Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes Unit Study

Subjects: Reading, Vocabulary History, Geography, Math, Science, Writing

©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com Teacher Instructions Thank you for downloading our Niagara Falls and Great Lakes Unit Study! It was created to be used with the books: Where is Niagara Falls? and/or The Mystery on the Great Lakes. See notes below for which pages to print for each book. You may incorporate other books about Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes, as well. Here is what is included in the study:

Pages 3-9: History of Niagara Falls: Notetaking sheets with answer key. (Use with Where is Niagara Falls?) Pages 10-11: Facts about the Great Lakes: Notetaking sheets with answer key. (Use with The Mystery on the Great Lakes.) Pages 12-15: Great Lakes Compare and Contrast: Chart to research and complete with questions and answer key. (Use with The Mystery on the Great Lakes.) Pages 16-19: Timeline of Niagara Falls: Students may write on the timeline or cut and glue events provided. Events are provided with and without the year to provide options for a variety of ages. (Use with Where is Niagara Falls?) Pages 20-22: Getting to Know the Great Lakes: A following direction activity to become more familiar with a map of the Great Lakes. (Use with The Mystery on the Great Lakes.) Page 23: Writing Prompt: Be a Daredevil (Use with Where is Niagara Falls?) Page 24-28: Vocabulary Cards: Set of 12 cards (Vocabulary is pulled from both books.)

Also refer to our post: Niagara Falls and the Greet Lakes FREE Unit Study for: 1. Videos about waterwheels and electricity, including how to experiment with

making your own waterwheel. © 2. A video about rainbows. 2019

3. A video about how to experiment with erosion and footage of a large part of Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com the falls eroding away in 1954!! 4. A video showing lighthouses on Lake Michigan. 5. The song about the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck. Credits You May Frames and map by: Also Like: The History of Niagara Falls

The falls were carved out about 14,000 yeas ago by ______

The first people to see Niagara Falls were ______

The first known person to discover Niagara Falls was ______who discovered them in ______.

Niagara Falls consists of ____ waterfalls that are ____ feet high and ______wide. The names of the waterfalls are: ______

Behind the falls is a ______.

People started visiting Niagara Falls regularly in the ______.

What did Augustus Porter do? ______

What was the Maid of the Mist? ______

What problem did engineer, Charles Ellet, Jr. solve and how did he solve it? ______

List some daredevils that visited the falls and what they did: 1.______2.______3.______4.______

Augustus Porter also built a ______to use some of the Niagara River to power a ______.

What did Jacob Schoellkopf do with this set-up in the late 1800s? ______

The Niagara Falls Power Company was formed and asked ______to help them send electricity hundreds of miles away. However, he wanted to use ______, which would be expensive to deliver electricity hundreds of miles away. So ______and ______worked together on the idea of ______. The Niagara Falls Power Company used this method to provide electricity to ______.

What are some ways people enjoy Niagara Falls today? ______

The falls were carved out about 14,000 yeas ago by ice glaciers.

The first people to see Niagara Falls were Native Americans

The first known person to discover Niagara Falls was Father Louis Hennepin, a French priest, who discovered them in 1678. (Note: Samuel de Champlain has also been credited with documenting the first siting in 1604.)

Niagara Falls consists of 3 waterfalls that are 160 feet high and more than a half mile wide. The names of the waterfalls are: Canadian Falls or Horseshoe Falls American Falls Bridal Veil Falls

Behind the falls is a cave.

People started visiting Niagara Falls regularly in the late 1700s.

What did Augustus Porter do? He bought a lot of land on the American side where he started to build what would become a town. He also bought Goat Island to keep as a natural area and built a bridge out to it.

Name: ______©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com The History of Niagara Falls Answer Key (cont.) Who was the Hermit of the Niagara? A man named Francis Abbott who came to Niagara Falls in 1829 and lived in a cabin on Goat Island. He did not speak to people and liked to hang over the falls. After two years, he jumped in the river below the falls and drowned.

What was the Maid of the Mist? A ferryboat that sailed through the mist of the waterfall while taking people from the US to Canada. It is still a tourist attraction today, but no longer crosses from one country into another.

What problem did engineer, Charles Ellet, Jr. solve and how did he solve it? He needed to get metal cables across the gorge to build a bridge. He held a kite flying contest with the idea that once a kite string was across the gorge, thicker and heavier strings, ropes, and eventually metal cables could be tied together and pulled across the gorge.

