Utilizing the Lake Superior watershed and the St. Louis River as a foundation for learning
This is a copy of one of the first hand drawn maps of the St. Louis River Estuary. It was drawn by Admiral Henry Bayfield in 1824. Pay close attention to the inscription on the map. Curriculum download is a PDF version of the map.
The curriculum download is a PDF document that will help your students explore bathymetric maps of the Great Lakes! There are a few instructions on how to get things set up for the students to explore (it's easy, I promise!) but after that the students can explore the Great Lakes.
These maps are great resources and go with the Geology Unit Lesson Plan curriculum. Curriculum download is a PDF infographic about Wisconsin's geologic past. The Supporting File download is a PDF map showing the composition of Wisconsin's bedrock.
What causes Lake Superior flooding? By taking a look at evidence from the flood of 2016 in the Twin Ports area and learning about the characteristics of floods, the mystery will be solved. Curriculum download is a PowerPoint slideshow teaching guide with links to all you need to do the lesson with your class.
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. The Curriculum download is a PDF of the lesson plan. The Supporting File is a PDF containing the data packets, prediction tables, and associated student worksheets.
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.
The attachments below are a "student copy" and a "teacher copy" of a guide to each exhibit at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN. One purpose of this resource is as a school research project kick-off for students and their teacher. Another is developing a teaching unit, using student inquiry as your guide. This resource may also be used for digging in deeper to the exhibits through teacher-guided discussion, partner-group discussion, or individual reflection. The curriculum download is a PDF of the 'teacher copy'. The supporting file is a PDF of the 'student copy'.
Students will learn about different types of pollution that can be present in water, ways those types of pollution can be handled, what Areas of Concerns are, and what can be done to clean up (and keep clean) Areas of Concerns in the St. Louis River Estuary. The curriculum download is a PDF lesson plan for this activity. The supporting file is a PowerPoint slideshow to support the lesson.
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.
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! The curriculum download is a PDF lesson plan for this activity. The supporting file is a PowerPoint slideshow to support this lesson.
