Mr. Valencic got the idea to bring Great Lakes issues to his class at Wiley Elementary School in Urbana, IL after spending a week aboard the U.S. EPA R/V Lake Guardian this summer for the annual Shipboard and Shoreline Workshop. During the week, he and 14 other formal and non-formal educators worked alongside scientists as they collected data on Lake Ontario. This year, participants collected samples from different locations to monitor water quality, studied species at the bottom of the food web, and learned more about organisms living on the lakebed. Sea Grant officials on board paired hand-on research with curriculum activities to help teachers better incorporate Great Lakes science into their classrooms.
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Urbana fourth grade class engages in some fish talk
October 11th, 2013 by Irene Miles6th Grade teacher uses workshop experience to train student scientists
October 9th, 2013 by Irene Miles“The B-WET workshop presented teachers with so much information it would be impossible to not get inspired!” said Ms. Spentzos-Inghram. “They had a lineup of AMAZING presenters from a variety of organizations to promote their efforts, which made it a one-stop shop for information about bringing Great Lakes science into the classroom.”
In the news: Small number of Asian carp could establish a large Great Lakes population
September 16th, 2013 by Irene MilesRecent research indicates that even a handful of Asian carp, between just ten and twenty fish, could establish an ecologically damaging population in the Great Lakes.
From ScienceDaily.com:
“Published this week in the Biological Invasions journal, research from Professor Kim Cuddington of the Faculty of Science at Waterloo indicates that the probability of Asian carp establishment soars with the introduction of 20 fish into the Great Lakes, under some conditions…‘This species will have a huge impact on the food web,’ says Professor Cuddington. ‘Not only is it a fast-growing fish physically, but the population itself grows very quickly. A female can lay well over a million eggs a year, and with no known predators present in the Great Lakes, the Asian carp could dominate the waters and impact fisheries.’…
Individual fish have already been caught in two of the Great Lakes. The probability of Asian carp establishment changes dramatically if only 10 of the creatures are introduced. With 10 fish, the probability of a population of Asian carp is only 50 per cent, but with 20 fish, it jumps to 75 per cent, under some conditions.”
In the news: Following the currents to track movement through Lake Michigan
September 11th, 2013 by Irene Miles“The Great Lakes lack the predictable regularity of tides; a combination of factors including winds, temperature and current depth influence currents. Combined, these factors cause a complex, spiraling water flow, producing a type of interior (rather than surface) waves called inertial waves.The researchers hypothesize that the inertial waves are the primary mechanism governing the movement and dispersion of particles. ‘You can get currents as strong as a half-meter per second in the middle of Lake Michigan,’ Cary Troy of Purdue’s School of Civil Engineering said prior to the study. ‘The effect is strongest in the middle of each of the Great Lakes, so that’s why we are doing the research there.’‘The goal is to do dye-release experiments and to track the dye patch over time to see where it diffuses and where it moves and to relate that to the information we have about the lake currents and waves,’ Troy said. ‘One obvious application is for something like an oil spill or any sort of contaminant spill in the Great Lakes. If you have a spill, you need to predict where it’s going to go and how quickly it’s going to dissipate.'”
Winning teachers chosen in the IISG SeaPerch giveaway
September 5th, 2013 by Irene MilesThe SeaPerch Program, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, brings robotics and underwater science together to enhance classroom activities and curricula for a variety of grade levels. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant recently sponsored a contestto give away several of the kits to teachers of grades 6-12, and the six winners will be receiving their new kits in the coming weeks. Blake Landry, project partner and coordinator of the University of Illinois’ SeaPerch Program, is working with IISG to provide continued support and training to the teachers and their students.
In addition to offering a new tool to teachers, the contest helps to further activity and curriculum development and provides educators an opportunity to network and share their ideas with others. All of which complements IISG’s goal of fostering Great Lakes science literacy and engagement throughout the region.
In the news: Continuing coverage of microplastic research on the Great Lakes
September 4th, 2013 by Irene MilesContinuing research on Lake Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes is turning up important information on the presence and concentration of microplastics – particles too small to be filtered by water treatment plants, but which can have negative effects on the environment.
From the StarTribune:
“Fresh off the research boat, Lorena Rios-Mendoza, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, presented her preliminary findings to reporters Thursday.She said Lake Erie seems to hold the highest concentrations of plastics, probably because the particles float downstream from the upper lakes, according to the Duluth News Tribune (http://bit.ly/1cnm6BS ).The plastic has also been found in Lake Superior sediment, meaning it’s not just floating on the surface, Rios-Mendoza said.‘It was very shallow where they were found, but they were in the sediment,’ Rios-Mendoza said.
The researchers dragged fine-mesh nets across the surface of lakes. Some of the plastic can be seen only under a microscope.
So far, Rios-Mendoza’s hypothesis is that the plastic in the Great Lakes starts small, possibly as scrubbing beads in household or beauty products, facial scrubs and even some toothpaste.”
Follow the link above to read the complete article, including information about some of the harmful properties of this pollution, and read about IISG’s Laura Kammin and Anjanette Riley taking part in the research this summer here.
