Lorraine Bujan
Mark Sheridan Academy--Chicago, Illinois
3-7 grades

Overview: This lesson is an excellent way to integrate language arts, geography, science, and art. Students will develop their listening skills and map skills during the reading of the story. Students will become familiar with the Great Lakes and the waterways that connect them to the Atlantic Ocean. They will identify the physical characteristics and human interactions with these waters. They will become aware of how the movement of water currents, wind, and human action has affected the Great Lakes by introducing a variety of exotic species. Students will need to work together in groups to gather data about their particular exotic species. Then they will illustrate and write a story incorporating factual information into a book that can be read to other students to inform them about the dangers of exotic species.

Grade Level: Intermediate grade level

Setting: Classroom

Background: Students need to learn about the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway because it is a major source of transportation, drinking water, and recreation for millions of people. The plants and animals that are part of the ecosystem of this region are profoundly affected by the introduction of exotic plants and animals through movement within the human (e.g. ships and canals) and physical (e.g. water currents) systems. Exotic plants and animals have no natural enemies in this part of the world and have adaptations that make it possible for them to take over and cause native species to diminish, thus altering the ecosystem. Students need to be aware of this situation and share the information about exotic species with others.

1. Standard 1: The world in spatial terms
2. Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of place
3. Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment
4. Standard 15: How physical systems affect human system

Illinois State Goals / Chicago Standards and Framework

1. Social Studies State Goal 17, CAS C & D
2. Language Arts State Goal 4, CAS B,
3. Science State Goal 12, CAS B

Teacher:

A copy of Paddle-to-the -Sea by Holling Clancy Holling, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1941.
A wall map of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes
Two large sheets of paper or poster board

Student:

Folder containing information about exotic species. (The amount of information in the folder will depend on the age of the student and resources available.)
Paper, crayons, markers, or colored pen

Key words:

buoy, ballast, current, downstream, grain elevator, freighter, breeches buoy, dry dock, canal lock, portage.

1. Identify and label the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, and major cities of the region.
2. Explain how exotic species might arrive and be transported throughout the region.
3. Demonstrate knowledge by creating a book to inform other students about the spread of exotic species in the Great Lakes region.

Suggested Teaching Procedure

1. Give each student a map of the Great Lakes region. Have a similar map on the overhead or posted on the wall. Introduce the story Paddle-to-the-Sea and explain that the students will chart the voyage of Paddle-to-the-Sea and learn about the physical and human characteristics of the region. Read aloud to the class and discuss Paddle’s journey through the Great Lakes. Read two or three pages daily, include discussion of physical and human characteristics and keep a list on the two large sheets or posterboard. Show Paddle’s journey by making a line and identifying stopping points.

2. Introduce vocabulary such as ballast, current, downstream, grain elevator, freighter, breeches buoy, dry dock, canal lock, portage.

3. Discuss the direction the water is flowing and why. Include these questions in your discussion: What specific types of fish, animals, or plants live in and near the lakes? How do people use the waterways?

DEVELOPING THE LESSON

1. Introduce the term exotic species.(The term for organisms that have been introduced into habitats where they are not native.) Use the purple loosestrife as an example. Discuss how human introduced it as an ornamental plant and how it has spread excluding throughout wetlands causing a decline of native species.
2. Break class into 6 groups each with a different exotic species to research. Group 1/ Zebra Mussel, Group 2/ Sea Lamprey, Group 3/ Spiny Water Flea, Group 4/ Ruffe, Group 5/ Alewife, Group 6/ White Perch. (Other possible groups could be Round Goby, Watermilfoil, Common Carp, or Rudd.)
3. 3. Have class create questions to be answered. Examples : How did this exotic species arrive in the Great Lakes? Where did this species originally come from? How was it introduced into the Great Lakes? How did this species spread? (Have them remember Paddle’s journey) What is the impact of this invader on the Great Lakes ecosystem?
4. Distribute folders with exotic species information and websites where students might find information. Provide at least two class periods for group work.
5. Have students use their research to create a book about their exotic species. The book should be modeled after Paddle-to-the- Sea. It needs to contain a map tracing the movement and the extent of the invasion. Pictures should be drawn by students sequencing the arrival and spread of the species. Students should write text for their pictures by answering the questions developed by the class. Factual information should be used. Either a non-fiction or narrative style book may be written by the group.

CONCLUDING THE LESSON

1. Have students visit other rooms to read their books and the story of exotic species on the move in the Great Lakes Region.

2. In class, use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast how different elements supplied movement for Paddles and exotics species. Example: Paddles hitched a ride on a log, while the zebra mussel hitched a ride on a freighter.

EXTENSION (MAKE THE CONNECTION)

1. Discuss how movement can cause "things" to journey to places where they may not be wanted. Example: germs, diseases, the Chinese long-horned beetle.

2. Discuss biological controls and preventions.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

http://iisgcp.org (Sea Grant Illinois-Indiana)

http://www.sgnis.org (Sea Grant Non-indigenous Species Site)