List some daredevils that visited the falls and what they did: 1. Sam Patch (1829) jumped into Niagara Falls. Survived one jump, but not a second one. 2. Blondin (1859), a tightrope walker. 3. Farini (1860), a tightrope walker. 4. Carlisle Graham rode a barrel through the rapids, but not over the falls. 5. Annie Edson Taylor (1901) went over the falls in a barrel. 6. Nik Wallenda (2012) modern day tightrope walker.

What did Jacob Schoellkopf do with this set-up in the late 1800s? He bought the canal from Porter and used it to power several waterwheels. He sent the power to different businesses and then used the power to light up street lights in Niagara Falls.

The Niagara Falls Power Company was formed and asked Thomas Edison to help them send electricity hundreds of miles away. However, he wanted to use direct current, which would be expensive to deliver electricity hundreds of miles away. So Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse worked together on the idea of alternating current. The Niagara Falls Power Company used this method to provide electricity to Buffalo, NY.

What are some ways the cold weather influenced the Niagara Falls area? The city built an ice palace and charged admission to enter. Some years the falls freeze and sometimes there is enough ice on the river to walk across it. Once a man built a shack in the middle of the river. The ice also knocked down early bridges.

What are some ways people enjoy Niagara Falls today? People still ride the Maid of the Mist and walk near the falls. Goat Island and the Rainbow Bridge are open for people to walk on. There are fireworks and light shows. There is also a Ferris wheel, a lookout tower, aquarium, gardens, restaurants, and more. Name: ______©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com Facts about the Great Lakes

The Great Lakes hold about ____ percent of the fresh surface water on earth.

The Great Lakes from west to east (or left to right) are: ______

What word is a memory trick or mnemonic for remembering the names of the lakes? ______

Which Great Lake is completely in the United States? ______

What are some common things one can find in the Great Lakes? ______

What are the Great Lakes used for? ______

What are some places to visit on the Great Lakes? ______

The Great Lakes from west to east (or left to right) are: Lake Superior Lake Michigan Lake Huron Lake Erie Lake Ontario

What word is a memory trick or mnemonic for remembering the names of the lakes? HOMES

Which Great Lake is completely in the United States? Lake Michigan

What are some common things one can find in the Great Lakes? Answers may vary: lighthouses, islands, shipwrecks, fish, etc.

What are the Great Lakes used for? Answers may vary: drinking water, fishing, shipping, mining salt, boating, exploring, etc.

What are some places to visit on the Great Lakes? Answers may vary: Niagara Falls, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Great Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, lighthouses, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Research the Great Lakes and fill in the information below. Then answer the questions to compare each lake.

Maximum Length Volume Surface Major Border Connecting Depth of of of Area Cities States and Waterway Lake Shoreline Water Countries (to next lake) Lake Superior

Lake Michigan

Lake Huron

Lake Erie

Lake Ontario Compare and Contrast the Great Lakes

Research the Great Lakes and fill in the information below. Then answer the questions to compare each lake.

Maximum Length Volume Surface Major** & Border Connecting Depth of of of Area Minor* States Waterways Lake Shoreline Water Cities and (to other Countries lakes) Lake 1333 ft. 2730 miles 2935 31,700 Thunder Canada St. Mary’s River Superior 406 m 4393 km cubic mi sq mi Bay* Minnesota to Lake Huron 12,232 82,097 Duluth* Wisconsin cubic km sq km Michigan Lake 923 ft. 1640 miles 1180 22,300 Chicago** Wisconsin Straits of Michigan 281 m 2639 km cubic mi sq mi Milwaukee** Illinois Mackinac to 4918 57,753 Green Bay* Indiana Lake Huron cubic km sq km Michigan Lake 750 ft. 3830 miles 849 23,000 Sarnia* Michigan St. Clair River to Huron 229 m 6164 km cubic mi sq mi Canada Lake St. Clair to 3538 59,565 the Detroit River to Lake Erie cubic km sq km Lake 210 ft. 871 miles 116 9910 Detroit** Michigan Niagara River Erie 64 m 1402 km cubic mi sq mi Cleveland** Ohio, Penn. and Welland 483 25,655 Buffalo** New York Canal to Lake cubic km sq km Erie* Canada Ontario Lake 283 ft. 712 miles 393 7340 Toronto** New York St. Lawrence Ontario 802 m 1146 km cubic mi sq mi Rochester* Canada River to the 1639 19,009 Kingston* Atlantic Ocean cubic km sq km Compare and Contrast the Great Lakes Use the chart you created to answer the following questions. 1. Which lake is the deepest? ______Which lake is the shallowest? ______What is the difference between their depths? ______