Lake Michigan sampling trip reaps plastic microbeads
August 14th, 2013 by Irene Miles![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0-O_hoIyPkU/UgumFW4aHJI/AAAAAAAACPg/o6MNeMve8MI/s320/IMG_3948.jpg)
The sampling process started like many do – with a countdown that sets off a whirlwind of action. On three, some in the 5-person crew would hoist a 4-foot-long trawl overboard while another recorded the time, the boat’s location and speed, and the direction and force of the wind. Another person was responsible for adjusting the sails and the boat’s direction to keep it moving at a slow-but-steady speed. The next 30 minutes—as exact as possible—would be a bit calmer. The trawl skimmed the surface of Lake Michigan, trapping everything that crossed its path in a narrow net. And the crew got ready to process the sample. The real work started when the trawl was pulled from water. Everything caught in the net—large and small, natural and man-made—had to be moved to a plastic bottle so its contents could be examined later. It sounds simple enough, but the netting is small and getting tiny beads of plastic or nearly-microscopic animals into the bottle required a multi-step process that took time. Step 1: use a spray gun to get everything out of the net and into a tightly-woven sieve. Step 2: spray everything to one side of the sieve. Step 3: spoon the larger contents into a plastic bottle. Step 4: drain everything else into the bottle. Step 5: pour in some rubbing alcohol. Step 6: label the plastic bottle with the sample number and tape it up to prevent it from spilling. And repeat.
During the three days Laura and I were aboard the sailboat Free at Last, the crew collected 16 samples from all across southern Lake Michigan. With us on the boat was Stiv Wilson, communications director for the plastics research group 5 Gyres, Nick Williamson, an undergraduate research assistant at SUNY Fredonia, and Conor Smith, the ship captain. Together, we made a triangle from the Chicago area to just south of the Wisconsin border to South Haven, Michigan and back, collecting water samples about every hour and a half.
We found bits and pieces of plastic in several of the samples. Most of what we saw were tiny microbeads, like the kind used as exfoliants in face and body washes. On the second day, though, we pulled a plastic cigarette wrapper from the lake. Beyond the reach of the trawl, we also saw balloons, plastic bags and bottle lids, a straw, and a couple other pieces of unrecognizable plastics riding the waves. But these were just the things large enough to be seen. We won’t know for sure how much plastic is in the lake until Sherri Mason and her research team at SUNY Fredonia examine the samples under a microscope over the next few months.
The findings from this trip will be added to the results of previous research excursions on northern Lake Michigan and each of its sister lakes to get a more complete picture of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Initial results have already revealed that the lakes have a higher concentration than some parts of the world’s oceans, where plastics have been a major environmental concern for years.
Because plastics float and break down very slowly over time, everything from chemical contaminants to bacteria and invasive species can latch on and catch a ride to new ecosystems. These sampling trips are the first to examine whether the Great Lakes may be facing the same ecological threat.
In the news: States look to Federal funding to help fight invasive mussels
August 13th, 2013 by Irene MilesQuagga and Zebra Mussels are well-known names in the Great Lakes region, as these invasive species have already had an effect on marine wildlife. But both species are prevalent in waterways throughout the United States, and fighting their spread could require a boost from the Federal government.
From USA Today:
“The mussels, natives of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, were transported to the U.S. in the ballast water of trans-Atlantic cargo ships. They first appeared in the Great Lakes in the mid-1980s, and between 2000 and 2010, they cost that region’s water users some $5 billion. The invaders have since crossed the Rocky Mountains, likely hitching a ride on a vacationer’s boat (they can survive for weeks out of water).Their rapid spread threatens water supplies and energy systems in the West, a region heavily dependent upon hydropower and often gripped by drought. In response, state officials have stepped up boat inspections and cleaning efforts in addition to calling for federal help.”
Tribune focuses on Lake Michigan microplastics research
August 9th, 2013 by Irene MilesAs you read in yesterday’s blog post, IISG’s Laura Kammin and Anjanette Riley are taking part in a research trip on Lake Michigan this weekend investigating the presence and concentration of microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes.
The Chicago Tribune has more details about the research:
“Calling the lake ‘its own separate little beast,’ Mason said she expects to find high levels of microplastics in Lake Michigan because it borders so many large cities and because water molecules are estimated to swirl around the lake for about 99 years on average before being replaced by water flowing in. Water stays longer only in Lake Superior, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.On Friday the researchers boarded the Niagara at St. Ignace, Mich., and sailed from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan. After a stop in Milwaukee, the ship is scheduled to arrive in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. Along the way, researchers planned to collect almost 30 samples.One scientist who sailed on last summer’s research trip is back in her lab, studying the chemicals that may be piggybacking on the microplastics gathered from Superior, Huron and Erie.The particles ‘work like a sponge’ for pollutants, said Lorena Rios Mendoza, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Superior. One reason is that microplastics have a large surface area in relation to their size, which means there are plenty of places for the chemicals to stick.”
Recent News
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- IISG is looking for a K-12 educator with digital development experience
- Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant announces funding for southern Lake Michigan region research
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