GREAT LAKES MUD
  • Home
  • Pollution
    • Dioxins
    • Heavy Metals
    • NAPL
    • Oil and Grease
    • PAHs
    • PCBs
    • TBT
    • TPH
  • Partnership
    • Great Lakes Legacy Act
    • Cost-Sharing
  • Cleanup Process
    • Project Stages
    • Dredging
    • Dry Excavation
    • Caps and Covers
    • Habitat Restoration
  • Waterbody
    • Indiana >
      • East Branch - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • East Branch Phase II - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • East Chicago Waterways - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Indiana Harbor Canal TSCA - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Lake George Canal Middle & East - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Roxana Marsh - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Stateline - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • West Branch - Grand Calumet River AOC
    • Michigan >
      • Black Lagoon - Detroit River AOC
      • Centennial Park - Detroit River AOC
      • Division Street Outfall - Muskegon Lake AOC
      • Former MGP Site - St. Marys River AOC
      • Lower Rouge River Old Channel - Rouge River AOC
      • River Raisin - River Raisin AOC
      • Riverwalk - Detroit River AOC
      • Ruddiman Creek - Muskegon Lake AOC
      • Ryerson Creek Outfall - Muskegon Lake AOC
      • Tannery Bay - St. Marys River AOC
      • Torch Lake - Torch Lake AOC
      • Upper Trenton Channel - Detroit River AOC
      • Zephyr Site - Muskegon Lake AOC
    • Minnesota >
      • Azcon/DSPA Slip - St. Louis River AOC
      • Minnesota Slip - St. Louis River AOC
      • Munger Landing - St. Louis River AOC
      • Scanlon Reservoir - St. Louis River AOC
      • Slip 3 and Slip C - St. Louis River AOC
      • SLR Interlake/Duluth Tar - St. Louis River AOC
      • Spirit Lake Site - St. Louis River AOC
    • New York >
      • Buffalo River - Buffalo River AOC
    • Ohio >
      • Ashtabula River - Ashtabula River AOC
      • Cuyahoga River Old Channel - Cuyahoga River AOC
      • Gorge Dam - Cuyahoga River AOC
      • Jack's Marine North Slip - Ashtabula River AOC
      • Ottawa River - Maumee AOC
      • Otter Creek - Maumee AOC
    • Wisconsin >
      • Greater Milwaukee Estuary - Milwaukee Estuary AOC
      • Hog Island Inlet - St. Louis River AOC
      • Howards Bay - St. Louis River AOC
      • Kinnickinnic River - Milwaukee Estuary AOC
      • Lincoln Park - Milwaukee Estuary AOC
      • Sheboygan River - Sheboygan River AOC
      • Tyco - Menominee River AOC
    • More coming soon...
  • Education
    • Grade School Curriculum
    • High School Curriculum
    • More Resources >
      • Indiana
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Ohio
      • Wisconsin
  • Contact

Helping Hands

High School Curriculum

Introduction

The Helping Hands curriculum provides an opportunity to engage high school students in Great Lakes environmental stewardship. The lessons and hands-on activities apply to schools located in Great Lakes communities where large-scale environmental cleanup and restoration projects are taking place. Each Helping Hands lesson can be downloaded individually, or the entire curriculum is available as one document. The curriculum alignment with State, Next Generation, and National Science Education Standards can be found in the resources section of each lesson.

Lesson 1: Why Should We Keep the Great Lakes Great?

Students learn about an environmental cleanup in their community, including details about the scope and design. They will
  • Describe the benefits of the Great Lakes.
  • Discuss the effect of historical pollution on today's economy, society and environment. 
  • Describe the technical aspects of an environmental cleanup.

Resources
  1. Download Lesson 1 (PDF, 170 KB)
  2. Download Example File (PDF, 6.9 MB) - editable .PPT file available to teachers upon request
  3. Download Alignment Standards for Lesson 1 (XLS, 27 KB)

Lesson 2: Get the Lowdown on Your Local Water Quality

Students go on a field trip to a remediated portion of their local water body to take water samples, then perform a lab with water test kits to determine water quality. They will
  • Learn how to perform water sampling and data collection, adequately representing a section of the water body.

Resources
  1. Download Lesson 2 (PDF, 302 KB)
  2. Down Alignment Standards for Lesson 2 (XLS, 24 KB)

Lesson 3: Making Environmental Decisions through Data Analysis

Students make conclusions about the site water quality based on results from the data analysis activity. They learn how scientists use various communication strategies to communicate data to different groups and use data to make project-level decisions. They will
  • Analyze data using simple statistics.
  • Make conclusions about the environment using data.
  • Describe different strategies scientists use to communicate data to the public.
  • Explain how scientists use data to make project-level decisions.

