Sea Grant Illinois-Indiana
Lake Michigan Explorer
This explorer has been curated with a sortable list of internal and external resources for educators interested in teaching their students all about Lake Michigan and advancing their overall Great Lakes literacy. Think of it as a Lake Michigan one-stop shop! A template and user guide are provided to help you compile your resources into a single location for future reference.
To easily find what you need, the following filters have been provided:
- Age Group
- Location
- Topic
- Level
- Learning Mode
- Time Required to Complete
The “Level” designations indicate the level of information students learn about the lakes:
- Basic: Foundational knowledge on topics like food webs, habitats, water, Great Lakes history, and species identification.
- Intermediate: Topics such as invasive species, water conditions, nutrient inputs, and fish behaviors.
- Advanced: Higher-level ecosystem impacts, including careers, restoration, and human impacts.
These levels may vary based on the specific lesson or resource.
Many of these resources require an internet connection. However, portions of some activities may be completed offline, as indicated in the description of the resource. Several activities and many standardized lessons may require additional supplies to fully complete. All resources categorized as standardized lessons are either already aligned or can be adapted to K-12 science standards.
This was developed with support from Purdue University’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources students and participants from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s internship program
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Resources
The Trees Of The Seas
This lesson is for students in grade 7 and should take 90 minutes total to complete. It introduces the causes and harms of algal blooms and eutrophication and provides information on phytoplankton. Includes hands-on labs that can be conducted inside or in the field. The YouTube video demonstrates the steps for the lab, which includes demonstrating how water can grow algae and bacteria. This will require internet access.
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Feeding Time: How Nutrients Drive Phytoplankton Growth
This lesson was created for high school biology and environmental science students (9-12) and requires 75 minutes per lesson. It discusses how both nutrient availability and ratios impact levels of phytoplankton. Students will be able to apply a data set to create a graph and answer a question, identify limiting nutrients, etc. after completing this lesson.
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Teach Me About The Great Lakes Podcast
These informational podcasts for upper-level middle schoolers and high schoolers are typically 40 minutes to an hour. Topics range from Great Lakes history to pollution, to human impacts. Recent titles include: "Whose Sewage Was Whose?" and "They Eat it, They Excrete It".
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Freedom Seekers: The Underground Railroad, Great Lakes, And Science Literacy Activities
The lessons featured Freedom Seekers for middle and high school can range from 20 minutes to 1 hour. The Underground Railroad, Great Lakes, and Science Literacy Activities, acknowledge the enslaved Africans who had to rely on environmental science principles in their quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These lessons provide educators with cross-curricular teaching opportunities for students.
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Fish O Pedia Pack
The Fish-o-pedia Pack is an education pack filled with resources to help teach 5-12 students about Great Lakes fish. Activties can take from 30 minutes to an hour. Each pack includes vinyl cutouts of 12 native and non-native Great Lakes fish. The pack also contains the Fish-o-Pedia cards filled with facts and figures about each species. Also included is the 4th edition of The Life of the Lakes: a Guide to the Great Lakes Fishery (2019) Brandon C. Schroeder, Dan M. O’Keefe, and Shari L. Dann with Michigan Sea Grant.
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Aquatic Invaders Attack Pack
The Aquatic Invaders Attack Pack is a backpack filled with resources that help upper-level elementary school to high school students learn about aquatic invasive species (AIS) found in the Great Lakes. Activities can take from 30 minutes to 1 hour. For example, learners can learn about problems caused by AIS and what can be done about them. Each pack includes preserved specimens of some of the most problematic AIS in the Great Lakes, rugged plastic fact sheets, a classroom guide, and other materials.
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The Limnoloan Program
These water quality measuring and characteristic tools are a resource for educators to engage middle to high-school-level students in different testing methods and strategies. Each activity can take around 20 minutes, testing for multiple indicators can take a few hours. Each Hydrolab DS5 sonde, houses seven sensors, measuring: chlorophyll a, conductivity, depth, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, turbidity.
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The Watershed Game
This interactive game is designed for middle school students (grades 6–8), but can easily be extended to upper elementary and high school students.Over 1-2 50 minute sessions students will learn about practices, plans, and policies that improve and protect the quality of a stream, lake, river, or coastal region.
