Curriculum

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.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
2. Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed.

Lichen, Moss, and Fungus

Students will learn what lichen, moss, and fungus are as well as how they are important to the ecosystem and to humans.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.

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.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.

Make Ice Cream-Out of Snow!

This (and other websites) will tell you how to easily make ice cream out of snow. You can also use this time to teach about the three states of water: solid, liquid, and gas.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
8. The Great Lakes are socially, economically, and environmentally significant to the region, the nation and the planet.

Making a Watershed!

This lesson outline and PowerPoint guide you and your students through learning about watersheds by making your own! Students will make their own landscape and hypothesize where water and land are on their landscape. They can add places of human activity and predict what will happen to their watershed when it "rains"! This is a fun, short activity that can be extended to emphasize key ideas. The Enviroscape from the Great Lakes Aquarium is optional but very useful for this lesson!

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
1. The Great Lakes, bodies of fresh water with many features, are connected to each other and to the world ocean.
2. Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed.
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Mapping Your Place

Students will construct a large map of a place of their choosing. This place will be divided into smaller sections using a string/flag grid system. Each student will take their time to create a map of one portion of the grid to be put together into a larger whole.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
2. Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed.
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.
6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Idiom Lesson

Students will interpret and observe the natural world using figurative language. Students will then create a nature idiom PowerPoint with complete sentences to discuss the origin and meaning of nature idioms.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
8. The Great Lakes are socially, economically, and environmentally significant to the region, the nation and the planet.

Nature Nibble #1- First Week of April

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble curriculum to take a look at what might be going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links document to open up a YouTube video to watch and some animal sounds to listen to before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them in your journal. Get out there and have fun! --Curriculum file is an Early Spring Worksheet-- Supporting file is a sheet with links to early spring bird sounds and other early spring natural phenomena.

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.
6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #2 – Second Week of April

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble document to take a look at what is going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links document to open up a YouTube video from Ms. Deanna to watch before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them in your journal. Get out there and have fun! --Curriculum file is a Buds Worksheet -- Supporting file is a sheet with a link to the video lesson

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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.
6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.

Nature Nibble #3 – Third Week of April

Get out in your own backyard and see what's going on! Open up the Nature Nibble document to take a look at what might be going on outside your window. Use the Nature Nibble Links document to open up a YouTube video from Alyssa to watch before you go outside. Be sure to look around for other things happening outside your window and either write them down or draw them in your journal. Get out there and have fun! --Curriculum file is an Insects Worksheet -- Supporting file is a sheet with a link to the video lesson

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Subject Areas:
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Great Lakes Literacy Principles:
4. Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land. :
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.
6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.