The purpose of this lesson is to understand the importance of the Great Salt Lake in the ecosystem and economy of the state. This was a multi unit lesson that culminated in a trip up to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge for Taylor Bly form Murray School District. Below there are descriptions of this lesson and attached is a lesson document with additional links.
Here Taylor shares how they introduced the lesson. We watched some documentaries on Owens Lake and Mono Lake in California. Both were saline lakes that were terminal lakes that had a buildup of heavy metals from mining. When Owens Lake had all of it’s water diverted to LA, massive dust storms of toxic dust blew and continue to blow all the way down to LA. We related this to what will happen if we do not fix the problem with the Great Salt Lake. Students wrote to their legislators during the session to urge them to pass specific bills to get more water to the lake. HB107 was the bill that was passed which limits the amount of water used on government property grounds.
During this time my students started a project to help raise awareness at our school. They all made posters that talked about the importance of the lake and the urgency for fast solutions.
Watershed Activity
To understand the importance of Watersheds and that what is put in them up-stream effects the terminal location. I had each student build a mountain out of tinfoil. Then I walked around and dropped some food coloring on their mountains. We had talked about mining ahead of time and many of them have played Minecraft which surprisingly helps. I asked what happens to the slag(leftover materials) once they have the mineral they want. They said it’s just garbage and gets dumped. So then, I asked them what happens when it rains? I walked around with a watering can and poured water on their mountains. By this time the food coloring has dried a bit, however, it all starts to run down the mountain and pool up in the pie tin. I asked them what happened and they explained that the leftover is now at the bottom of the mountain in a lake. They then start to draw their own conclusions. What happens if the water dries? The heavy metals will get blown up into the air. This activity REALLY helped them understand the problem we are facing.
-Tin Foil ~$5
-Food Dye ~$6
-Pie Tins ~$10
-Watering Can ~$10
Migratory Bird activity
I created tape paths throughout the room. The students had to get to the end by collecting food(colored pencils) in various parts of the room along the path. If they did not get enough food on their journey, they died. We talked about what happens if the Great Salt Lake is gone and how many migratory birds come through. We then went on a field trip to the refuge to observe all of the birds currently here.
– Tape ~$3
– Colored Pencils(food/energy) ~$5
– Binoculars (Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge provided ours)
– Bird Guides (Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge provided one) (Or Merlin Bird ID app)
