1. The Sweetwater Seas
By: Lauren Pollard

2. Want to find out how GREAT our Great Lakes are?
Click on a lake and explore it’s secrets!
Superior
Ontario
Huron
Michigan
Erie

3. Erie Water Pollution:
In the 1960’s Erie
became infamous for
water pollution due to
Facts the nutrition
phosphates and lake
 It’s the smallest bottom sediments. In
of the Great Lakes 1972 the US passed the
It’s exposed to the Clean Water Act to help
greatest effects of reduce the amount of
pollution in Erie.
Urbanization and
Agriculture Click HERE for an
experiment to test the
The drainage basin water pollution in Erie
off Lake Erie is today!
intensely farmed

4. Erie Water Pollution Experiment
Step 1: Take Temperature of Water
Click HERE to see
the temperature
we read at 30 ft
below the surface.
E

5. Erie Water Pollution Experiment
55⁰ F
Continue to the next slide. E

6. Now we need to measure the pH levels of Lake Erie.
pH levels range on a scale of 0-14, 0 being high in acids, and 14 being high in bases.
Seven is perfectly neutral, and is the pH level that pure water should have.
Depending on what
color the strip turns
and by using the key
given on the bottle, we
can determine the pH
level of lake Erie.
An easy way to test the pH level, is to use
a testing strip that looks like this
Click the arrow to the right to continue
E

7. Water Pollution Experiment
In this test tube, we have collected a sample of Lake
Erie’s water taken at 30 ft below the surface.
Take one of the pH testing strips, and place it in the
tube, leaving some of the strip sticking out.
Leave it in there for about an hour, before reading the
results.
Let’s continue to our pH results. Click HERE!
E

8. Water Pollution Experiment
Base
This is the result of our strip,
what level does it match
on the scale? What do these
Neutral
results mean?
Click the arrow to the right to continue with
Acid
our experiment as we test the turbidity.
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9. Water Pollution Experiment
Measuring the Turbidity of Lake Erie
What is Turbidity?
It’s the amount of particulate matter that is in water. Turbidity measures the
scattering effect that different materials have on light. The higher the intensity of the
scattering of light, the higher the turbidity. Materials that causes water to be turbid include:
Clay
Silt
Organic and Inorganic matter
Colored organic compounds
Plankton
Microscopic Organisms
Turbidity makes the water cloudy or opaque. It’s measured by
shining light through the water and is reported in turbidity units.
Click the arrow to the right to continue.
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10. Water Pollution Experiment
Let’s measure the Turbidity of the sample of water we collected from Lake
Eerie, at a depth of 30 ft!
We’ll use a Turbidity Meter
to do this.
Click HERE for our results!
E

11. Water Pollution Experiment
The Turbidity
of our water
sample is 410
NTU.
Click the arrow to the right to continue to the next step:
measuring dissolved oxygen
E

12. Water Pollution Experiment
Oxygen levels are extremely
important to the
Measuring Dissolved Oxygen Levels in Erie ecosystem within the lake. If
the levels are extremely low, it
is called a Dead Zone
because organisms cannot
survive in an oxygen
depleted area.
We will use this tool, an SOD
Chamber, to measure the
oxygen depletion in Lake Erie
by placing it in the water and
allowing the water to collect
inside of it.
Click HERE to see our results!
E

13. Water Pollution Experiment:
Oxygen Depletion Level:
3.01 MG 02/L/MO
With a level this low, central Lake Erie is considered a Dead Zone.
Click the arrow to the right to continue to the final stage of
our experiment: measuring hardness of the water.
E

14. Water Pollution Experiment:
Hardness:
The amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium
determines its “hardness”.
This map shows the hardness
levels within the United
States.
We’re going to use a kit
to measure the
hardness of the water
in our sample.
Click HERE to see our results.
E

15. Water Pollution Experiment:
Hardness:
10 Grains.
Click the arrow to the right so that we can put our data together
and determine the water quality of Lake Erie.
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16. Water Pollution Experiment
Experiment Results Through the analysis
of our data, we can
Temperature 55 F conclude that Lake
Erie’s water quality is
still far from perfect
pH Level 3
despite the efforts of
the Water Quality
Turbidity 410 NTU
Act.
Oxygen Depletion Level 3.01 MG 02/L/MO
Hardness 10 Grains
To learn more about what others are doing to save Lake Erie, and to see what you
can do to help, click HERE.
E

17. Superior FACTS:
•Superior is the coldest
and the deepest out of
all of the Great Lakes.
•It is the world’s largest
Click Here to learn about freshwater lake
one of the most famous •It’s name was dubbed by
Great Lake’s the French explorers
Shipwrecks, the meaning “Upper Lake”, and
was given the Indian name
Edmund Fitzgerald!
Kichi-gumi, meaning
“Great Lake”.