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Helping Hands
The Helping Hands curriculum is suited for upper level elementary through high school students. Activities can take 20 minutes to 1.5 hours.The lessons aim to build stewardship in students by informing them of local degradation and threats to species habitats. Students will learn ecological concepts such as water quality, pollution, and habitat restoration, while gaining an understanding of significant environmental cleanups near their school.
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Lake Michigan By The Numbers
This informational document is suited for grade 6-12. Activities take an average of 30-45 minutes. It is a curriculum that integrates real-time buoy data as a teaching tool about Lake Michigan conditions and current issues. Discusses how environmental factors like tempature and water quality impact species populations and health.
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Grand Calumet River Area Of Concern Virtual Reality Experience
This virtual reality experience is best suited for high school and middle school and takes about 45 minutes. Using a VR set, students will explore the Grand Calumet River Area and will notice degradation in the area resulting from historical activities. Students will see how restoration practices are improving the habitat for local fish and wildlife and will ID species along the way.
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Salmon In The Great Lakes : Part 2, Open Water
This resource is suitable for 8th grade and up. Michigan Sea Grant created this 7-minute documentary to discuss prey, parasitic relations, and invasive species that impact the Great Lakes. Also discusses how the impacts of these things lead to the implementation of non-native species to restore populations for fishing collateral. Can be paired with lessons on the effects of fishing and hunting, food chains, and even policy decisions based on eco-tourism.
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Potential Impacts Of Dredging To Channelize Grant River
This 22-minute video is suitable for 8th-grade students and up. It includes information on why dredging can be important for powerboat access in the river and what its consequences could be. Discusses the four dimensions nature of rivers and how if changing one impacts all of them.
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Winter On The Great Lakes: Ice, Evaporation & Water Levels Impacts
This nearly 2-hour video may not be suitable for a classroom audience. Could be beneficial for educators hoping to learn more about weather patterns and ice cover in the Great Lakes. Discusses dynamic ice cover, wind, polar vortexes, etc. Could also be used for college lectures.
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Great Lakes Diving The Straits Of Mackinac Shipwreck
This 4 minute long video by Liquid Productions is suitable for 7th-grade students and above. It is very engaging, providing examples of conspiracy theories relating to the Lake Michigan triangle.
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Fire And Ice The Geological Story Of Lake Superior With Jim Miller- Webinar Replay
This video by North House Folk School is useful for educators as an overview of concepts and geological history. It would be beneficial in the planning stages, as they would need to find a more appropriate and engaging source to teach to students. Covers topics such as the rock cycle and different levels of Earth's crust, classification of igneous rocks, plate boundaries, etc.
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Experience Gorgeous Lake Michigan In 90 Seconds
This minute long National Geographic video is suitable for showing 3rd-grade students and up. It contains fast facts about Lake Michigan, including its name's size, meaning behind, and the roles it plays in history. It is a short video that teachers can use to introduce the concept of the Great Lakes.
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Secrets Of The Underground: Under Water Stonehenge Found In Lake Michigan
This 8-minute long Discovery UK video is suitable for 8th grade and up. It focuses on the history of the Great Lakes and their connection to the Native Americans, as well as its natural history. It could pair well with lessons on social studies, natural history, or lessons about indigenous cultures. This will require internet access.
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Exploring Algal Blooms
This NBC News Learn video aligns with 8th through 12th grade standards and focuses on Toledo's state of emergency because of the algal blooms in Lake Erie. This 5-minute video aims to answer the question of what caused the bloom and exemplifies how environmental disturbances can impact day-to-day life. Will require an internet connection.
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Lake Sturgeon: Great Lakes Now Virtual Field Trip
This video is suitable for 8th Grade and up and is close to 5 minutes long. It discusses the lake sturgeon and addresses what is being done to reintroduce them, why they're important, and also an indicator species. This resource will require internet access.
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Salmon In The Great Lakes: Part 1, Early Life History
This video is suitable for upper-level middle schoolers to high schoolers (8-12 grade) and is nearly 6 minutes long. The video introduces the idea of captively raised salmon and explains resources available for teachers provided by the Michigan DNR to be useful for curriculum in topics such as biology, social studies, and environmental science. This resource would pair well with life cycle charts and information on how environmental conditions and quality impact this population and their reproduction. It will require internet access to watch.
