The Great Lakes of North America

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

This may come as a surprise because of the sandy beach and waves, but the previous picture is actually from a lake!

It is a beach along Lake Michigan. It is the third largest of five Great Lakes that are located in North America.

All together, there are five lakes that make up the Great Lakes:

1. Lake Superior
2. Lake Michigan
3. Lake Huron
4. Lake Erie
5. Lake Ontario

If you were to combine all of these lakes together, they would make up the largest surface of fresh water in the world. That's a lot of water!

In America, several states touch some of the Great Lakes. These states are Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

All are part of more than one region. The states touch the Great Lakes, but Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin are all part of the Midwest Region, and Pennsylvania and New York are part of the Northeast Region. In addition, the Great Lakes also connect with Ontario in Canada.

Take a look at these maps to see exactly where each lake is located:

Many rivers and tributaries connect the five lakes:

• The Straits of Mackinac, located in Michigan, connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
• The Niagara River, bordering New York and Canada, connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
• The St. Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, leading to the Atlantic Ocean. This river flows in New York and through Canada.

Some scientists believe these Great Lakes were formed because of melted glaciers. Geologists believe that at one time, a glacier covered the entire area. It was so thick, it was over ½-mile deep! Over time, as the glacier slowly melted and expanded towards Canada, it left a depression that eventually filled with water, and now we call this area the Great Lakes.

Over the years, people have migrated towards several of the lakes, especially Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the southern portion of Lake Michigan. However, in the early 1900s, lake pollution increased because the areas became heavily populated. Now, the government has stepped in to try to combat the damage done and is working toward keeping the Great Lakes clean.

There are many benefits of the Great Lakes. They provide drinking water, help agriculture and industry, create thermoelectric power, and encourage tourism and recreation.

Thermoelectric power is power generated from burning fossil fuel like coal and oils. The Great Lakes have become essential for this type of power because the water from the lakes is used to cool the equipment and produce steam.

Drinking water The Great Lakes provide billions of gallons of water a day for drinking water, caring for livestock, and irrigation.

Agriculture The climate around the lakes, rich soil, and plentiful amounts of water, make for excellent agricultural production of grain, corn, soybeans, dairy products, and raising of livestock.

Industry Along the shoreline, industries use the fresh water for factories and transportation.

Tourism and recreation Many people travel to the Great Lakes for vacations. The lakes provide great opportunities for boating, water skiing, swimming, camping, etc.

• Interested in learning more about these Great Lakes?

While exploring the following resources, take notes about any interesting facts you learn such as when people first arrived at the Great Lakes and the type of people that lived there first:

• Native Peoples of the Great Lakes Region, from eek! Environmental Education for Kids
• Great Lakes Lake System, North America, by Alfred M. Beeton, Encyclopædia Britannica
• What's So Great About the Great Lakes? - Cheri Dobbs and Jennifer Gabrys from TEDEd:

• Do you think it's important to stop pollution in the Great Lakes? Why or why not?

Share your thoughts with your parent or teacher and listen to their opinion about it.

Then, continue on to the Got It? section, where you will read more about the lakes and answer a few questions.