The+Mississippi+River

=//__ The Mississippi River __// = __ By Teddie and Leon __ The Mississippi river runs through ten states of North America, supporting habitats for humans, plants and animals. People control the amount of fresh water that flow through dams. Wars have been fought on the Mississippi. People have polluted the river in many ways.


 * The Mississippi river starts at Lake Itasca running through ten states to finish in the Gulf of Mexico. ** The Mississippi River runs through the states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. The widest part of the Mississippi is Lake Winnibigoshish. It is 11km wide. The Missouri and Jefferson give the Mississippi its main flow. This combination is the 4th longest in the River in the world. It is approximately 6300km long. The Mississippi has 43 dams on it.


 * The Mississippi River supports habitats for humans, plants and animals. ** The Mississippi River provides homes for many types of animals; the most popular are Mink, Muskrats, Possums, Otters and skunks. Fish that live in the Mississippi are Bass, Sunfish and trout like it in the clear water which is in the higher Mississippi River. Birds also rely on the Mississippi River; these are Pelicans, Ducks, geese and many other birds some of which use it for a nesting ground.


 * The Mississippi River has been important for exploration and invasion. ** Many floods have appeared on the Mississippi River mouth moving it towards the Gulf of Mexico. In the big freeze of 1918/19 it slowed down transportation of goods along the river. In 2002 a long distance swimmer swam the length of the river in 68 days. The Mississippi used to form the border of New France and New Spain.


 * People control how much water flows through the Mississippi River by building dams. ** The water that does flow through is either used for navigation and farming. Many people who have lived on the Mississippi river have used it in many ways such as navigation. It is important because it is one of the only ways they know where they are going. People control the amount of water that flows through the river to avoid it from flooding.


 * The Mississippi River has 3 main issues with pollution, run off and companies dumping rubbish. ** The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has polluted the river; this affects the availability of clean water. Farmers have been using fertilisers aren’t environmentally friendly that when watered run into the Mississippi River. Companies have been dumping toxic materials effecting where the Mississippi the natural habitats around it. The government has now disallows any farmers from using any toxins and pesticides to prevent any animals and humans from getting sick and dying.

__ Bibliography __ Wikipedia World Book millennium 2000