How Well Do You Know the Great Lakes?
Many people, including a large portion of those who live close to the Great Lakes, do not a have a basic understanding of the individual characteristics of and the differences between the lakes. Since it is difficult to understand many of the Great Lakes issues, such as global climate change, pollution, and water use without a basic understanding of the lakes, this activity is designed to help visualize the differences in volume, shoreline length, human population distribution, and fish populations of the Great Lakes.
After completing this activity, students will be able to:
- Compare and contrast the differences between the Great Lakes in water volumes, length of shoreline, human population distribution, and the amount of fish harvested from each lake.
Water Quantity
Students remove measured amounts of water from a five-gallon bucket, simulating the amount of fresh water available on earth.
Making Great Lakes Connections
Groups of learners work on a single Great Lake and connecting waterway and then come together as a class to construct a simple three-dimensional model of the Great Lakes. Individual groups also
present their Great Lake and connecting waterway information.
More Than Just a Lake!
By creating a map of the rivers flowing into your Great Lake, learn how rivers form a watershed.
Your Great Lake!
How much water does each Great Lake hold? Use this lesson as a demonstration or a classroom lesson to create visual representations of the Great Lakes, Lake Baikal, and the relationships between surface area, retention time and pollution effects.
Density: Sea Water Mixing and Sinking
Two of the most important characteristics of ocean water are its temperature and salinity.
Together they help govern the density of seawater, which is a major factor controlling the ocean’s
vertical movements and layered circulation.
Going with the Flow
Students use a simple model to discover that air moving over water causes the surface of the water
to move horizontally. In writing and in a discussion, students relate this concept to surface currents in
the ocean and the Great Lakes.
Objectives:
- Relate the motion of surface currents (cause) to the motion of objects floating in the ocean and Great Lakes (effect)
- Relate the transfer of energy from wind moving across water (cause) to the horizontal movement of water (effect)
- Use the term “surface current” to explain horizontal movement of surface water caused by wind
- Explain that surface currents affect surface water, not deep water
Water Quantity
Students remove measured amounts of water from a five-gallon bucket, simulating the amount of fresh water available on earth.
External Curriculum Materials
Making Great Lakes Connections
Groups of learners work on a single Great Lake and connecting waterway and then come together as a class to construct a simple three dimensional model of the Great Lakes. Individual groups also present their Great Lake and connecting waterway information.
Objectives
After participating in this activity, learners will be able to:
- identify the Great Lakes and the bodies of water that connect specific Great Lakes with each other and with the Atlantic Ocean
- describe the three-dimensional geography of the Great Lakes, including elevations
- describe why locks are needed, and how a lock system works
External Curriculum Materials
More Than Just A Lake!
By creating a map of the rivers flowing into your Great Lake, learn how rivers form a watershed.
Objectives
- Students will understand the defining role that rivers have in watershed activity
- Students will be able to state whether they live inside or outside the drainage basin of their Great Lake
- Older students will be able to identify the river drainage basin in which they live
External Curriculum Materials