18. S

19. The Edmund Fitzgerald
On November 10th, 1975, somewhere between 7:20 and 7:30pm the Edmund
Fitzgerald sank about 9 miles from Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior. This shipwreck
holds the most mystery, legends, and controversy out of any in the Great Lakes
Waters.
So why did the Edmund Fitzgerald sink???
Using the tools below, explore the shipwreck, the timeline of events, and the popular
Gordon Lightfoot song to come up with your own conclusion on the final events and the
sinking of the ship.
The SS Edmund Listen to The Wreck of
Fitzgerald online the Edmund
S Fitzgerald

20. Ontario FACTS:
•It has the highest ratio of watershed
area to lake area.
•Approximately 80% of the water flowing in
Lake Ontario comes from Lake Erie
Click Here to take a
through the Niagara Falls
tour around
•93% of the water leaves through the St.
Niagara Falls, Lawrence River, the other 7%
learn about its through evaporation.
history, daredevils
who tangoed with its
waters and pictures
of the beautiful falls.

21. Niagara Falls O
Niagara Falls is located between the United States and
Canada and is one of Americas most monumental natural
features. Click on one of the four topics before to learn more
about the falls, their history, their splendor and their beauty!
History Daredevils Map Pictures

22. History Efforts are currently
going on to harness
Wisconsin the natural energy
Glaciations ice from the falls and to
sheet carved control the
out the Great developments and
Charles Ellet’s
Lakes and pollutions that
Niagara Falls Niagara
First non-native threaten the falls
citing of the falls by Suspension
Champlain Bridge was built
8000 1604 1837 1848 1920s 2009
1700s
bc
During the Carolina
affair, the rebel Tourism booms
supply ship was at the end of
Tourism became burned and sent the war thanks
popular around the over the edge to automobiles
falls
O

23. Daredevils
1928- Jean Luster
survived the falls in a
rubber ball
1901- Annie Taylor is the first
to successfully cross the Niagara
Falls in a barrel.
1911- Bobby
Leach plunged in
a steal barrel and
broke both his
knee caps and his 1995- Robert Overcracker
jaw went over the falls in a jetski
O

24. Interactive Map of Niagara Falls
Click HERE to follow a link to an
interactive map of Niagara Falls online
O

25. Click HERE to see pictures online
O

26. Michigan FACTS:
It is the only Great Lake
located entirely in the
United States.
The word “Michigan”
was first used to describe
the lake itself, before naming
our state.
It is the largest lake
entirely in one country.
One of the most famous land marks along the
shores of Lake Michigan are the Sleeping
Bear Dunes. Click here to begin an
investigation to discover the origins of
dunes.

27. Sleeping Bear Dunes
The Sleeping Bear Dunes are huge, enormous geological mysteries, however,
using your tools shown below, your task is to unlock the mystery of the dunes
and draw your own conclusions on their origins.
Timeline of Events
Britannica's Take Wikitravel
on the Dunes
National Parks and
Services Website
M

28. Huron Click HERE
to explore
Mackinac
Click HERE to explore the
Thunder Bay Marine
Island!
Sanctuary Website,
located in Alpena Michigan.
This sanctuary is the first in the
Great Lakes and explores the
exciting Shipwreck
Century!
Facts:
•Lake Huron has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes
counting the shoreline of its 30,000+ islands.
•It has the two largest bays out of all the Great Lakes!
•It was the first lake to be discovered!

29. Click on a video below to see the island during the different seasons of the year!
H
Winter Fall
Spring Summer

30. Sources:
Common Water Measurements:
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/characteristics.html#Turbidity
Measuring Oxygen Depletion:
http://nespal.cpes.peachnet.edu/images/Utley%20Figure%204%20small.jpg
The Edmund Fitzgerald:
http://www.ssefo.com/
Great Lakes Facts and Figures:
http://www.great-lakes.net/
Niagara Falls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls#History
Mackinac Island:
http://www.mackinacisland.org/