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Aquaculture Challenge Introduction Webinar
This resource for grades 8 and above explains a challenge for students that allows them to learn more about aquaculture. It is a helpful resource for teachers hoping to implement a similar challenge at their school because it gives an overview of materials and instructions for challenges for how students will create their systems through the aquaculture challenge. Additonally, the first half of the video can be used in 8th and up classrooms to provide overview of aquaculture and aquaponics and education in these areas. The video also sets to explainconcepts such as flow through facilities, zero waste filtration, sustainable systems of aquaponics.
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Pseudo-nitzchia Life Cycle
Suitable for 11-12 grade students and should take around 30 minutes to complete. This infographic is an interactive visual through which the viewer can learn about different phases of the pseudo-nitzchia life cycle throughout their asexual and sexual phases. Focuses primarily on the reproduction of the pseudo-nitzchia with some references to how the surrounding ecosystem affects the processes. Could be paired with materials that explore the role of this life cycle on surrounding ecosystems and how it can be impacted by environmental conditions. Needs internet to connect to the website.
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The Worth Of Water: A Great Lakes Story
This video is best for 8th-grade students and up. It is an hour and 30-minute long documentary, however it is engaging enough that it could be watched as a class. It talks about environmental policy and political ecology as it relates to the Great Lakes and water quality. May require a few class periods to complete, also requires an internet connection.
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Water School Groundwater Video
This 20-minute video is suitable for upper-level high school students (11-12 grade). It is suggested that educators show part of the video rather than the whole video to maximize engagement. Explores the water cycle and what hits the land and permeates through different levels to get to groundwater including events like discharge into the river, lake, or stream touching on how surface water interacts. Different colors of food dye demonstrate how water moves through different layers to aid student understanding. Different dyes and materials show how water goes through different forms of Earth such as land and clay to surface water and wells. This could be performed as a lab for students, will require internet access to show them.
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Salmon In The Great Lakes Part III: Scenes From The Salmon Run
This 9-minute long video is suitable for 8th Grade and up. Includes details of different roles of females and males during the end of life cycle and reproduction including defensive and offensive roles and changes in visual appearance. Details competition for breeding ground, different characteristics beneficial for this space depending on size, and evolutionary advantages including small vs large males or Jacks vs Bucks. Discusses end of life and how dead fish provide nutrients to stimulate benefits for young. Good to pair with lessons on how different adaptations and traits are beneficial for survival and reproduction. Will require internet access.
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This Lake Has Legal Rights, Just Like You
This 8-minute long video is best suitable for 8th-grade students and up. Introduces the harmful effects of algal blooms on drinking water and discusses the example of Toledo and how they voted for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights because of their issues.This resource touches on environmental policy relating to who can file lawsuits. To be paired with lessons on how politics and civic action push for positive environmental change. Requires internet connection.
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Great Lakes High Water Levels Impact Communities Across The Basin
This 7-minute long video is appropriate for grades 7th and up. Sets to address questions like: What are the impacts of erosion on buildings and homes? What naturally causes an increase and decrease of lake levels? How is climate change impacting these in different ways and creating detremental effects? Discusses effects of flooding as an example of a city that had to declare a state emergency because of it. Good to be paired with lessons about erosion and human contribution to flooding (how climate change impacts water levels). Requires internet connection.
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Restoring Marshes: Battle For The Marshes
This lesson is best suitable for grades 5-8 and could take one to two 50-minute class periods. It introduces marsh restoration projects to protect biodiversity. Students will learn about coastal marsh ecosystems and the characteristics of an invasive plant, Phragmites australis. This does not require an internet connection.
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Fish Life Cycle
Activity that corresponds with the Fish Identification Lesson and takes 50 minutes to complete. It is best for 4-8th grade students. They will learn about the life cycles of fish and diagram the progression from egg to adult. Students learn about fish reproductive strategies and the basis of their lifestyle, as well as spawning strategies. Students research species of fish in the Great Lakes and illustrate their life cycle.
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Know Your H2O Quiz
This quiz is suitable for students in 5th grade and up. This 8-question quiz tests individuals' knowledge of water-saving practices and how we can minimize our impact on the Great Lakes. If done individually, then it should not take more than 10 minutes. If done as a class instead, may take longer.
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Algae Virtual Field Trip
Suitable for 5th Grade and above. Explore drinking water from the Great Lakes. Lake water quality to daily lives. Lake Erie - algae blooms. Addresses: why is this issue important? Discusses how certain types of bloom can make water undrinkable. Located at Metzger Marsh, experts explore runoff and watersheds. Wetland restoration- the biology of the wetlands act as nature's kidneys. Percolate and filter through vegetation. Introduces the concept of vegetation filtering and absorbing water.
