fbpx

KidsKonnect

Mississippi River Facts & Worksheets

Mississippi River is best known for being the second-longest river in North America and the fourth-longest river in the world.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /Social Studies /Geography /Natural Wonders /Mississippi River Facts & Worksheets
Premium
Mississippi River Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

The Mississippi River is best known for being the second-longest river in North America and the fourth-longest river in the world. It plays an important role as the main river of North America’s second-largest drainage system.

See the fact file below for more information about the Mississippi River, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.

Mississippi River

  • Water flows 3,770 kilometers from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • It traverses Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
  • Its watershed drains the majority of the United States as well as two other Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains.
  • Every second, it dumps over four million gallons of water into the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The water takes about three months to travel the entire river.
  • It ranks tenth among the world’s deepest rivers, with the Congo River at the top.

History

  • Around 50,000 years ago, the Central United States was covered by an inland sea.
  • The Mississippi and its tributaries drained it, carrying the waters to the Gulf of Mexico.
  • It carved out vast floodplains and pushed the continent southward.

Native Americans

  • The area of its basin was first settled by Native Americans who lived through hunting and gathering. They were considered one of the few independent centers of plant domestication in human history. The lifestyle gradually developed with shelter construction, pottery, weaving, and other practices in what we now know as the Woodland period.
  • Between 200 and 500 CE, a network of trade routes began along the waterways and was referred to as the Hopewell interaction sphere. It spread cultural practices between the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes.
  • Later on, it was followed by a period of more isolated communities. Mesoamerica also introduced agricultural practices with maize, beans, and squash and eventually dominated.

European Exploration

  • Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer, reached the river and recorded it in 1591.
  • Hernando de Soto arrived at the river on May 8, 1541, and named it Rio del Espiritu Santo, or River of the Holy Spirit in English.
  • In the 17th century, French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette explored the region and proposed to call it the River of the Immaculate Conception.
  • René-Robert Cavelier, Henri de Tonti, and Sieur de La Salle declared the entire valley as French territory in 1682, calling it the Colbert River.
  • French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville finally discovered its entrance on March 2, 1699, and the French constructed the small fort of La Balise there to regulate the entry.

Colonization

  • The river became a border between the British and Spanish empires after Britain won the Seven Years’ War.
  • “The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States,” the Treaty of Paris of 1763 stated. Its eastern region was given to the United Kingdom, while the western region was given to Spain.
  • A deal involving the United States and Great Britain in 1818 resulted in an agreement that the United States would give up most of the basin’s northwestern region in exchange for the Red River basin’s southern portion.

Steamboat Era

  • From 1830, steamboat commerce thrived for the next four decades before being overtaken by ships.
  • In December 1811, the first steamboat passed through its lower region from the Ohio River to New Orleans.
  • The first steamboat was named New Orleans, and it made its maiden voyage during the New Madrid earthquakes in 1812.
  • The steamboats were used to transport both passengers and freight.
  • Anchor Line, one of the several Mississippi River system steamboat companies, operated a luxurious fleet of steamers between St. Louis and New Orleans from 1859 to 1898.

Civil War

  • It was strategically used as part of the U.S. Anaconda Plan during the American Civil War.
  • While the Naval forces were traveling up the river, the Confederacy‘s defenses were being cleared by the Union forces traveling in the opposite direction.
  • The cliff near the river also kept an eye on the adversaries.
  • The Union triumphed in the Civil War.

Geography

  • It runs along ten states from Minnesota to Louisiana and is used to define portions of the borders of these states. 
  • Previously, the middle of the riverbed was used to draw the borders between neighboring states.
  • A small section of western Kentucky shares a border with Tennessee due to one of the river’s series of regular sinuous curves.
  • Its broadest section, known as Lake Pepin, served as a border between Minnesota and Wisconsin.
  • Many communities developed along the river, and most have their history and culture.
  • In 1855, the earliest bridge across the river was constructed in Minneapolis where the current Hennepin Avenue Bridge is located.
  • The first railroad bridge over the river was built between the Rock Island Arsenal and Davenport in 1856. It sparked conflict with the steamboat industry, whose captains feared competition with railroads. A steamboat smashed a section of the bridge, setting it on fire two weeks after it opened.
  • Abraham Lincoln defended the railroad from claims that it was a hazard to navigation. The railroad was successful in its appeal to the Supreme Court.