Resources
  1. Download Lesson 3 (PDF, 138 KB)
  2. Download Scientific Data PowerPoint (PPT, 4.27 MB)
  3. Download Alignment Standards for Lesson 3 (XLS, 26 KB)

Lesson 4: Dynamic Careers to Clean Up the Environment

Students learn about different careers in the environment as well as the teamwork aspect of environmental cleanups. This lesson includes the option to have a project scientist or engineer visit as a guest speaker to discuss careers and their roles in the cleanup. They will
  • Name important classes to take in high school and college in order to pursue an environmental career. 
  • Describe careers in environmental science and engineering.
  • Describe the teamwork aspect of environmental cleanups.

Resources
  1. Download Lesson 4 (PDF, 122 KB)
  2. Download Career PowerPoint (PPT, 917 KB)
  3. Download Alignment Standards for Lesson 4 (XLS, 20 KB)

Lesson 5: The Real Deal - Cleanup in the Field

Students tour the cleanup site and perform a litter cleanup. They will
  • Become connected to the site through stewardship activities.
  • Develop an understanding of the engineering and science behind the cleanup by seeing it firsthand.

Resources
  1. Download Lesson 5 (PDF, 116 KB)
  2. Download Alignment Standards for Lesson 5 (XLS, 21 KB)

Lesson 6: Meeting the Press

Contact IISG for information on press events related to the cleanup and to learn how to participate. Logistics and timing for the press event will be determined months in advance. Students can simply attend the event to listen to VIP speakers, or
  • A student could give a speech about their involvement.
  • Students could display a poster and answering questions about their water sampling project.
  • Students could grow plants in their classroom and bring them to install onsite.
  • Students could videotape the event and write a blog post or article for the school website.
Resources
  1. Download Lesson 6 (PDF, 93.9 KB)
  2. Download Alignment Standards for Lesson 6 (XLS, 18 KB)

Download High School Curriculum (single PDF)
IISG and GLR logos
Picture
Picture
Picture

Contact Us

Great Lakes Mud c/o Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
Purdue University
195 Marsteller Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2033

​Email: abelle@illinois.edu
© 2019 Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, All Rights Reserved.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant strives to ensure equal access and an
​inclusive environment.
Website last updated December 14, 2022
  • Home
  • Pollution
    • Dioxins
    • Heavy Metals
    • NAPL
    • Oil and Grease
    • PAHs
    • PCBs
    • TBT
    • TPH
  • Partnership
    • Great Lakes Legacy Act
    • Cost-Sharing
  • Cleanup Process
    • Project Stages
    • Dredging
    • Dry Excavation
    • Caps and Covers
    • Habitat Restoration
  • Waterbody
    • Indiana >
      • East Branch - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • East Branch Phase II - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • East Chicago Waterways - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Indiana Harbor Canal TSCA - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Lake George Canal Middle & East - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Roxana Marsh - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • Stateline - Grand Calumet River AOC
      • West Branch - Grand Calumet River AOC
    • Michigan >
      • Black Lagoon - Detroit River AOC
      • Centennial Park - Detroit River AOC
      • Division Street Outfall - Muskegon Lake AOC
      • Former MGP Site - St. Marys River AOC
      • Lower Rouge River Old Channel - Rouge River AOC
      • River Raisin - River Raisin AOC
      • Riverwalk - Detroit River AOC
      • Ruddiman Creek - Muskegon Lake AOC
      • Ryerson Creek Outfall - Muskegon Lake AOC
      • Tannery Bay - St. Marys River AOC
      • Torch Lake - Torch Lake AOC
      • Upper Trenton Channel - Detroit River AOC
      • Zephyr Site - Muskegon Lake AOC
    • Minnesota >
      • Azcon/DSPA Slip - St. Louis River AOC
      • Minnesota Slip - St. Louis River AOC
      • Munger Landing - St. Louis River AOC
      • Scanlon Reservoir - St. Louis River AOC
      • Slip 3 and Slip C - St. Louis River AOC
      • SLR Interlake/Duluth Tar - St. Louis River AOC
      • Spirit Lake Site - St. Louis River AOC
    • New York >
      • Buffalo River - Buffalo River AOC
    • Ohio >
      • Ashtabula River - Ashtabula River AOC
      • Cuyahoga River Old Channel - Cuyahoga River AOC
      • Gorge Dam - Cuyahoga River AOC
      • Jack's Marine North Slip - Ashtabula River AOC
      • Ottawa River - Maumee AOC
      • Otter Creek - Maumee AOC
    • Wisconsin >
      • Greater Milwaukee Estuary - Milwaukee Estuary AOC
      • Hog Island Inlet - St. Louis River AOC
      • Howards Bay - St. Louis River AOC
      • Kinnickinnic River - Milwaukee Estuary AOC
      • Lincoln Park - Milwaukee Estuary AOC
      • Sheboygan River - Sheboygan River AOC
      • Tyco - Menominee River AOC
    • More coming soon...
  • Education
    • Grade School Curriculum
    • High School Curriculum
    • More Resources >
      • Indiana
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Ohio
      • Wisconsin
  • Contact