We’re messing about on rivers this week, along with some young “water detectives” in Merseyside who are arming themselves with stop-watches and metre sticks, measuring the flow and depth of streams. Why not harness children’s natural enthusiasm for splashing about in wellies if it helps them make sense of the importance of combating pollution? (Geography focus, page 28.) Once upon a time rivers only flowed in heaven. To stop the waters of the Ganges crashing down to earth and causing disaster, the Hindu god Shiva caught the river in his hair. Look for the tiny figure of the goddess Ganga in the streaming tresses of the “lord of the meeting rivers” (page 8) and find out what we can learn from him about Indian art and culture.