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. The curriculum download is a PDF version of this reader.
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. The curriculum download is a PDF of this informational reader.
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. The curriculum download is a PDF of this informational reader.
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. The curriculum download is a PDF of the plan for this lesson. The supporting file download is a PDF showing a variety of images of 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. This lesson is a readers theater reenactment of events that may have transpire along the Savanna Portage during the time when Voyageurs and Native American people were first interacting. The curriculum download is a PDF of the plan for this lesson. The supporting file is a ZIP file containing supporting files for this lesson such as PDF character guides and PowerPoint slide shows.
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. The Curriculum download is a PDF version of the student copy of the trout anatomy diagram, unlabeled. The Supporting File is a PDF version of the teacher copy of the trout anatomy diagram with labels.
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. Curriculum download is a PDF lesson to run this with your class. Supporting file download is a PDF document with fact cards and question cards all about whitefish and fishing in the region.
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. The curriculum download is a PDF of the lesson plan for running this lesson with your students. The supporting file is the student worksheet.
Formation of Lake Superior
Students will put on a play to go through the steps of how Lake Superior formed by rifting of the Minnesota shore from the Wisconsin shore, erosion of mountains that were created from the rifting, and filling of the rift zone. Optional: discuss how the formations of Lake Superior also resulted in the formation of the different types of igneous (volcanic, from rifting and volcanic activity) and sedimentary (from sedimentation, or build up, of sediments from eroded mountains and other rocks) rocks we find in Lake Superior. Curriculum download is a PDF version of the lesson plan. The Supporting File download is a visual aid showing the different types of rocks.
Sum of the Rivers
Students will see maps of Lake Superior and the St. Louis River to compare the sizes. Students will then each draw a portion of either the St. Louis River or a river near their school that flows into the St. Louis River or Lake Superior. They will make connections that every part of the river can impact the health of the rest of the river and of Lake Superior. The curriculum download is a PDF lesson plan for this activity. The supporting file is a PDF with a simple outline of Lake Superior.
