Learners will demonstrate knowledge and awareness of the importance of the Great Lakes, their respective ecosystems, and citizen responsibility to protect the waterways.

The learner will:

• demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography of the Great Lakes.
  
  
• analyze the effects of settlement and development on the Great Lakes Basin.
  
  
• identify major causes of pollution in the Great Lakes and its tributaries.
  
  
• develop concepts of:
  

  Advocacy (v) To write or speak in favor of or support - advocate (n) Common good (n) Resources shared for the collective benefit of the whole group of people Philanthropy (n) 1. The giving of one's time, talent or treasure for the sake of another- or for the common good - Robert Payton, 2. Voluntary action for the public good -Robert Payton, 3. Voluntary giving, voluntary service, and voluntary association, primarily for the benefit of others - Robert Payton, 4. Giving and serving -Richard J. Bentley and Luana G. Nissan, 5. Active effort to promote human welfare, 6. A tradition, a spirit, and a sector of society - Maurice G. Gurin and Jon Van Til Preserve (v) To keep or save from destruction or injury Private action (n) A nongovernmental, nonprofit event Public good (n) Any good that, if supplied to anybody, is necessarily supplied to everybody, and from whose benefits it is impossible or impractical to exclude anybody Stewardship (n) A process whereby an organization seeks to be worthy of continued philanthropic support, including the acknowledgement of gifts, donor recognition, the honoring of donor intent, prudent investment of gifts, and the effective and efficient use of funds to further the mission of the organization. The position or work of a steward

  
  
• successfully demonstrate vocabulary of philanthropy and stewardship.
  
  
• connect the concept of stewardship to the study of the ecosystem of the Great Lakes Basin.
  
  
• assess the effects of industry and settlement on the Great Lakes.
  
  
• prepare a class presentation on a Great Lake, its ecosystem and volunteer efforts to improve the basin.

Anticipatory Set:

Allow no more than seven minutes for this activity.
Have the learners divide themselves in peer groups of three to four per group. Give each learning group a large sheet of paper with the following acronym on the top, "H.O.M.E.S." Have each group answer the following:

1. Name the Great Lakes using the letters as clues.
   
   
2. How do they get their drinking water into their houses?
   
   
3. If they were very thirsty and they were at a lake in their state, and the family had forgotten to bring drinks, would they drink the water in the lake? Put a reason for their answer.
   
   
4. Name a river or lake that is the close to the school.
   
   
5. What is a way they can give of their time to keep the water clean?

Bring the class together and have each group designate one member to report to the class. The instructor should compile class list of the most often given responses.

• Write the names of each of the Great Lakes on the board. (If teaching in Michigan, ask the learners if Lake St. Clair is a "Great Lake." Many will answer that it is. Explain that it is not because it is an "alluvial flood plain." Simply define it as: A waterway made as a shallow flooded area left by the glaciers.)
  
  
• Show the video entitled "The Great Lakes: Fragile Seas."
  National Geographic Society Educational Services. ISBN 0-7922-1909-0
  
  
• Ask the learners to write a reflection paragraph on what they have learned from the video.
  Instructor's Notes. Included should be what problems were identified, how they feel about the problems identified and what they hope to learn in order to be of help to the Great Lakes ecosystem. For the third grade learners, you may want to have them illustrate the reflection paper with captions answering the questions.
  
  
• Read the story, Keeping Water Clean, and have learners discuss what they learned from the story that could relate to keeping the Great Lakes and nearby waterways clean.
  
  
• Have learners form five cooperative groups. Pass a paper bag and have each one draw a name of a Great Lake. Note: Sometimes it is helpful to allow two minutes to trade and bargain with other groups to finalize the lake each one researches.
  
  
• Each group is to keep a journal of daily activities and summary of findings.
  
  
• Using the Web site, have learners use the information section to research the Great Lakes and produce a map of the Great Lakes.
  
  
• Develop information relating to their Lake on the five themes of geography:
  1. Location
     
     
  2. Place which may include culture, ecosystems, communities, natural characteristics and human characteristics
     
     
  3. Human Environment interaction
     
     
  4. Movement, which may include elements of industry, trade, transportation, and urbanization
     
     
  5. Region
     
     
• Discover through their research, programs of stewardship that protect the Great Lakes for the future.
  
  
• What can we do to help conserve the Great Lakes?
  
  
• As a group, come up with a plan for philanthropy that we could do as a group.
  
  
• Produce a graphic and oral presentation to their classmates on their discoveries and findings.
  
  
• Schedule presentations of their projects to the class.
  
  Wrap-up Activity:

  Facilitate a discussion on what they think it means to be a steward. Try to guide them to define stewardship as "the responsible caring for something, in this case, our natural resources." Read Attachment Three, Situation Cards, together and discuss which person demonstrated the concept of stewardship. Tell the learners that when they act philanthropically, they are also acting as stewards. Reflect on the various experiences they have had over the past week and decide, as a class, what philanthropy project they would like to undertake for the next few weeks that involves an activity to do with the closest lake or river.

Complete Attachment Two: What Can I Do?