister plasters, safety pins, medical tape, hydrocortisone cream
What to wear:
• A T-shirt or long-sleeved top
• Comfortable trousers
• A jumper
• A warm coat
• A waterproof coat in case it rains
• Comfortable boots or wellies /sandals in the summer
• Warm socks (and some extra pairs!)
• A swimming costume or trunks
• A life jacket (if you’re going on the water)
What not to wear:
A fish costume, a swanky suit, flippers, some jazzy jewellery.
FINDING OUT ABOUT RIVERS
Finding the depth of a river
It’s good to know how deep a river is in case you need to cross it or want to find out what kinds of creatures might be lurking beneath. To do so, you can create a special measuring tool:
1) Find a long, thin stick, around one metre long.
3) Tie a small stone to the string.
2) Tie a piece of string to the stick.
4) Let the stone fall into the water until it touches the bottom.
5) When you feel it touch the bottom, pull it back out.
6) The wet part of your string will show you how deep the river is.
7) If your stone doesn’t hit the bottom, this means your river is very deep and you’ll need a longer piece of string.
How not to measure the depth of a river: By jumping in, by pushing your little brother in, by pushing anyone in.
How to measure how fast a river is flowing
To measure the average flow of water, you will need someone to stand at a ‘start’ point with a float (e.g. a stick). Another member of your group should stand five metres along the riverbank, carrying a stopwatch. Try to find a section of river that is relatively straight so that you can measure with a tape measure in a straight line.
Good floats to use:
A stick, a piece of driftwood.
1) On the count of three, the person at the start should drop their float into the river from a bridge or a riverbank.
2) The stopwatch-holder should start the clock as soon as the float drops into the water.
3) When the float reaches the five-metre mark, they must stop the stopwatch and record the time.
4) Do this another four or five times and record the time on the stopwatch each time.
5) Once you have all your times, add them up and divide by the number of times you launched your float – the final number is your average speed.
Bad floats to use:
Your maths homework, your younger brother, your dog.
Did you know...? Riveting river facts!
1. The longest river in the world is the Nile at 4,130 miles long.
2. Most of the water we drink comes from rivers that flow past our towns – it has to be cleaned very thoroughly before it reaches our taps, though!
3. The longest rivers in the UK are the Severn at 220 miles long and the Thames at 215 miles long.
4. Powerful rivers can carve out canyons in the landscape. The Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA was carved by a roaring river.
5. You can use rivers to create electricity – 24% of the world’s electrical energy is currently created using hydroelectricity.
6. The Hudson River in New York is over a mile wide. In 2009, a US Airways plane managed to successfully land on the river after the plane was hit by birds, and everyone on board survived.
7. Some cities have ‘urban beaches’, which are actually at the edge of rivers.
8. Millions of people travel under rivers every day by taking underground trains.
9. A drop of rain that joins the River Thames at its source will go through eight people (drink, wee, flush) before reaching the sea.
How to map a river corridor
To explore and examine a river, you can map out a section of it. To do this, choose about 500 metres of a river and draw it out on a piece of paper. Next, create a key and note down all the different features of the river and the ground surrounding it.
gate bottom of riverbank top of riverbank direction of flow
foot bridge weir
building stone wall path or road plants
conifer
broad tree
hedge grass sand
cobbles
boulders
rock cliff waterfall mud gravel erosion
RIVER CROW
mud sand boulders cobbles
camping area conifers trees reeds hedge stone wall wooden gate path bridge fence building
