Upstream, Downstream: Exploring Watershed Connections
(Orca Footprints)

Author

Rowena Rae

Publication Date

September 14, 2021

Genre / Grade Band

Non-fiction / 4^th − 5^th

Upstream, Downstream: Exploring Watershed Connections (Orca Footprints)

Hardcover

Description

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.

Publication date

September 14, 2021

Classification

Non-fiction

Page Count

ISBN-13

9781459823921

Lexile Measure

1050

Guided Reading Level

Publisher

Orca Book Publishers

Series

Orca Footprints

BISAC categories

Library of Congress categories

ALA/Booklist

In addition to covering the basics, such as the water cycle, the book explains why agricultures and civilizations flourished in the ancient Middle East as well as how early technological wonders, such as canals, dams, and aqueducts, eventually led to widespread industrialization, loss of vital wetlands, and large-scale changes that threaten the environment.

School Library Journal

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