2. Which lake has the longest shoreline? ______Which lake has the shortest shoreline? ______What is the difference between the lengths of their shorelines? ______

3. Which lake has the largest volume of water? ______Which lake has the smallest volume of water? ______The smallest volume lake is what percentage of the largest volume lake? ______

4. Which lake has the largest surface area? ______Which lake has the smallest surface area? ______The smallest lake is what percentage of the largest lake’s surface area? ______

1. Which lake is the deepest? Lake Superior Which lake is the shallowest? Lake Erie What is the difference between their depths? 1,123 feet or 342 meters

2. Which lake has the longest shoreline? Lake Huron Which lake has the shortest shoreline? Lake Ontario What is the difference between the lengths of their shorelines? 3118 miles or 5018 miles

3. Which lake has the largest volume of water? Lake Superior Which lake has the smallest volume of water? Lake Erie The smallest volume lake is what percentage of the largest volume lake? 4.0%

4. Which lake has the largest surface area? Lake Superior Which lake has the smallest surface area? Lake Ontario The smallest lake is what percentage of the largest lake’s surface area? 23%

5. Why would the lake with the largest shoreline have one of the smaller surface areas? Its shoreline is long because it has lots of inlet (or bays) and points while the largest lake by surface area has a straighter shoreline.

Niagara Falls was formed around 12,000 BC by ice glaciers. They were likely first discovered by Native Americans. The first documented discovery of the falls was by Father Hennepin in 1678. (Although, there are some who think Samuel De Champlain was the first to document the discovery.) The development of the area around the falls began in 1814. Fill in major events that have happened there since.

1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

2000 2020

©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com Events for Niagara Falls Timeline 1801 Aaron Burr’s (former Vice President) Aaron Burr’s (former Vice President) daughter and her husband are recorded as daughter and her husband are recorded as the first couple to honeymoon at the falls. the first couple to honeymoon at the falls. 1814 Augustus Porter buys land near Augustus Porter buys land near Niagara Niagara Falls. Falls. 1829 The “Hermit of Niagara” arrives. The “Hermit of Niagara” arrives. 1829 Sam Patch jumps into the falls. Sam Patch jumps into the falls. 1846 The Maid of the Mist takes its first The Maid of the Mist takes its first voyage. voyage. 1848 Ice blockage causes the falls to stop Ice blockage causes the falls to stop flowing. flowing. 1848 The first bridge over the Niagara River The first bridge over the Niagara River is is built. built. 1855 Roebling’s Suspension Bridge opens. Roebling’s Suspension Bridge opens. 1859 Blondin walks across the gorge on a Blondin walks across the gorge on a tightrope. tightrope. 1860 Farini crosses the gorge on a tightrope. Farini crosses the gorge on a tightrope. 1877 Shoellkopf runs several waterwheels Shoellkopf runs several waterwheels to to create electricity. create electricity. 1886 Steel railroad bridge is built across the Steel railroad bridge is built across the Niagara River. Niagara River. 1896 Niagara Falls Power Company sends Niagara Falls Power Company sends electricity to Buffalo. electricity to Buffalo. 1901 Annie Taylor goes over the falls in a Annie Taylor goes over the falls in a barrel. barrel. 1941 Rainbow Bridge is built across gorge. Rainbow Bridge is built across gorge. 1960 Seven-year-old survives going over the Seven-year-old survives going over the falls. falls. 2012 Wallenda crosses the gorge on a Wallenda crosses the gorge on a tightrope. tightrope.

