Background
Many people, including a large portion of those who live close to the Great Lakes, do not a have a basic understanding of the individual characteristics of and the differences between the lakes.
Since it is difficult to understand many of the Great Lakes issues, such as global climate change, pollution, and water use without a basic understanding of the lakes, this activity is designed to help visualize the differences in volume, shoreline length, human population distribution, and fish populations of the Great Lakes.
Objectives
In this activity, learners will construct the five Great Lakes from string and use paper “water” and “fish” to show comparisons between the lakes.
After completing this activity, students will be able to: compare and contrast the differences between the Great Lakes in water volumes, length of shoreline, human population distribution, and the amount of fish harvested from each lake.
Lesson Alignment
National Geography Standards:
#3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places and environments on Earth’s surface (grades 4, 8)
NOTE: This lesson can be easily adapted for the non-formal education settings. Non-formal educators will want to focus on the “Explain” portion of the lesson where learners construct the lakes with string.
Materials
Access printed copies or electronic versions of lesson materials below.
- Students will need a large working surface preferably on the ground so that all can gather around the lakes. – 1 small area per group
- Five strings, each tied into a circle, in the following lengths: 3.8 m, 3.0 m, 1.6 m, 0.9 m, 0.7 m (Add a piece of masking tape on each string with the length noted on it.)- 1 set per base group
- Pen or Pencil- 1 per base group
- Additional brightly colored string (Optional)
Lake Labels
One set per base group
Five Lake Population Paper
One set per base group
100 Blue Water Squares
One set per base group
100 Fish Papers
One set per base group
Map & Profile of Great Lakes
One per expert group
Great Lakes Educator Data
One for eductor
Great Lakes Student Data
One per expert group (optional)
Student Activity Sheet
One per student
Student Exit Ticket
One per student
Student Activity Sheet Key
Answer Key
Complete Lesson PDF
21 pages
Time Required
- In a classroom setting, students could complete “expert” work as homework or this could take one class period to complete.
- One class period or more may be required for the “base” group work.
- One class period may be required for student activity sheet, or this could be assigned as homework.
Activity Set-Up
Prior to the activity, prepare bags for base groups that contain the five labeled strings, lake name cards and lake population papers, as well as 100 blue water squares and 100 fish squares. The template sheets have 25 water drops and 50 fish per page.
These notes should help with interpreting the Great Lakes Data chart and with setting up the activity.
Commercial Fishing Harvest: The row labeled “relative amount of fish harvested” in the fishing section indicates the number of pounds of fish that would come from each lake if the total number of pounds from all the lakes was 100. As they did with water volume, students should distribute the 100 fish squares amongst the lakes.
Shoreline: In order to make strings that depict the relative lengths of shoreline of the Great Lakes, use the relative length data in the shoreline section. Any unit of measurement may be used as long as it is used consistently. The measurement units will depend on the amount of space available for the lesson. For instance, if the lesson will be taught outdoors, a large unit of measurement may be used, such as meters. In this case, the Lake Superior string would be 3.0 meters long. To stay organized, label each string with a small piece of tape with the relative length number on it.
Water Volume: The 100 blue squares represent all of the water in the Great Lakes combined. To find how 100 squares should be distributed, look at the relative volume data in the volume category. It lists 54 for Lake Superior; this mean that 54 of the squares should be in the Lakes Superior string model (over half of all the water in the Great Lakes is in Lake Superior).
Human Population: The total population data figures in the population section are rounded off to the nearest million. The students attempt to guess the numbers in this category. It is interesting to realize that Lake Superior has only approximately 0.6 million people living in its watershed. This is less than 2% of the total population of the Great Lakes watershed.
Lesson
Engage
This lesson, as a whole, can be used as an engagement activity for an entire unit on Great Lakes science or geography. However, the following questions might be asked to specifically introduce this lesson:
- Do you know the names of the five Great Lakes?
- Have you ever visited a Great Lake?