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Lake Affect Snow: Examining The Lake Affect
This lesson is best suitable for 5-7 grade students and takes 50 minutes total to complete. It introduces lake effect snow, the factors that contribute to it, and ways to read weather conditions. Activity does not require an internet connection.
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Creation Of The Great Lakes: How The Earth Was Made
Suitable for upper level high school students in grades 11-12. May not engage students for full length as it is 45-minutes long; recommend pulling clips that discuss the formation of interesting Great Lakes areas or find alternate sources that explore the same concepts more concisely. Needs an internet connection.
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Wetlands: Wetland In A Pan
Best for grades 4-8 and takes two 45-minute class periods (or 90 minutes total) to complete. Introducing the importance of wetlands for species habitats and water quality. Can be used offline as long as the activity PDF is downloaded.
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Survival Game: Ruffe Musical Chairs
Best for grades 4-8 and takes 60 minutes to complete. It introduces how one invasive species can cause other species to decline and create dramatic changes in the food web through the example of Eurasian ruffe. Can be used offline with a PDF download.
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Invasive Issues
This activity is suitable for grades 6-8 and takes 90 minutes to complete. Students will research and present findings on invasive species and then research and write about possible solutions. Lesson can be downloaded as a PDF and used without internet.
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Fish Identification (Can I See Some ID Please?)
This lesson is best for grades 4-8 and can take 30-60 minutes to complete. Introduces organizing species of fish in the Great Lakes into groups for identification and study. Activity requires no internet connection.
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Great Lakes, Great Careers
Best for grades 4-8 and requires one 50-60 minute class period to complete. Introduces careers available for students to study or educate about the oceans and Great Lakes. Activity requires no internet connection.
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Teaching Great Lakes Science – Lesson And Data Sets
Links to 27 lesson plans covering different topics related to the Great Lakes. The appropriate grades range from 4th-12th. The following links are spread out in this document under the corresponding topic they fit under.
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Environmental Decision Making (Hydropoly: A Decision Making Game)
Grades 4-8. Introduces the multiple factors behind enviromental decision making. Lesson objectives: discuss land use practices that affect Great Lakes Wetlands; make decisions and recognize personal priorities with regard to wetlands; and describe some of the economic factors that often drive land use decisions.
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Beaches Over Time
This activity for K-4 students takes 45 minutes to complete. This is an outdoor activity near beach/lake.Students will use their senses to discover what is at the beach, read a poem to discover how the beach might have changed over time and discuss what makes the Great Lakes shoreline an important place. Requires no internet connection.
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Coastal Wetlands – Great Lakes Virtual Field Trip
This video would engage students in grades 5 and up, at only 5 minutes long. This resource tackles essential questions about habitats. From sandy beaches and towering dunes to vibrant marshes (explored through a virtual field trip!), students delve into the unique characteristics of Great Lakes wetlands. They'll discover the fascinating plants that thrive there, like the materials used by muskrats to build their homes. By analyzing these adaptations, students gain insight into the diets and behaviors of these wetland dwellers. This resource provides a captivating alternative to a traditional field trip, perfectly complementing classroom lessons on habitats and wetlands. Will require an internet connection.
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Sea Lamprey
This lesson is best suited for 4-8th grade students and should take 15-20 minutes to complete. It introduces the sea lamprey, how harmful invasive species are, and how expensive and complex it is to control them when they are established. Activity is available for PDF download and can be used offline.
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I, Robot, Can Do That!
This lesson is best for 7-8 grade students and will take one 45-minute class period to complete, plus time for student research. It introduces underwater robots that can be used for scientific underwater exploration. Students are grouped and each group is assigned a different robot to research and subsequently present an oral report on. Students will learn about the different possible missions these robots are capable of and decide which ones they think would be best for the job. This is available offline with PDF download.
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Invasive Species
This lesson for grades 4-8 takes consists of 2 one hour long activities. It introduces invasive species in the Greak Lakes. how they have impacted the area, and how we can prevent them. Lesson objectives include: name and visually recognize the primary aquatic invasive species of the Great Lakes; understand and analyze the negative impacts that invasive species have on the Great Lakes ecosystem; and explain the ways in which non-native species are introduced to the Great Lakes.
