History was our main theme today as we spent the day learning about the Geology of the Great Lakes, locating and identifying fossils and hunting for ship wrecks. Sounds fun? It was!

We began our day with a lecture from Dr. Charles Herdendorf, a scientist from Ohio State University. It was difficult to pinpoint what kind of scientist he was as he was knowledgeable and experienced in geology, anthropology, ecology and even more. He provided us with an engaging lecture on the history of the formation of the Great Lakes. Among the vast amount of information we learned, he explained the five natural stages of lake formation. These stages were caused by tectonics, marine environment, streams, glaciers and coastal forces. To put our newly acquired information to life, we packed our backpacks with hammers, picks, safety goggles, and collection bags and headed off to Kelly’s Island.

Once we arrived at Kelly’s Island Dr. Herdendorf described what fossils we would likely see as we experienced some of the best glacial grooves located at Glacial Grooves State Memorial. These were filled with hundreds of fossils. We felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to experience first hand glacial grooves. With key in hand, Dr. Herdendorf led us into the protected area of the glacier grooves so that we could observe how life might have been millions of years ago. We had fun coming with possibilities to explain what we were seeing. All of us were extremely grateful for the once in a life time experience observing these glacial grooves up close.

Now it was time to use our hammers, picks and goggles to find our own fossils to take back and share with our students. Lots of pictures were taken of science teachers in action. Our students will be impressed when they see their teacher out in the field doing science collections. The light rain provided a perfect environment to submerse ourselves in our work. Most of us were successful in finding our prize fossil and will proudly display and share it with our students.

One more bit of history to uncover: The sunken ship! Now it was time to put on our bathing suits, snorkels, fins and masks and look for sunken treasure. Feeling lucky after collecting fossils, we were excited to hit the water and start searching. Our readings told us that the “Adventure”, a schooner converted to a steam barge, had sunk in 1903 just off the coast of Kelly’s Island. We were provided maps of the underwater wreck. Dr. Herdendorf described to us how the map of the wreck was created and with his lead we dove in. Even though the water was a bit chilly we began our search. The wreck was found but alas the turbidity of the water made it difficult to see details of the ship. Guess we will have to try another day. But we all enjoyed our swim in Lake Erie.

We couldn’t have asked for a better close to the day than our Great Lakes music performance. We were fortunate to have Pat Dailey, professional musician, sing many of his songs and play guitar. Pat has done much to support and spread the word of our great lakes through song. He has performed in many areas of the great lakes basin and produced a number of cds. We had been practicing all week to sing the great lakes song with him and joined in with him as he preformed the song. After the song, COSEE awarded him a plaque for his songs and dedication to Great Lakes education. He was a real inspiration to us as he shared his love of the lakes through song. Learning the history of the lakes gives us even more reason to be stewards of these Great Lakes.

Before we could go to bed, we had one last place to visit. We stopped by the old fish hatchery in Put-in-Bay to check out their education programs. The fish hatchery is no longer hatching fish, but the Ohio Department of Natural Resources uses it to educate visitors and school groups about the fish found in the area. Visitors to the island can stop by and check out their exhibits and even go fishing off of their dock. We loved their exhibits, but there was unfortunately not enough time for us to go fishing today. We will have to save that for tomorrow when we have a visit from fish biologists.

-Lake Baikal is the largest lake in the world, containing 20% of world’s fresh water
- The ship, Adventure, had its watery grave robbed of its propeller in 1964 and taken to a YMCA somewhere in Ohio to be used by its flag pole. It was later returned, 1997, to the sunken wreck by Dr. Hergendorf and his diving team.
- During the Cambrian Period North America was actually below the equator and then drifted to its current position. This explains why we found fossils of coral in the quarry and glacier grooves.

Make Room for More!

That’s how we felt today as it was jam packed with tons of new information, new equipment, and new vocabulary. With four scientists/speakers, lab demonstrations, field experiences, history lessons, and cultural connections our minds were full to the brim by the end of the day.

Our day began with Dr. Darren Bade, assistant professor and limnologist from Kent State University. Dr. Bade provided us with an introduction to the physical science of water and the lakes. He constructed a model using water, a fish tank, light, fan and thermometers that demonstrated the effects of light and wind on a body of water. We were able to collect data that demonstrated stratification. We were all wowed when he added the indicator to the tank and we could observe the different currents near the surface and the sinking of some in the colder water at the bottom. We agreed our students would find this exciting and bring a better understanding of what is really happening down below in the great bodies of water- the Great Lakes.

After getting our boat shoes, suntan lotion, hats and sunglasses we boarded the Stone Lab research boat to put into action some of what we learned in the morning lecture. We headed towards one of the deepest parts of the lake to do testing and data collection. Dr. Bade demonstrated proper techniques in using science equipment to collect dependable data. We measured light penetration using secchi discs. We then compared our findings with a light meter and found that the simple piece of equipment works well. We also tried out an activity that we could use with our students that uses m&m’s to look at light penetration and its affect on color and visibility. We also used probes that took temperature readings and gave us information on dissolved oxygen and the saturation of oxygen. During our testing time the Lake Guardian, EPA research boat, sailed past us. We made phone contact with them and compared our data with them and found that our data was comparable with theirs.

