It didn’t start out to be such an odd question. “How does water get to the Arctic Ocean,” the kid asked. I’d just dropped on them a warm-up noting the designation of a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean. They were working on maps, some coloring them in. To some of the students, it was news that we have more than one ocean on the planet.
“Water seeks its own level,” I explained. “Rivers carry waters to the oceans.”
He was really confused. Puzzling over Canada especially, he was venting. I was stupid, and not getting his question. “How come rivers don’t flow north?” he asked.
I pointed to the Mackenzie River on his map, but before words could tumble from my mouth, he asked, “Where does the water in that river go?” It was at least five seconds, but it may have been 30, before I realized he thought the water flowed from the Arctic Ocean, into the Mackenzie River. North to south.
“Water flows downhill,” I said. “Every hill has a north side, and on that side water flows to the north.”
“But the Nile is the only river that flows north, right?” another student cheerily chimed in.
From an Atlas we plucked the names and places of a half-dozen big rivers that flow to the north. “Do they all flow downhill?” someone asked. Yes, all rivers flow downhill.
“How can it be downhill to the Arctic?”
Bells rang (or more accurately, the evil tone booped). So much basic information about life, related to geography, and the arbitrary designation of the end of class likely ended the chance we might make kids think and achieve some real learning.
Geographic illiteracy. Disease or no, it can be cured.
Do creeks and rivers run to the north? Ask Chris Clarke; he answers, beautifully, here: Creek Running North. No bells to interrupt the learning process.
Next, maybe, we’ll ponder underwater rivers:
The sea temperature of the Southern Ocean varies from -2°C to 10°C (28°F to 50°F). It’s home to the world’s largest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that moves east and transports 100 times the flow of all the world’s rivers.
Image: CIA Factbook. Do you have good atlases in your home? One of the best reference books to improve kids’ knowledge is a good atlas. They are fun; buy several.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
Please thank the interlocutor for the question leading to Creek Running North.
Also, there are maps of the north as viewed from overhead that might also help, I find them endlessly fascinating. New Zealand (North Island and South Island) and Australia (West Island) also have globes with the south pole pointing up.
Where is Y-K Alaska (Arctic region) – http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2006/03/14/where-is-y-k-alaska-arctic-region/
Where is… another great circle around Bethel – http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2006/08/25/where-is-another-great-circle-around-bethel/
Of course, the Yukon River flows north (at its mouth) and the true Rio Grande flows south.
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