Great Lake Maritime Transportation Lesson Plans
(Whitefish Point Teacher Workshop ~ November 2010)
1. BIF’s Journey to Dearborn
Candace Kawatsu
Grade 3, Social Studies
The students will watch two short DVDs about the Tilden mine in Michigan’s upper peninsula and the Edmund Fitzgerald. They will listen to a book and song about the Edmund Fitzgerald. Next, students will view a powerpoint presentation connecting iron ore mined in the UP to Ford trucks made in Dearborn. Lastly, students will construct boats and trace the shipping route of iron ore from Lake Superior ports on their Michigan maps. PPT
2. Oh Christmas Ship, Oh Christmas Ship
Gary Lindstrom
Grade 4, English Language Arts
After listening to the story The Christmas Tree Ship, students will write a journal (diary) entry of one-half to a full page, in cursive, from someone waiting for the Rouse Simmons at the docks. Students will describe a shared experience that the people in the story lived through (before, during, or after the wreck) while applying knowledge from their Michigan history text and other stories of life on the Great Lakes.
3. Learn About the Great Lakes for Goodness Sakes
Pamela J. Skokan
Grade 4-8, Social Studies, English Language Arts
Students will work together in small groups to research, organize and present information about the Great Lakes in a variety of formats. Students will share the information found on the “Individual Data Collection Form” with their class.
4. Shipwreck Sleuths: Becoming Marine Archaeologist
Valerie Martin
Grade 5-7, Science and Social Science
Students will investigate shipwrecks using skills of nautical archaeology to make inferences about past events. Students will respond to the focus question: “How do marine archaeologists use artifacts and observations to draw inferences about shipwrecks?”
5. A Historical Look at Lifesaving as a Career
Jody Lehman
Grade 7-9, Social Studies, Careers
Students will explore the historical lifesaving career based on the legendary heroes of the Great Lakes who were employees of the original U.S. Life-Saving Service. Students watch a PowerPoint presentation about the US Lifesaving Service on the Great Lakes, read two stories about the career of lifesaving from the book Wreck Ashore by Frederick Stonehouse, and complete a student page and learning assessment. PPT
6. What’s So Great About The Great Lakes?
Kathy Keeney
Grade 6 – 8, Earth Science, Math, Geography, Language Arts
Students will compare/contrast the information about the five Great Lakes including location, volume, surface area, water depths and shoreline geology.
7. Nautical Archeology – Mapping Using Trilateration and Triangulation
Laurie Lindstrom
Grade 9-12, Geometry
Students will apply knowledge of triangles, especially the Side-Side-Side Theorem to generate a scaled map of a simulated shipwreck, as well as understand the forces of motion and speed in the context of protecting and preserving a shipwreck.
8. Impact of Decreasing Great Lakes’ Water Levels on the Shipping Industry
Donald E Hill
Grade 9-12, Algebra, Geometry, Advanced Algebra
Students will estimate the surface area of Lake Superior using Pick’s Theorem and then determine how many gallons of water is lost if Lake Superior drops 1” and how much money a 1000’ ship loses due to lower water levels in Lake Superior using dimensional analysis.
