IISG’s Weather and Climate Toolkit
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) has created a weather and climate education toolkit where teachers—whether parents, home school tutors or licensed professionals—can find resources on the topics of weather, climate and climate change. The toolkit provides a sortable list of external resources and can be filtered by grade level, specific weather and climate subtopics or geographic locations, learning mode and more. Filtering by scale can identify educational resources unique to the Great Lakes. Many of the lesson plans and activities in this curated catalog of resources can be used as-is or adapted for virtual learning and at-home teaching environments.
External Curriculum Materials
Sweetness and Light
Students work in teams to discover which colors (wavelengths) of visible light penetrate furthest into local waters. A diver working at a depth of 33 feet (10 meters) cuts his on a sharp rock. As he looks down at his leg he sees blood flowing from the wound. What color is the blood he sees?
Great Lakes, Great Careers
Students review a selection of career profiles and play a lively classroom game to find out more about marine and aquatic science professionals.
The Incredible Shrinking Cup Lab
Learn how students can develop hypotheses to test the effects of depth and pressure on the volume of Styrofoam cups by deploying the cups off the US EPA’s R/V Lake Guardian in Lake Superior. A great lesson showing the integration of Boyle’s Law and ocean physics.
I, Robot, Can Do That
Learn about the technology and robots used by scientists to explore aquatic ecosystems.
External Curriculum Materials
Great Lakes, Great Careers
A variety of people make their living studying the oceans and Great Lakes or educating others about these valuable natural resources. Yet for many students in the U.S., these careers may seem relatively remote or unattainable, until they learn about the actual people who do them. This activity will help students become familiar with exciting careers in science.
Objectives:
- Name at least five careers in marine and aquatic science, including both the oceans and Great Lakes.
- Identify several recent contributions that people have made in marine and aquatic science fields.
- Describe a marine or Great Lakes science career that interests them.
External Curriculum Materials
Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks
Wisconsin’s shipwrecks and maritime attractions are tangible reminders of how important water has been in shaping the state’s history and culture. Discover more about how underwater archaeologists unearth this lost history and learn about the research that is currently underway.
External Curriculum Materials