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Submersible Designer
This lesson is suitable for 9-12 grade students. It takes two 45-minute class periods, one month apart, as well as ten 20-minute class periods once a week for a month to complete. This lesson helps students understand how the design of a submersible can aid in deep ocean (or Great Lakes) exploration. Students will have one month to design and build this submersible as well as create a report and blueprint. After one month, their designs will be tested. Does not require an internet connection to use.
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Water Quantity
This lesson is suitable for grades 4-8 and should take one 50-minute class period to complete. Introduces the factors that influence water quality like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and sediment. Materials for water quality testing are needed, but the lesson can be downloaded as a PDF to use offline.
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Prismatic Little Plankton
This 4-minute long video is a lesson plan 9-12th grade students describes an hour long activity that can be completed over the course of a week. The resource best for high schoolers interested in physics, biology, and environmental science courses. The objective of the activity is for students to observe and identify the correlation between nutrient input in varying purity levels of water.
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Code In The Water: An Investigation Into Harmful And Non-Harmful Algal Blooms
This lesson is best suited for 9-12th graders and should take about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. Introduces algal bloom detection using the DNA extracted from water samples. This activity allows students to identify algae and understand the causes of algal blooms. Can have the powerpoint downloaded ahead of time if no internet is available.
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The Effects Of Nutrients On A Mini-Pond Ecosystem
Most likely best for middle school students. May take 1 to 2 class periods. This is a lab that shows how the amount of nutrients in water influence the organisms that may grow.
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Dissolved Oxygen And Lake Stratification: Graphing Temperatures And Air Supply: Graphing Dissolved Oxygen
This lesson is best for grades 5-8 and has two attached activities to it. The first one requires one 50-minute period and the other requires two 50-minute periods. Introduces the concept of varying dissolved oxygen levels based on seasonal weather patterns and the physical properties of water. Activities do not need an internet connection.
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Dead Zones: Sizing Up The Lake Erie Dead Zone
This lesson is best for grades 5-7. Attached are two different activities, one that requires one 50-minute class period and one that requires two 50-minute class periods. Introduces dead zones in eutrophic lakes and how they affect lake life, as well as where and how to spot one. Activities don't need an internet connection.
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Healthy Beaches, Healthy Lakes
This lesson is best for grades 5-8 and should take one 50-minute class period to complete. It introduces the idea of Dead Zones. In this lesson, students will learn to explain why and how dead zones affect aquatic organisms, how humans contribute to the creation of dead zones, use graphs to investigate the size and location of Lake Erie dead zones, and draw conclusions from their findings. Activity can be downloaded as a PDF so it does not require an internet connection.
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Cyanobacteria (Nostocales) Life Cycle
This activity is suitable for 11-12th grade students and should take 30 minutes or less. The infographic is an interactive visual through which the viewer learns about different stages of cyanobacteria life cycle throughout the seasons. Each description includes details such as state of matter, reproduction of cells, and interactions/implications for larger ecosystem structures. Introduces cyanobacteria life cycle and would be an effective resource for getting deeper into discussions surrounding algal blooms and eutrophication.
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Exploring Watersheds
This lesson is for grades 4-8 and should take 100 minutes in total (can be divided up into two 50-minute class periods). It introduces watersheds and what they look like topographically. Students will be able to describe the characteristics of a watershed and how water flows through it, as well as demonstrate different scientific concepts afterward. Activity can be downloaded as a PDF and used offline.
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Water Across The Curriculum
This resource contains lesson plans made to educate students K-12. It has 4 main lessons and introduces lessons about water, including: defining water, states of water, the water cycle, groundwater and underground aquifers, water pollution sources, water as molecules, and properties of water.
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Great Lakes In My World 9-12 Calumet
This resource is suited for grades 9-12 and includes actvities ranging from 1-3 hours. The resource is catered to the Calumet region and aims able to foster students’ creativity and thinking skills as well as building a sense of appreciation for their area. It educates students on the Calumet region (spanning from East Chicago over to the east side of northern Indiana, bordering Lake Michigan). This lesson plan includes field trips with hands-on learning including how to do quadrat sampling, pull invasives, observe biodiversity, and water sampling. There is a hands-on learning plan for fall, winter, and spring.
