Great Lakes Ecosystems Exploration
Lesson Plans
Grades3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Biology
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Provided by PBS
What it is
- This lesson explores ecosystems in Michigan along the Great Lakes, focusing on the importance of wetlands.
- Students will learn about the different coastal ecosystems in Michigan, some of the species that reside in these ecosystems, and the life cycle of fish.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The jigsaw reading activity gives each student a sense of responsibility as they are tasked with being the expert on their assigned reading.
- Students will be able to summarize their learning in two simple assessment activities.
Prerequisites
- The links to the Michigan Tech diagram, wetlands animations, and rivers and streams animations lead to the Michigan Tech homepage. Teachers should skip these steps.
- Students may benefit from seeing Michigan's coastal regions on a map.
Differentiation & Implementation
- This lesson about food waste has a worksheet in it that students can use to facilitate the Culminating Activity.
- To make connections to public speaking practice, students can present their infographics to the class.
- Students can create dioramas of the different coastal ecosystems they read about and bring them to their jigsaw groups.
- Students and teachers can discuss how climate change is impacting these ecosystems and what solutions there are to protect them.
From the scientist review
All of the links in this lesson work correctly, except for the one for the diagram from Michigan Tech which I believe is figure 4 on this link. Otherwise, this is a very thorough lesson and well cited. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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