Lake Lesson Plans

**Data available for use in some lesson plans:

Lake George's RUSS unit is no longer working, but data from 2002 and 2003 is still available at www.ourlake.org or lakeaccess.org.

To look at data from some of the Finger Lakes, go to http://waterontheweb.org/data/george/index.html

Balancing Act

The Balancing Act is designed to teach students that the needs of man and nature often need to be balanced. It’s easy for everybody to be in favor of protecting the environment in theory, but in reality, that’s often difficult to achieve. Students will be assigned to different groups to debate a development taking place on Lake George’s Long Island. The setting is a planning board meeting. This lesson will help students become more aware of the real issues their towns face on a regular basis, and how compromise is often a big part of development.
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Sell Me A Bridge

This lesson will test students on their ability to read a map, and will lead to discussions on how building a bridge might have an impact on the environment. The second portion of this lesson is a debate on whether or not the bridge should be allowed to be built. Students will take different roles to look at all aspects of the bridge- how will it affect the economy and how will it affect the environment.
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Eutrophication: The Aging of a Lake

Students will learn about eutrophication and algal growth from experiments they do in the classroom.
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Last of the Mohicans

Take a look at a classic novel. Students will compare and contrast Lake George then and Lake George now.
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Human Influence on Water Quality

A 5-6 day curriculum outline for learning about Lake George and human impacts on water quality.
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What Determines Water Quality?

Students will have a better understanding of pH as a water quality parameter. Students will also begin to think about what makes a body of water healthy. This lesson can be used as an introduction to other water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen.
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Topographical Maps

Students will interpret a topographical map in Exercise 1. Exercise 2 reinforces map interpretation and has students delineate a watershed.
Click here to view this lesson plan.  Click for lesson plan with answer key. (Password protected. Contact the LGA.)