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Great Lakes In My World K-8
This resource is suited for grades K-8 and gives an overview of coastal habitats and ecology and is expected to take from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The resource includes a list of unit activities indicating grade level appropriateness for each. The final project allows students to research to create a food web model.
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Great Lakes In My World 9-12
This resource includes a detailed, guided lesson plan intended for grades 9-12. The lesson plan focuses on teaching students the history of the Great Lakes region, including how it was formed, the different ecosystems that are found within it, and how humans can affect it. The lesson plan includes detailed worksheets that instructors can use in class, including opportunities for creative writing, drawing, and reflection. The content can be completed from inside the classroom, but includes many opportunities to visit local areas to observe habitats, geographic structure, and more of the Great Lakes area. The last lesson allows students to create a plan on how to protect their local coastal habitat and are asked details on how it would be implemented.
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Great Lakes Water Levels
This 4 minute video is appropriate for 7th grade and up. It discusses the drivers behind water level adjustments and how it impacts growth in cities, economics, and ecotourism. Since this video is short, it would pair best with lessons on humans impact on water quality and supply and how it affects us. Will require an internet connection to watch.
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What’s So Great About The Great Lakes? Cheri Dobbs And Jennifer Gabrys
This five-minute video is appropriate for 4th grade and above. This is a great way to introduce the Great Lakes, as it covers water quantity, ecosystems, and species. It also explains the interconnectedness and flow of Earth's freshwater and things that affect the Great Lakes (pollution, climate change, etc). This is a YouTube video, it will require an internet connection.
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Properties Of Water
This lesson is created for grades 5-8. Three activities are associated with this lesson plan, one of which takes up to two 50-minute class periods. It introduces how water temperature and density are related and affect the environment. Materials for each activity are stated in their descriptions. Each can be downloaded for use offline.
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Water Quantity I Teaching Great Lakes Science
This lesson is created for grades 4-8 and is expected to take one 50-minute class period. It introduces students to the topic of freshwater supplies around the world and how important it is to maintain clean and healthy lakes and streams. Materials for demonstrating water quantity are necessary. Lesson is available for download.
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Water Quality
This article is created for grades 4-8 and is expected to take 50 minutes. It introduces the factors that influence water quality like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and sediments. Introduces the topic of pH and the effects of land management on groundwater and surface-level water. Materials for water quality testing is needed.
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Surges And Seiches
This article was created for grades 5-8 and has two 50 minute activities. It introduces seiches and waves that can surge up the beach and sweep people out or flood an area. Students are expected to read and interpret charts and maps provided by NOAA and USGS.
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Microclimates
This article is created for grades 5-8 and has two 50 minute activities. It talks about water’s ability to absorb and release heat, and how this impacts the coastal areas and contributes to “The Fruit Belt”.
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Dangerous Currents: Don’t Get Swept Away
This article meant for grades 9-12 and is expected to take 50 minutes. It examines the danger of currents in the Great Lakes, where they occur, who is most at risk from them, and analyzes data from rescues and deaths. Two activities are attached to this article. The first activity has students roleplay a situation where someone is drowning and the steps they should take once they have recognized it. The second activity has students download an Excel file containing data from rescue and drowning incidents and asks them to identify the demographics of people that drown in the Great Lakes. They then must choose a year from the dataset and one aspect from that year to create a chart.
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Dangerous Currents 101
This lesson is best for 9th-12th grade students and should take one 50-minute class period. It talks about the dangers of currents in the Great Lakes, differentiating rip currents from oceanic rip tides and undertows. This will help students identify permanent and variable currents as well as the elements that increase the chance of currents forming.
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Watershed Orientation
This lesson plan for grades 4-8 is an interactive 60-minute activity that teaches students about the evolution of watersheds and the difference between point-source and non-point-source pollution. Watersheds are simulated using a tarp or sand in which water is then poured to show where rivers and bodies of water will form.
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Interactive Water Cycle Diagram For Kids
This water cycle diagram for grades K-5 is expected to take 30 minutes or less. It allows students to visually examine the different places water travels in the water cycle and name the steps involved. The wesbite also supplies intermediate and advanced infographics.
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Water Cycle Scavenger Hunt
This printout for grades K-5 should take 30 minutes or less to complete. This allows students to identify the types of water sources/ water conservation methods they see either outside or research about online.