Dr. Rosanne Fortner provided us an activity to use with our students looking at interactions between the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. We looked at several web sites that students could easily access and gather important real time data to understand how these two parts of the environment affect each other.

Our minds needed to make more room as Dr. George Bullerjahn and high school student, Grace Miner informed us of their research on glyphosate and phosphonate on fresh water picocyanobacteria. We found out that these nutrients are active ingredients in Round up, a pesticide applied to farm fields. Dr. Bullerjahn is a research scientist at Bowling Green State University. His research is asking the question of what impact these phosphonates have on ecosystems. His research has shown that the toxic cyanobacteria can use them as a nutrient. He brought along a high school student, Grace Minor, who has been mentoring with him and has been part of his research. All the teachers were very impressed with her interest and dedication to science, her abilities to understand the process of science and her communication of her knowledge to us. We all hope to work with a student like that some time in our career.

We weren’t done yet as Kristin Stanford, alias “The Snake Lady”, impressed us with her fearlessness as she shared with us her passion of rescuing the native water snake. She has been a strong advocate for the snake educating the public. We listened to a new aspect of invasive species, the round goby. Kristin’s research has shown that the water snake’s population is growing due to the increase of the round goby as a food source. Because of their new found diet they have been able to increase their growth rate, body size and survival rate. Looks like they are well on their way to a successful come back. There is a great website to learn more about her work at http://respectthesnake.com.

After dinner we met Candra Krisch from Ohio State Multicultural Studies department. She shared with us her Native American heritage and how science plays apart of it. We learned about indigenous knowledge that is built on observations over a long period of time and traditional ecological knowledge that is long term contacts with their environment. She shared with us many of her family and personal items that demonstrated her culture and history. Her discussion enlightened us to open our minds to understanding the culture of all of our students.

We weren’t done yet! One more stop to the International Peace Memorial located at Put-in-Bay. We enjoyed our water taxi ride over to the island and a short walk to the memorial. Here we took the elevator to the top of the monument. Our personal park rangers gave us the history of Perry’s war, the monument itself and gorgeous views of the islands and of course, the beautiful great lake-Lake Erie.

Did you know?
- Kristin Stanford, “snake lady”, starred in the TV show, Dirty Jobs by Mike Rowe, and reached millions of people educating them about the endangered Lake Erie Water Snake. Her show was the #2 most viewed show in the history of Dirty Jobs.
- Most scientists are normal looking people.
- The herbicide, round-up, kills plants on land, but it can actually cause as increase in plant life in the water.

Moving Day!

We began our day with packing up our suitcases and piling into the vans to head west. We said our good-byes to Presque Isle. It was unanimous that we all enjoyed our time on the isle and took with us new experiences and information to bring back to our classrooms.
We moved on from Erie, Pennsylvania and headed west along the coast. The lake was not always in view and we had to remind ourselves that we were following the lake. Our first stop was at Painsville, Ohio were we met up with Frank Lichkoppler, Ohio Sea Grant program leader . We looked at bathymetric maps of Lake Erie, (3D ones too!), and observed the coastal lines and the lake depths of Lake Erie’s three basins.

We then headed to the lake were we observed the coastline at the park. We looked for clues as to what the history of the area was and found that major erosion had occurred with loss of much of the hillside. Frank discussed with us measures that were being taken to protect against continual coastal erosion. We saw seawall, break walls, jetties, and groins. We learned how each of these change the direction sediments, and sand along the coast. We also had a discussion of reasons why the Great Lakes do not have wave size like the oceans and found out that it has to do with the distance the water travels. We now know about fetch and seiches.

We completed our stop here by participating in an activity called “How Fast can a Shore-line Change” from the Great Lakes Medley resource. This was a great supporting activity to what we had just learned on coastal erosion. The activity allows students to determine how fast erosion has occurred in the area provided and how much sand and clay can be removed by waves and currents. Many of us thought this was lesson that would work in our classrooms.

We moved again up the coast to the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve. We were introduced to the research being done at the center. The SWMP program takes real time data on pH, conductivity, temperature, dissolve oxygen, water levels and turbidity .This real time data is sent to NOAA and made available to the public. Our last discussion was on the importance of reserves. Reserves are protected areas used for long term research and stewardship. This provides us a way to understand human impact to the environment. Another cool thing that we saw at the visitor center was a preserved specimen of a Passenger Pigeon. The last Passenger Pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.

We then took a walk down to the lake and observed the mouth of Old Women Creek which was closed. The mouth of the creek was in an unusual state, as it was filled in by sand caused by unusual storms from the North this past winter.

Our next move was further to the west to catch the ferry to Put-in-Bay, Ohio. The ferry boat brought us to the South Bass island where we saw the sites of Put-in-Bay . We were able to check in to Stone Lab, Ohio State University Island Campus on Lake Erie. We caught another boat to Gibraltar, a 6-acre island where Stone Lab is located. After our introduction to Stone Lab we unloaded our suitcases and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on Lake Erie; a wonderful welcome to the island. Looks like the next four days will be filled with learning and experiencing this great lake-Erie.

Did you know?
- Stone Lab is the oldest fresh water biological field station and research laboratory in the United States founded in 1895.
- Ohio students were found to know more about the oceans than the Great Lake
- In 1988 Dr. Seuss changed the wording in his famous book, The Lorax. Because of great water quality improvement in Lake Erie, the line “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie!” is not in newer additions of the book.

Today was a great day! We started our busy day with a visit to Mercyhurst College to see Steve Mauro. Steve does e.coli research in Presque Isle. His research looks at the sources of e.coli entering into the lake and along with his students, he measures the e.coli levels twice a week to determine swimming advisories. He showed us how to conduct the tests and how we could conduct similar tests in our classrooms. He was an amazing teacher and I think all of us were wishing that we would have had him as a professor when we were in college.

After our talk with Steve we met with Jeanette Schnars to talk about turtles in Presque Isle State Park. She looks at nesting behaviors of the local turtles and contaminant levels in their shells. Check out the pictures of her “friends” that she brought along.

Helen finished up our talks for the day by giving us a rundown on invasive species in the Great Lakes. Our students love talking about animals so we were all excited about incorporating invasive species into our curriculum.

This evening we had some free time and several of us used the time to enjoy the beautiful beaches of Presque Isle State Park. A lot of visitors to the park were combing the beaches looking for sea glass, so we joined in. It was a great treasure hunt. We also had the opportunity to explore the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. We saw the movie “Mysteries of the Great Lakes” on the big green screen and then we climbed the tower to get a birds-eye view of Lake Erie.

To end our night we had a great discussion on personal care products and how they end up in our water systems. Think of all of the products that you put on your body in a day…lotions, shampoo, condition, deodorant, etc…Where do they go when you wash or when you go swimming? Do our water treatment facilities filter those products out before recycling them water back into the system? What about medicines? Pharmaceuticals get into out water system by direct flushing or by passing through our bodies unused and they are not filtered by our water systems either. What are the consequences to this? Unfortunately we do not know yet.

Did You Know?
- There is more bacteria in us and on us than the number of cells in our entire bodies
- The sex of a baby turtle can be determined by the temperature of the egg in the clutch
- The world releases more than 2 million gallons of personal care products into our water system every day

Welcome to Erie, Pennsylvania!!! 18 participants traveled from all over the Great Lakes basin to participate in this year’s workshop. One educator even traveled all the way from North Carolina! The purpose of the workshop is for non-formal and formal educators to gain a better understanding of this small, but very productive lake. All week we will be conducting experiments, visiting and sampling different places on Lake Erie, listening to scientists discuss their research, and then figuring out ways that we can bring this all into our classrooms. It is going to be an action-packed week.
We started out the day at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center with some introductions and then Helen Domske led a couple activities from the GOGL (Greatest of the Great Lakes) CD.

We couldn’t stay in the classroom all day, so we then headed out to Presque Isle State Park. As we drove through the park it was a great intro into beginning our understanding of Lake Erie. We saw evidence of wave action, sandy beaches, pristine wetlands, and protected canals. We were also lucky enough to get to experience the beautiful wetlands and canals from canoes and kayaks. We all enjoyed the paddle and had only one small mishap. One of our participants has a new name - “flip”. On our paddle Kathleen Ryan provided us with a description and history of the Graveyard Pond. It is called Graveyard Pond because in 1813-1814 many of the men under Oliver Hazard Perry’s command during the War of 1812 got smallpox. They were quarantined in Presque Isle and many of them died and their bodies were laid to rest in Graveyard Pond. I am glad that I heard this after I got out of my kayak or I would have been thinking about dead bodies the entire time I was paddling. Since then, canals have been dredged to connect the ponds and they are now open to non-motorized recreation.

Our evening started with a water taxi ride around the bay and then a getting-to-know-you dinner at the Sloppy Duck. Upon our return to TREC (Tom Ridge Environmental Center), Howard introduced us to concept mapping, a knowledge visualizing tool, which we will be using throughout the week. We also discussed Ocean Literacy and how COSEE and this workshop will help us to improve our student’s ocean literacy and help us to infuse it into our curriculum.

Did You Know?
- 90% of the water going into Lake Erie comes from the Detroit River
- Lake Superior looks like a wolf’s head
- Lake Huron has the most shoreline out of all of the Great Lakes
- Commander Perry was the first to say “Don’t give up the ship” and “We have met the enemy and they are ours…” in the battle of Lake Erie
- There are native species of phragmites living in Lake Erie