The first day of the Lake Michigan Exploration Workshop is complete. What a success! After meeting up at the Belden-Stratford Hotel, coordinators and participants walked to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to start the week. Ice breaker activities that included an animal themed version of “Hot Potato”, affectionately named “Hot Fox”
and a fun game of “Look Up”
helped everyone get familiar with names and share personal connections to the Great Lakes. Returning teachers, Jen and Anne-Marie,
from last year’s Lake Huron Exploration shared ways they incorporated last year’s Great Lakes experience in their classrooms, and Howard Walters introduced the idea of concept mapping.
Participants will be developing a stronger understanding of concept mapping from Howard throughout the week. Workshop leader, Robin Goettel,

reviewed the week’s agenda and introduced other COSEE Great Lakes leaders. The first day concluded with a nice meal at COSI restaurant and time to get acquainted with Chicago in the summertime. It was a great beginning to an exciting week!

TODAY’S IDEAS TO TAKE BACK TO THE CLASSROOM

“Sally Made Harry Eat Onions,” was shared by Stephanie Crook as a mnemonic for remembering the size of the Great Lakes. Lake Superior is the largest, followed by: Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.

Wendy Smith will be putting all of her photos on Flickr for us. In addition to sharing her memories with us, she has taken the time to do things such as label the parts of a zebra mussel, so this will be an excellent educational resource as well!