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Great Lakes Coastal Forecast System-Experimental
This resource is suited for 8th grade and high school and is expected to take approx. 45 minutes. The map allows you to click on each of the Great Lakes which takes you to animations for surface currents, surface water temperatures, water level, and bottom water temperatures. All maps are up to date in real time and are updated every 12 hours.
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Searching For Steelhead: Find A Break
This activity is best for students in grades 5-8 and should take only one 50-minute class period. It introduces how fishers pinpoint the location of fish according to maps of surface water temperatures. Internet connection is not required.
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Habitat Restoration
This activity is best suited for grades 4-8 and is expected to take the duration of two 50-minute class periods to complete. Talks about habitat restoration efforts for Lake Sturgeon in the Huron-Erie Corridor. There are supplemental videos also provided on this page that focus on the habitat restoration of the Middle Channel fish.
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Predicting Smelt Runs
This activity is best suited for grades 5-8 and should take only one 50-minute class period to complete. This will inform students about smelt fishing in the spring and introduce the basics of collecting fish data (identifying environmental factors, graphing water data, drawing conclusions).
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Fish Habitat and Humans
This activity is best suited for grades 4-8 and should take the duration of three 50-minute class periods. It introduces the characteristics of a healthy fish habitat and allows students to make purposeful observations of a nearby aquatic area using illustrations, photographs, and narratives. They will also get to learn about different Great Lakes species and their habitats.
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Chemistry Made Easy: Teaching Students about the Link Between Marine Chemistry and Coral Reef Biodiversity
This activity is most likely well-suited for 7th and 8th graders and is expected to take one to one and a half hours. It introduces chemistry in the context of marine life, covering the chemicals involved in photosynthesis and bioaccumulation. Students will create models of molecules involved in photosynthesis using different colors of pipe cleaners. Students can also talk about the basics of the food web and the species interactions within it.
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Lab Activity: Trophic Cascades
This lab exercise is intended for advanced high schoolers and college students and is expected to take around 2 hours spanning the length of a week. Students add varying amounts of Daphnia magna and Hydra littoralis to 3 groups of water cups containing 100mL of spring water and 100mL of algae each. Students are expected to write a scientific lab report, including the formation of a hypothesis using peer-reviewed scientific papers as a source and data analysis including an ANOVA test. This does not requires an internet connection as long as students have printed versions of the PDF.
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Food Web II: Who’s Hungry?
This lesson and activity is made for grades 4-8 and takes 30-60 minutes. Students learn about similarities and differences between food webs and food chains and how different links in food web have different roles. Students participate in an interactive food web using their bodies as different species, using food tokens to take from other species.
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Invasive Issues
This lesson activity is made for grades 6-8 and takes 90 minutes. Students research invasive species and give short presentations. Students discuss how invasives travel to the Great Lakes, what makes invasives successful, and their ecosystem impacts. Also look at impact to food web.
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Food Web Invasion
This lesson activity is made for grades 4-8 and takes about 2 hours including the lesson and presentations. Students are assigned a coastal habitat and must create food chains based on the habitat. Invasive species are "introduced" and students look at the effects of the food chains. Requires paper, pencils, and drawing supplies.
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Food Chains and Webs: Linking the Chain
This lesson activity is made for grades 4-8 and takes 30-60 minutes. Students learn a background on the food chain and web, and then create paper cutouts of producers, herbivores, and carnivores to create an interactive food chain. Requires pencils, rulers, paper, scissors, and glue.
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Belle Isle Aquarium Virtual Field Trip
This series on YouTube is made for grades K-8 and introduces the concept of food chains, water testing, and invasive species. Requires an Internet connection.
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Web of Life 2
This activity for understanding food webs for grades 4-8 takes 45 minutes. Students brainstorm Great Lakes species and choose one to "become". Ball of yarn is used between the kids to create a food web. A discussion is led on the web and its impact on species, and teacher provides hypothetical scenarios that could impact the web.
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Web of Life
This activity for understanding food webs for grades K-3 takes 45 minutes. Students use provided creature cards to "become" a species in Great Lakes. Ball of yarn is used between the kids to create a food web. A discussion is led on the web and its impact on species.
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Great Lakes Food Web Diagrams
These food web diagrams of each of the Great Lakes for grades K-8 include easy-to-read connections between common species of fish in each lake. This will take 30 minutes or less, there are no lessons. If printed, no internet is required.
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