Ecology

  • The basin serves a diverse range of aquatic fauna, earning it the moniker “Mother Fauna of North American Freshwater.”
  • Approximately 375 fish species have been discovered within its temperate regions, including numerous endemics and relics such as paddlefish, sturgeon, gar, and bowfin.
  • Walleye, sauger, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white bass, northern pike, bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, flathead catfish, common shiner, freshwater drum, and shovelnose sturgeon were among the 120 fish species found in the upper region.
  • American alligators, turtles, aquatic amphibians, and crayfish were among the reptiles that lived in its channels and basin.
  • It was also used as a flyway by approximately 40% of the migratory birds in the United States.

Purposes

Navigation

  • It is one of the world’s great commercial waterways, providing a clear channel for barges and other vessels.
  • The United States Army Corps of Engineers was established in 1802 to maintain it as a navigation channel.
  • A project was launched in 1829 to remove snags, close secondary channels and excavate rocks and sandbars.
  • During the steamboat era, river traffic became an ideal solution to the lack of means of transport through the land. Trades involving cotton, timber, food, and Appalachian coal entered the channel.

Flood Control

  • In the 1930s, a series of devices known as locks and dams were built in the upper region of the river to raise and lower watercraft.
  • The locks kept a 9-foot-deep channel open for commercial barge traffic, while the dams made the river deeper and wider.
  • During heavy flooding, the gates were opened entirely to allow the dam to retain the excess water.
  • It flowed freely beneath St. Louis but was controlled by numerous wing dams.

Recreation

  • In 1922, water skiing was invented by Ralph Samuelson on the Lake Pepin of the river.
  • The river has seven National Park Service sites, including the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, dedicated to protecting and interpreting the river.
  • The six other sites are Effigy Mounds National Monument, Gateway Arch National Park, Natchez National Historical Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.

Recent Events

  • In 1997, two portions of the river were designated as American Heritage Rivers.
  • Slovenian athlete Martin Strel swam the entire length of the river in 68 days in 2002. However, recent research discovered traces of mercury, bacteria, sediment, polychlorinated biphenyl, and nutrients in the park corridor, rendering the water unfit for fishing, swimming, or drinking.
  • In October 2015, an assessment conducted by the Nature Conservancy reported its navigation and flood control are facing multiple environmental problems.
  • Geologists predict that a severe flood will destroy the river’s flood-control structures. They believe the lower region can pass through the Atchafalaya Basin or Lake Pontchartrain before reaching the Gulf if the current flood-control system is severely damaged.

Mississippi River Worksheets

This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use Mississippi River worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about the Mississippi River, which is best known for being the second-longest river in North America and the fourth-longest river in the world.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Mississippi River Facts
  • Top Five Rivers
  • I-Map
  • Flora – Flora Color
  • Mississi-tree Match
  • Fauna – Caring for the Fauna
  • Fauna Word Find
  • Mississippi Acrostic
  • Truth or Bluff
  • Answer Key

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the Mississippi River so special?

The Mississippi River is best known for being the second-longest river in North America and the fourth-longest river in the world. It plays an important role as the main river of North America’s second-largest drainage system.

What are five interesting facts about the Mississippi River?

Water flows 3,770 kilometers from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.

It traverses Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Its watershed drains the majority of the United States as well as two other Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains.

Every second, it dumps over four million gallons of water into the Gulf of Mexico.

The water takes about three months to travel the entire river.

Is it OK to swim in the Mississippi River?

However, recent research discovered traces of mercury, bacteria, sediment, polychlorinated biphenyl, and nutrients in the park corridor, rendering the water unfit for fishing, swimming, or drinking.

What states the Mississippi River runs through?

It runs along ten states from Minnesota to Louisiana and is used to define portions of the borders of these states. It traverses Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

What’s the deepest river in the world?

It ranks tenth among the world’s deepest rivers, with the Congo River on the top.

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Mississippi River Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 19, 2018

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources