Teacher Workshops

Welcome Teachers!

Click on the icons below to learn more about each workshop offering at Great Lakes Aquarium.

 

 


 

 

 

The Story After the Storm -
Interactive Video Conferencing for Teachers

Did you miss this season’s Science Institute workshops? Do you know someone who might really enjoy them? Let us come to you with both the scientist’s presentation and the standards-based lessons that correspond!

We’re featuring 3 of this year’s workshops by offering them as an Interactive Video Conferencing opportunity. Join us to learn the story after the storm for Lake Superior and her tributaries. (And it’s free!)

3 stories. 3 dates. 3 teaching kits.

Here’s how it works: Upon registration, we’ll send you a link to the scientists’
presentations. You will watch the research presentation on-line prior to the videoconference
date listed below. On the conference date, you’ll connect with Aquarium educators using
IVC technology or your classroom computer for a lively Q&A about the research and a
demonstration of the tailored teaching kit. If you’d like, we’ll even send you your own kit!

May 2 — Sediment in the St. Louis Estuary: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Presented by John Lindgren, Fisheries Specialist, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
John reviews the role rivers play in transporting and depositing sediment, and introduces how
runoff, and the sediment in that runoff, may have affected the St. Louis River Estuary.
Curriculum connection: Students watch river geomorphology in action as they pretend to
be water in a river tasked with eroding and depositing sediment.

May 6 — Status of the Lake Superior Fisheries in Minnesota: Where the
rubber meets the road, and the flood washes the road away
Presented by Don Schreiner, Fisheries Supervisor, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Don introduces the Lake Superior food web and important species such as cisco, lake trout, and Chinook salmon. Explore the potential impacts of the June 2012 flood on the Lake Superior food web.
Curriculum connection: After identifying and classifying fish in small groups, students act
out the Lake Superior food web in a tag-like game to simulate life in the lake.

May 9 — The Changing Phenology of Lake Superior
Presented by Dr. Liz Minor, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Large Lakes
Observatory and the University of Minnesota Duluth
Liz explains the importance of dissolved organic carbon and how it gets into Lake Superior.
Explore changing patterns in influxes of water and related changes in how and when
organic carbon enters the lake. Dr. Minor shares data collected during the summer of 2012
and discusses potential implications and future research.
Curriculum connection: Students graph 33 years of ‘onset of lake stratification’ data for
Lake Superior. They are encouraged to generate questions about observed trends, data gaps
and phenology in order to develop a research question.

The details:

Step 1: Choose one, two, or all three of the research stories to explore.

Step 2: Register online at www.glaquarium.org, call 218.704.2000 or email ewartman@glaquarium.org to reserve a spot for the videoconference taking place from 3:30-4:00 p.m. on each date listed below.

Step 3: Watch the scientists’ presentations online before the videoconference.

Step 4: Receive associated curriculum and teaching kit, and tune in for the videoconference!

New to videoconferencing? Not sure if you can connect from your school? Don’t worry. We’ll help you get connected!

Experienced at videoconferencing? We use a Cisco C40 codec system with a public IP and H.323 connection. Symmetrical call speed of 384 or 512Kbps is required.

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Free Jeffers Foundation Teacher Workshop:

July 19, 2013 from 10:00 am – 2:30 pm

Join us at Great Lakes Aquarium for a free, action-packed workshop of “Calendar in the Classroom” and “Ecotime” presented by Ed and Sil Pembleton with the Jeffers Foundation.This hands-on workshop combines two effective curricula that spark students’ senses of wonder and excitement by focusing on the Minnesota environment.

Receive a Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar & CD, EcoTime Cards, 4 CEUs, and lunch from the Jeffers Foundation.

Calendar in the Classroom: The Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar, with its wealth of scientific data is the basis for a series of multidisciplinary, standards-based K-5 lessons about weather, water, phenology, astronomy, and gardening.

EcoTime: 150 quick, easy, and fun lessons compliment the Calendar in the Classroom curriculum and are easily used within the morning meeting and Responsive Classroom format. Come prepared to go outdoors – and to have FUN!

The Jeffers Foundation will provide lunch.

Space is limited; registration is required.

