Developing a community of Great Lakes literate educators, students, scientists, environmental professionals, and citizen volunteers, dedicated to improved Great Lakes stewardship.
In this activity, students will construct a web of things that may increase or decrease as a result of beach litter. Student construct a life-size concept map to be to explain many potential impacts of beach litter and then discuss various interpretations of the possible debris impacts.
A concise, easy-to-read flow chart of cascading effects of climate change on Great Lakes water resources.
NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory describes long-term fluctuations in ice coverage in the Great Lakes.
Students build a model and simulate a portion of the greenhouse system using carbon dioxide, learning about the components of the greenhouse effect and the effect of carbon dioxide on the absorption of heat in the atmosphere.
The rocks in the Great Lakes Basin are of two main types: metamorphic/igneous and sedimentary. The metamorphic/igneous rocks formed long ago, when molten rock hardened and the heat changed other rocks nearby without melting them. This happened over one billion years ago. The sedimentary rocks in the Great Lakes Basin formed in an ocean that covered most of the basin beginning about 600 million years ago. Use maps skills to relate the hardness of rocks to topography and lake depth, describe the topography of the Great Lakes area, and relate the pre-glacial drainage system to the present size and position of the Great Lakes.
A 26-minute video introduction to the Great Lakes watershed.
An Erie Times-News Newspapers in Education article on seiches in the Great Lakes
NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory discusses current and future water levels (February, 2017)
8.5″ X 11″ color map of the Great Lakes’ watersheds including a bathymetric (depth) profile
8.5″ X 11″ printable black and white basin map