Our Water “Ways”
How the Great Lakes ecosystem relates to the way we live, work and play.
Grades 8-10
September 10,2001
Jennifer Bellore
North Farmington High School
32900 West 13 Mile Road
Farmington, Michigan 48334-1904
BACKGROUND
Michigan and its surrounding states offer a plethora of ecological opportunities for students to study. The following unit, Our Water “Ways”, focuses on the Great Lakes ecosystem and how it is related to the way we live, work and play in the Great Lakes region. Many of us take our surroundings for granted, but it only takes one hot summer day and a news report stating that your local beach is closed due to high levels of e-coli bacteria to ruin summer fun. Why is it that the northwestern part of Michigan produces a majority of the world's cherries and is becoming a good wine-producing region? How can we determine harmful effects of pollutants on living organisms in our water supply? Our awareness of how our environment impacts our lives and how we impact our environment are questions students will take part in answering during the following unit.
INTRODUCTION
To introduce students to the problems facing our water supply through demonstration we will take an imaginary trip down a river accompanying a fish. Students will identify on a quiz the types of pollutants (point and non-point) that they encounter and offer solutions to remedy the situation (Appendix 1).
Our next adventure is an investigation on how the Great Lakes modify the growing season (Appendix 2). This is a short lecture and cooperative learning experiment. The focus of this lesson is to show the significance of the Great Lakes and other water sources on agriculture. Students will begin to develop a sense that science is broad spectrum and it is our responsibility to care for and protect our resources.
To utilize student's mathmatic skills we explored the diversity of habitats and life within an aquatic environment (Appendix 3). Students conduct experiments to test factors required to maintain life.
As an alternative assessment, students will work to solve the problem at Manitou Harbor. This focuses on the problems our waterways face (Appendix 4). They apply the knowledge obtained in the other phases of the unit to use creative problem-solving techniques to address problems that the fictitious town of Manitou Harbor faces.
STANDARDS
Standards from Science
CS1.3 Design and conduct scientific investigations.
CS3.3 Describe general factors relating population size in an ecosystem.
CS3.4 Describe responses of an ecosystem that cause it to change.
CS3.5 Describe how nutrients cycle through an ecosystem.
Standards from Social Studies
CS2.2 Geographic Prospective - All students will describe, compare and explain the locations and characteristics of ecosystems, resources, human adaptation, environmental impact, and the interrelationships among them.
MATERIALS
Listed in individual lessons.
RESOURCES
Chilson-Stringham. 1979. A Fish Story, Kalamazoo Soil Conservation District.
Entine, Lynn. 1985. Our Great Lakes Connection, UX-Extension Environmental
Resources Center.
Michigan Department of Education. Michigan Curriculum Framework. [Online]Available
http://cdp.mde.state.mi.us/MCF/search.html. Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Lessons
A Fish Story
Great Lakes Growing
Solving the PCB problem at Manitou Harbor