©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com Directions for Getting to Know the Great Lakes 1. Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world when measured by surface area. Color it blue. 2. Isle Royale National Park is on the large island along the north side of Lake Superior. Draw a tree on this island. 3. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is on Whitefish Point near where Lake Superior flows into Lake Huron. Draw a boat in this area. 4. Lake Superior flows into St. Mary’s River and then into Lake Huron. Draw a green arrow next to St. Mary’s River to show the direction the water is flowing. 5. Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake to lie completely within the United States. Color it blue. 6. Sleeping Bear Dunes lie on the eastern shore of the lake. Circle their name in brown. 7. Chicago, the third largest city in the US, is near the southern end of Lake Michigan. Circle its name in red. 8. Draw a purple circle around the area where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. This is called the Straits of Mackinac. 9. The lakes here divide Michigan in two parts. The upper part is called the Upper Peninsula. Color it pink. 10. Lake St. Clair lies between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Color it blue. 11. The city of Detroit lies to the south of Lake St. Clair. Circle its name in orange. 12. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland overlooking Lake Erie. Draw a music note next to this city. 13. Niagara Falls is in the Niagara River, which connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. Trace this river in blue and draw a waterfall next to it. 14. In 1848 Niagara Falls dried up because a storm created an ice dam where Lake Erie meets the Niagara River and water could not flow into the river. Draw a red line where Lake Erie meets the Niagara River. 15. Toronto, the largest city in Canada, lies on Lake Ontario. Circle its name in yellow.

Great Sleeping Toronto Bear Dunes Milwaukee Niagara River Buffalo Detroit Chicago

Cleveland

©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com Here is what the map should look like when completed. Be a Daredevil In Where is Niagara Falls? we learned about many daredevils that tried to become famous by doing stunts. What stunt would you do at Niagara Falls and what are some of the challenges you might face in doing the stunt? How would you overcome these challenges? ______

Name: ______©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com Teacher’s Directions These are a sample of our Vocabulary Concept of the Day cards. 12 vocabulary cards are included. Normally, our sets have a full month’s worth of cards.

• Print as two-sided documents onto cardstock and cut cards apart. • Each day read a card to your children. • At the end of the week, review cards by giving a short summary of the back of a card and having a student point to the answer. • As the month goes on, review previous weeks by giving a word and the students give a short summary of the information on the back of the card.

Note: These work great in a pocket calendar such as the Lakeshore Classroom Calendar Kit. Pockets should be approximately 3 inches x 3 inches.

1 2 3

Erosion Gorge Island

4 5 6

©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com 3 Rapids 2 River 1 Glacier Areas of fast flowing water. Naturally flowing water that A mass of ice that is They occur in shallow rocky flows into an ocean, lake, or constantly moving very slowly. areas of a river where some another river. It usually It is formed from snow whose rocks have eroded more than contains fresh water. Rivers height is above the snowline others leading to sudden drops start at the highest point in an and never melts. The layers and rises in the river bed. They area and flow downward. The of snow each winter form into can be very dangerous and some water flows in a channel and the a glacier. As it moves it of the most dangerous in the bottom is called the bed and the world are the Whirlpool Rapids sides are called the banks. carves away rock, which can in the Niagara River. become part of the glacier.

6 Island 5 Gorge 4 Erosion A piece of land completely A narrow valley with steep A process where the surface surrounded by water. walls between hills or of the Earth is worn down. Continents are so large they mountains that has a stream Water causes most erosion, are not considered islands. or river running through it. but wind and ice can also Greenland is the largest They are typically formed by cause the surface to wear island in the world. erosion, but sometimes are down. caused by an earthquake.

7 8 9

Dunes Lighthouse Shipwreck

10 11 12

©2019 Randi Smith www.peanutbutterfishlessons.com 9 Lakeshore 8 Canal 7 Dam A human made channel of A barrier built to block the A shore is the edge of the land water. It can be used for flow of water. It can be used at a body of water. A lakeshore boats to move from one area to build up a reservoir of is the land at the edge of a lake. It may be rocky or sand dunes to another, to irrigate an area water to then be used as a or a beach made of sand or of land, or to channel the water supply or to create pebbles. water to a power plant. electric power. Beavers also build dams so they have quiet, deep water to build 1 their homes in. 12 Shipwreck 11 Lighthouse 10 Dunes A hill of sand created by The remains of a ship that has A lighthouse is a tower or wind or the flow of water. crashed or sunk. The remains building designed to give off When they are located near may be beached on land or light from a system of lamps a shore they run parallel to sunken below the surface of and lenses. It serves as a way the shore. Usually the side the water. for boats to know where they are on waterways. where the sand is pushed up the dune is longer than the other side of the dune.

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