Flooded! Using data to understand a changing Lake Superior
Did you wake up in July of 2016 during a thunderstorm and the next morning see images of flooded Wisconsin rivers in the news? Floods like these could have a big impact on the Lake Superior of the future. Take a look at play-by-play data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park Service and US Geological Survey to help you and your students make sense of big picture impacts to our watershed and our communities.
Vernal Pools Informational Text: Read and Understand!
The emphasis on reading and understanding informational texts in classrooms mirrors our efforts in science at the Lake Superior NERR. These readings are based on real scientific efforts in the Lake Superior Watershed, and include questions to check for understanding. This reading on vernal pools is great for springtime and is derived from an article in the Duluth News Tribune, April 2016.
Lake Superior Geology Informational Text: Read and Understand!
The emphasis on reading and understanding informational texts in classrooms mirrors our efforts in science at the Lake Superior NERR. These readings are based on real scientific efforts in the Lake Superior Watershed, and include questions to check for understanding. This text on geology includes a timeline of the formation of Lake Superior.
Macroinvertebrate Informational Text: Read and Understand!
The emphasis on reading and understanding informational texts in classrooms mirrors our efforts in science at the Lake Superior NERR. These readings are based on real scientific efforts in the Lake Superior Watershed, and include questions to check for understanding. This short text includes pictures of commonly found aquatic macroinvertebrates.
Patterns In Nature
Students will learn the concept of a pattern. Students will be able to identify, continue and create patterns. Students will learn to recognize patterns in nature.
Savanna Portage: Readers Theater
The Savanna Portage was the crucial link between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Gulf of Mexico. Its discovery and usage created an interesting and important mix of cultures between Native Americans, Voyageurs, fur trading companies, and other explorers.
Connecting the Dots: Using Data to Create a Bigger Picture
Students will use different weather related data sets from the South Shore region in order to answer questions about the relationship between Lake Superior and the land and people surrounding it. The data sets are from the July 2016 Flood Event on the South Shore.
Fish Anatomy Handouts
Attached are teacher and student copies of a trout and its anatomy. When printed back to back, the copies can be folded so the external anatomy picture can be flipped up to reveal the internal anatomy picture.
Can a fish pay for your college education?
This lesson will guide students through learning about Lake Whitefish, a valuable fish for commercial fishermen, and how climate and profit impacts fishermen’s livelihood. Students will learn facts about whitefish, learn about local fishing businesses, and apply what they’ve learned using economics to decide whether their business can continue to stay open with different scenarios.
Game of Survival: Fish Style!
Students will play a game of survival by creating fish with dominant and recessive traits to understand how evolution through adaptations of structures and functions help with survival and continuation of genetic variations.
