Going beyond the Great Lakes’ iconic freighters, this lesson exposes students to the science and engineering practice of developing and using models. Through an exploration of some of the measures that the shipping industry is taking to reduce environmental impact, students will investigate possible solutions and mathematically model how they might work. The Great Lakes Now video and articles used in this lesson plan were produced with support from Solutions Journalism Network.
Lesson Objectives
- Know the problems facing the shipping industry with regard to environmental impact
- Understand the measures shipping companies are taking to make their processes “greener”
- Be able to develop and use mathematical models to evaluate potential solutions to a problem
View the entire lesson plan including teacher background information, worksheets and more below or download for free here.
Activity 1
This activity is a video discussion of a Great Lakes Now episode segment that discusses the measures being taken to address industrial pollution in the shipping industry at Burns Harbor by Indiana Dunes National Park. During the video students need to jot down four things they took away from it.
Watch a Great Lakes Now Segment
Activity 2
This activity aims to provide students a better understanding of just what is involved in the measures being taken to achieve sustainable shipping practices. They will read more about the voluntary efforts that Burns Harbor is involved with through the independent certification organization Green Marine.
Activity 3
The purpose of this activity is for students to develop a mathematical model for the relationship between the circumference and diameter of a circle. They will accomplish this by taking measurements of several different circles, graphing the circumferences by the diameters of each, and deriving an equation that algebraically represents their graph data.
Developing a Mathematical Model
Check out Great Lakes Now’s segment on greener shipping in Indiana and the other segments featured in Episode 1031: Pipes and Ports on this month’s landing page.
If you use this lesson or any of its activities with your learners, we’d love to hear about it! Contact us with any feedback or questions at: GreatLakesNow@DPTV.org
