Context

Hydrography is a branch of Physical Geography that studies and describes, in a systematic way, all water bodies on Earth, including rivers, lakes, glaciers, and oceans. It's a key discipline for understanding the dynamics of our planet, since water is present in many aspects of our lives, from basic consumption to energy generation.

In a global context, hydrography presents itself in many different forms. We have large rivers, such as the Amazon in Brazil and the Nile in Africa; large lakes, such as the Superior in North America and the Victoria in Africa; seas and oceans with different characteristics; and even water in the atmosphere and in ice at the poles.

Water systems also affect the climate, the vegetation, and human activities. Many civilizations, for example, emerged around rivers. These are also places where agricultural activities are developed, and where we find large hydroelectric power plants. On the other hand, variations in the water system can cause negative impacts, such as droughts and floods.

Understanding hydrography is essential if we want to comprehend the dynamics involved in life on Earth. The lack of potable water, for instance, is one of the main challenges faced by several regions of the world today. On the other hand, the overuse of water can also lead to issues such as the exhaustion of rivers and groundwater sources.

Therefore, to become conscious and engaged citizens, students need to understand the importance of hydrography for life on Earth and the future of the planet. Furthermore, the knowledge of hydrography can contribute to the education of professionals in many fields, such as geologists, engineers, biologists, and geographers, among others.

To delve deeper into the subject, students may resort to the following resources:

• Britannica Encyclopedia (in English) offers an extensive overview of hydrography.
• Mundo Educação (in Portuguese) provides detailed and educational articles on different aspects of the hydrography of Brazil and the world.
• Geografia Opinativa (in Portuguese) discusses what hydrography is, its importance, and its practical applications.
• YouTube channel "Mundo da Geografia" (in Portuguese) features interactive and educational videos on hydrography and other geographical topics.

Practical Activity

Activity Title: Mapping the World's Hydrography

Project Goal

To develop a collaborative, interactive puzzle-shaped map that represents the world's hydrography. Students will produce a reflective report describing the entire process and their acquired knowledge.

Detailed Description of the Project

Students will be divided into groups of 3 to 5 members. Each group will be responsible for researching and producing a part of the global map, addressing different aspects of hydrography, such as rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, glaciers, and drainage basins, among others. The assembled final map should provide an overview of the world's hydrography in an educational and informative way.

Required Materials

• Card stock paper or Styrofoam boards of the same size (the size will vary according to the available space).
• Pencils, colored pens, markers, brushes, and paint.
• Research materials: books, articles, websites, atlases, etc.
• Computer with Internet access and presentation software (for the preparation of the report).

Detailed Step-by-Step

1. Divide the students into groups and assign each group a part of the world's hydrography to research and represent in their piece of the map.

2. Students should conduct a detailed research on the water bodies assigned to them, gathering information on their physical and chemical characteristics, location on the world map, importance to the environment and human societies, and more.

3. Based on the results of their research, each group will create a graphical representation of their part of the hydrography map of the world on the card stock paper or Styrofoam.

4. Students are encouraged to be creative: they can use paint, drawings, collages, or any other artistic technique to represent their part of the map.

5. Once finished, the groups should come together and fit their pieces of the map together, creating the global hydrography map.

6. Each group should present their part of the map to the class, explaining the characteristics and the importance of the water bodies they have represented.

7. Finally, each group will prepare a written report on the entire process. The report should include: an introduction describing the object of their study and its relevance; a development section detailing the research process, the creation of their section of the map, and their reasons for the choices they made; and a conclusion section reflecting on what they learned during the project and the main lessons they took away from it. The sources used in their research should be listed in the bibliography section.

Project Deliverables

Each group should deliver:

1. One puzzle piece of the global hydrography map.
2. One oral presentation about the part of the map they have produced.
3. A duly formatted written report that documents the research process, the map elaboration, the presentation, and the lessons and conclusions they drew from the experience.

The written report is a crucial part of this project, as it gives students the opportunity to reflect on what they learned and how they performed as teammates. They should describe in detail how the research process was and the sources they used, how they decided to represent the acquired knowledge on the map, the difficulties they faced and how they overcame them, and the main lessons learned from the experience. The report must be formatted in accordance with the norms of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) and contain all the aforementioned elements: introduction, development, conclusions, and bibliography.