Social Studies Reading Lesson · U.S. Geography · Grades 4–7
The Mighty Mississippi River
A reading lesson on the Mississippi River. Students learn about its 2,300-mile course from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, its discovery by Hernando de Soto, the locks-and-dams system, the products shipped along it, and the environmental problems it faces today.
Subject
Social Studies / U.S. Geography
Grades
4–7
Skill Focus
U.S. geography, rivers, exploration, environmental issues, reading comprehension
Lesson Length
30–45 minutes
Reading Passage
The Mighty Mississippi
Through the heart of North America runs a great river. You may have heard it called the Mighty Mississippi, Big River, or even Old Man River. The Mississippi is over 2,300 miles long, making it the second longest river in the United States. It begins as a tiny stream at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and ends in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.
At least thirty-one states form the river basin, and water from these states drains into the Mississippi. The Mississippi River Basin covers about 41% of the United States. The river is divided into three segments: the Headwaters, the Upper Mississippi, and the Lower Mississippi. Along its path it supports thousands of lakes, tributaries, large rivers, floodplains, wetlands, and estuaries.
The Mississippi has a unique history. North American Indians called it Messipi, meaning “Big River.” The first European to reach the river was Hernando de Soto in 1541. He named it “Rio de Espiritu Santo.” In the 1600s, the French claimed the entire river for France and called it “Louisiana,” named for King Louis XIV.
Today, the Mississippi is still vital to the United States. Over 12 million people rely on it for drinking water, and it remains a major route for transportation and commerce. The flow is regulated by 27 locks and dams on the upper Mississippi, built in the 1930s to maintain a channel for ships and barges. Coal, petroleum products, sand, gravel, salt, chemicals, grain, and livestock are transported along the river.
Hundreds of years of human use have changed the river. Locks and dams have altered its natural course. Floodplains and wetlands have been destroyed by farming and housing. Water full of pesticides, chemicals, and waste runs in from cities and farms, contributing to flooding and to hypoxia — a lack of oxygen that threatens marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mighty Mississippi deserves our respect and our attention as we search for ways to preserve the river for the future.
Printable Resources
Printable PDF · 6 pages
Mississippi River Reading Lesson and Worksheet
A 3-page reading passage on the Mississippi River, followed by fill-in-the-blank questions, true/false statements, three short-answer prompts, and an answer key.