Register online or contact Katie Fritz: kfritz@glaquarium.org or (218) 740-2027

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Science Institute for Educators 2012-2013:
The Story After the Storm

Brought to you by Great Lakes Aquarium, Minnesota DNR MinnAqua Program, Minnesota Sea Grant, and Wolf Ridge ELC.  This project is funded in part by the Coastal Zone Management Act, by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, in conjunction with Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program.

Join us for an in-depth look at current research in the Great Lakes Basin regarding June 2012′s “storm of the century.” Meet a local scientist, learn about their work and explore relevant curricular connections. Free resources aligned to Minnesota academic standards will be provided to support your teaching and learning! Open to educators in both formal and non-formal settings who work with K-12 students. CEU certificates available. Teachers who attend at least 6 of the workshops are eligible for a $100 stipend.

Attend workshops either at Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN or at Wolf Ridge ELC in Finland, MN.

To see videos of presenters from the workshops, click here.

Basic Workshop Schedule: 

4:00 Arrival and sign in
4:05 Introduce schedule and distribute materials
4:10 Introduce and demonstrate activity
4:50 Break
5:00 Presentation by scientist or expert
5:45 Question and answer time

Workshop 1 - Chris Kleist – Damages and Repairs to Duluth’s Stormwater Infrastructure: The City’s Perspective

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Oct. 23, 4:00-6:00
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Nov. 16, 12:00-2:00

Workshop 2 - John Lindgren – Sediment in the St. Louis Estuary.  Too Much…or Not Enough?

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Nov. 13, 4:00-6:00
    *The Tuesday, Nov. 13 workshop at Great Lakes Aquarium currently has a waiting list. Please register or email kfritz@glaquarium.org to be added to the waiting list.  
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Nov. 16, 2:30-4:30

Workshop 3 - Don Schreiner - Status of Lake Superior Fishery in Minnesota 

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 4:00-6:00
    *The Tuesday, Dec. 4 workshop at Great Lakes Aquarium currently has a waiting list. Please register or email kfritz@glaquarium.org to be added to the waiting list.  
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Jan. 18, 12:00-2:00

Workshop 4 – Joshua Schloesser – Early Detection of Invasive Species

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Jan. 8, 4:00-6:00
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Jan. 18, 2:30-4:30

Workshop 5 - Chip Small and Brandy Forsman – Post-Flood Nutrients in Lake Superior and the St. Louis River Estuary

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 4:00-6:00
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Mar. 8, 12:00-2:00

Workshop 6 - Dr. Liz Minor - The Changing Phenology of Lake Superior

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 4:00-6:00
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Mar. 8, 2:30-4:30

Workshop 7 - Dan Miller – A Weather Perspective on the Flood

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Mar. 12, 4:00-6:00
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Apr. 19, 12:00-2:00

Workshop 8 - Hilarie Sorenson - Adaptations to Climate Change

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Apr.2, 4:00-6:00
  • At Wolf Ridge ELC: Friday, Apr. 19, 2:30-4:30

Workshop 9 – Kathy Hamel and Tim Tuominen – Bringin’ Back the Bugs: Post-Flood Recovery & the Resiliency of the WLSSD Wastewater Treatment System

  • At Great Lakes Aquarium: Tuesday, Apr. 30, 4:00-6:00
  • This workshop will only occur at the Great Lakes Aquarium site.

I WANT TO ATTEND! HOW DO I SIGN UP?

Register online or contact Katie Fritz by email (kfritz@glaquarium.org) or phone (218-740-2027).

TEACHERS ATTENDING THE 2012-2013 SERIES:

Click here to access additional resources from The Story After The Storm presenters.

WHERE IS ALL OF THE NEAT STUFF FROM PREVIOUS YEARS?

Download lesson plans, background information, images and worksheets from the 2011 season here.

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DNR MinnAqua Program Teacher Workshops

MinnAqua offers professional development for educators providing workshops on the new MinnAqua Leader’s Guide, Fishing: Get in the Habitat! a comprehensive K-8 curriculum focused on Minnesota aquatic resources and fishing. Samples of the Leader’s Guide can be found on MinnAqua’s website at www.mndnr.gov/minnaqua – click on the link for the Leader’s Guide. Education trunks on Invasive Species, Aquatic Invertebrates, and Fishing and an EnviroScape watershed model are also available for check-out.

For more information or to schedule a program contact Nadine Meyer at 218-740-2063 or email Nadine.Meyer@state.mn.us.

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