Utilizing the Lake Superior watershed and the St. Louis River as a foundation for learning
Students will learn what lichen, moss, and fungus are as well as how they are important to the ecosystem and to humans. The curriculum download is a PDF including the lesson plan and all student materials.
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.
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. The curriculum download is the plan for this lesson.
The curriculum attached is actually a list of websites you can find useful for you and your students. Some of the websites will give you access to data that you can give to your students, other websites (like the WI DNR EEK!! website) provides information that your students can use (and is age appropriate for elementary/middle school). Other websites provide great kits or other resources.
Students will participate in a hike around their local nature space/place and make observations about what is happening in that natural place. They will try to answer questions like, ‘What is new?’ ‘What is different?’ ‘What has changed?’ The curriculum download is a PDF of the lesson plan.
Continue the classroom discussions about Phenology and the Lake Superior Watershed with these questions relating to Winter. The curriculum download is a PDF with a variety of seasonally relevant images and questions.
Use these questions relating to Phenology and the Lake Superior Watershed to get young learners to think about their "Neighborhood". The curriculum download is a PDF with a variety of seasonally relevant images and questions.
Spring has arrived! Here are some questions to get the discussion going about what is happening right outside the classroom!! The curriculum download is a PDF with a variety of seasonally relevant images and questions.
In this newly updated lesson, students will learn about the differences between saltwater and freshwater, where they are found, what water is in Lake Superior and the animals of both types of water. The curriculum download is a PDF containing the lesson plan, procedures, and student materials.
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.