The following activities have been created with the help of curriculum designers and middle school teachers and in accordance with MCREL Standards and Benchmarks. While all the activities have multidisciplinary components, they have been divided into the areas of math, science, language arts and social studies. All activities are designed to support higher-order thinking skills, cooperative learning, cross-curricular studies, and student centered learning. Above all, the activities are intended to be fun, interesting, and challenging.

The activities are designed to be used with Earth Trails: Mississippi River (ETMR) and with the background material in this handbook. Take time to go through both the background material and the activities before using them in class. Some activities require more teacher preparation and class time. Others require class field trips. Some activities will naturally work better as a culmination project after viewing ETMR. You are encouraged to use them at your discretion.

Lock & Dam Simulation

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