Great Lakes Shipping & Edmund Fitzgerald" (Flyer PDF)

"Weather or Not to Go" Lesson Plan (PDF)

As part of its fall schedule of events, the Portage Lake District Library will host a program about shipping on Lake Superior with emphasis on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Joan Chadde, Education Program Coordinator for the Western Upper Peninsula Center  for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education at Michigan Tech, will present “The Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Weather or Not to Go” on Thursday, November 30, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the new library.Children and their parents will learn why the Edmund Fitzgerald was on Lake Superior, what its cargo was, and follow the Edmund Fitzgerald’s route on a 12’ x 15’ floor map. Students will also learn about major shipping and receiving ports on the Great Lakes and the types of cargoes carried by Great Lakes cargo haulers, or “lakers.”  Participants will also experiment with designing and building their own small boat to put in tubs of water to see how much weight (number of taconite pellets) their boats can hold.A short video about the Edmund Fitzgerald will also be shown and Mr. Bill Hanrahan, captain of the Isle Royale III for the past 13 years, will talk briefly about his experience on the Great Lakes.

This program is geared for children in grades K-6.  Everyone is invited to attend library events and presentations are free.