- What Great Lake would you consider “your” lake?
- What major cities are along the shores of the Great Lakes?
- Why do people visit the Great Lakes?
Explore
This lesson begins with a teaching strategy called a jigsaw. In a jigsaw, students are first assigned an EXPERT group (large group) and then reorganized into different BASE groups (smaller group) that will contain at least one member from every expert group.
1. Divide the class into five EXPERT groups. Assign each EXPERT group a lake to research and answer background questions; these students will be the experts on their assigned lake.
Educator Note:
At the end of the lesson a “Great Lakes Data” chart is provided for the educator to use while facilitating learning during BASE group time. As an option for younger learners who may struggle with online research, “Student Data Cards” are provided for students to use during EXPERT group time.
Explain
2. Reorganize students so that each BASE group contains at least one expert on each lake. These new groups should have at least five students in them. Students should have their completed worksheets with them.
3. Provide each group with a bag containing the five measured strings, lake names, 100 fish squares, 100 water squares and five strips of paper for lake populations.
4. Facilitate the activity by having students demonstrate their hypotheses about the shoreline length, volume, human populations and commercial fishing harvest in each lake. Here is a possible script:
| Shoreline: Arrange the five strings to form a model of the outline of the Great Lakes. Add in your lake name cards once the strings are assembled. |
| Volume: Distribute 100 squares of blue paper among the lakes to represent all of the water contained in the lakes. For example, if your group thinks that the water is divided equally among the lakes, then put 20 blue squares into each lake. |
| Commercial Fishing Harvest: Distribute 100 fish squares among the lakes to represent the amount of fish harvested from each lake for human food. If your group thinks, for example, that the same amount of fish is harvested from each lake, then put 20 fish squares into each lake. |
| Human Population: The total population of people living in the Great Lakes watershed is approximately 32.8 million. Divide that number among the Great Lakes. For example, if your group thinks that about half of the people in the Great Lakes live in the Lake Superior watershed, then write 16 million on the strip of paper labeled Lake Superior Population. Teachers – the goal is not necessarily to get the number correct, but to have students start thinking about where people are located around the lakes. NOTE: Instead of writing actual numbers on the strips of paper, the lakes could be ranked from 1-5 for highest population to lowest population making this task easier for younger learners. |
| Optional Addition to the Map: For more advanced learners, provide a long brightly colored string that can be added to the map to represent the US-Canadian border. |
5. After base groups have assembled the “lakes,” have students share their hypotheses and then reveal the answers from the Great Lakes Data Table that has been provided with this lesson.
Extend
Students answer geography questions after completing the class activity. Some questions will require the use of a map of the Great Lakes basin such as the one provided in the lesson. Student activity sheet and teacher answer key provided in the materials list.
Alternatively, search for additional sets of data about the Great Lakes such as average depth, fish populations, average water retention time, level of pollution, etc. to use with learners in the same manner as the topics addressed here.
Evaluate
- Have students rank the Great Lakes according to various characteristics. A half-sheet ranking table that can be used in a variety of ways (as an exit ticket, as a mini-quiz, or as an engagement activity used the day following the lesson) to formatively assess students is provided.
- Other sample evaluation questions include:
| a. What was the most surprising thing you learned from this activity? Why? [Students may find the amount of fish taken and the amount of people living on Lake Erie surprising because of the lake’s relatively small size. Likewise, students may be surprised at the large volume of water contained in Lake Superior.] |
| b. Which guesses were not close to the correct answers? What reasoning led your group to the wrong decisions? [Answers will vary.] |
| c. Why do so many people live around Lake Erie? [There are several reasons. One is that Lake Erie has a somewhat milder climate. Additionally early trade routes were along its shores and large population centers developed early in America’s history.] |
| d. Why don’t the length of coastline and the amount of water correspond? [The depths of the lakes are very different.] |
Resources
EPA Great Lakes Facts and Figures | LINK