Pollution in the Great Lakes

Great Lakes Lesson 5 Pollution in the Great Lakes

LWBBAT… -Describe the adverse effects of pollutants in the Great Lakes -Describe the different sources of pollution in the Great Lakes

Standards: GLCE’s: 6-G5.1.1- Describe the environmental effects of human action on the atmosphere (air), biosphere (people, animals, and plants), lithosphere (soil), and hydrosphere (water) (e.g., changes in the tropical forest environments in Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica).

National Geography Standards: Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment.

Key Words/Vocabulary: -Point Source Pollution -Non Point Source Pollution -Runoff

Materials: Geography Alive! Regions and People (Teachers’ Curriculum Institute) Geography Alive! Student Notebook Geography Alive! Digital Teacher Resources: “Station Materials 4A, Pollution in the Great Lakes, Exhibit 3.” Geography Alive! Digital Teacher Resources “04 The Great Lakes Transparency 4B”

Introductory Activity: Explain to students: We have talked about 2 problems concerning the Great Lakes, invasive species and habitat loss, what is a third type of problem facing the Great Lakes? List their responses on the board. Tell students that what we will be discussing today is pollution. Ask students, what types of pollution might be found in the Great Lakes?

Learning Activities: 1. Introductory Activity 2. Ask students to open up their textbooks to page 69. Break students off into pre-assigned groups of 4 based on reading levels. (Have at least 1 high level reader in each group). 3. Have students read the article, “The Sad State of Our Once-Great Lakes” in their groups. 4. After students have finished reading, come back to class as a group to discuss the article. Ask the following questions: a. What happened to the Cuyahoga River in 1969? b. What watershed was that river part of? c. Why did this river burst into flames? d. What happened in the Detroit River? e. What are some of the major pollutants found in the Great Lakes? f. What are other problems in the Great Lakes? 5. As a class, read aloud pgs. 70-71 in the textbook “4.4 The Great Lakes Today: Pollution.” 6. As a class watch the ‘youtube’ video about the Cuyahoga River Fire. Ask students what examples of point-source and non-point source pollution they see. 7. Break students up into partners using the “Meet Me At’s” and give each partner a copy of the “Station Materials 4A.” Have them pull out their student notebooks. Use the “Station Materials 4A” and the textbook in order to answer the questions on pg. 33, “Reading Notes 4: Pollution in the Great Lakes Ecosystem”, of their notebooks. 8. After students have finished, go over the answers together as a class. 9. Ask 1-2 students to summarize what was learned in class.

Formative Assessment: There are various levels of formative assessment in this lesson. First, there will be points when the instructor asks students to give a thumbs up, thumbs sideways or thumbs down in order to signify their comprehension. In addition, the oral questions about the reading will serve as formative assessment, and the worksheet at the end of class will be a more concrete form or formative assessment.