Westminster University Logo

In This Site

The Great Salt Lake Institute provides K-12 lesson plans, experiments, labs, and activities that are free to use in hopes that it can serve all teachers who want to bring Great Salt Lake into their classrooms, or their classrooms to Great Salt Lake.

If you have more K-12 lesson plans, experiments, labs, and activities related to Great Salt Lake, please email gslinstitute@westminsteru.edu.

collecting rock samples at Great Salt Lake

group of people at the edge of Great Salt Lake at sunset

K–12 Lesson Plans, Experiments, Labs, and Activities

Great Salt Lake is Changing Lesson Plan

Lesson Description 

In this lesson students will explore the phenomenon of a shrinking lake. By observing aerial photos and analyzing lake elevation over time students will discover that Great Salt Lake is shrinking and will develop and use a model to understand why. Through a simulation game and exploration students will learn about the effects of a shrinking lake and what we can do.

Teaching overview

  • Day 1 – Engage with the ways that Great Salt Lake is changing by examining images, graphs, and data sets related to the change in lake levels over time.
  • Day 2 – Explore the question: “What is causing Great Salt Lake to shrink?”
  • Day 3 – Take a look at the ways a shrinking lake can affect organisms within Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
  • Day 4 – Explain the effects of the shrinking lake with research on ecosystem services.
  • Day 5­ and 6 – Elaborate by evaluating projects to preserve the lake.
  • Day 7 – Evaluate with an argument for why we should not divert more water from Great Salt Lake.

Accompanying Resources

Author of Curriculum: Megan Black

Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Lesson Plan

The lesson plan connected to the above link provides an eight-day flow of educational activities in which students use Great Salt Lake ecosystem to explore food webs and how changes in living and nonliving factors affect different populations. The lesson fulfills Standards 6.4.3 and 6.4.4.

Teaching overview

  • Day 1 and 2 – Engage students with images of Great Salt Lake and Set up a “Great Salt Lake Museum” with various learning stations.
  • Day 3 and 4 – Explore Great Salt Lake food web.
  • Day 5 and 6 – Explore the effect of salinity levels on brine shrimp populations.
  • Day 7 – Explore the effect of salinity for other populations in the ecosystem.
  • Day 8 – Evaluate student learning. Students are columnists for a local paper, and must write a letter to a reader who has asked, “Is Great Salt Lake a ‘dead sea’?”

Accompanying Resources

Author of Curriculum: Megan Black

Great Salt Lake is Salty Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will compare water from a fresh lake to water from Great Salt Lake to begin to build a conceptual model for how salt dissolves in water. The lesson focuses on students using and developing models of molecules to build a better understanding of the particle nature of matter.

Teaching Overview

  • Day 1 – Students will engage with samples of water and explore salinity by investigating dissolving salt.
  • Day 2 – Students will experience molecular models of dissolving and evaporating to better understand the salinity of the lake.
  • Day 3 – Students will elaborate by asking the question, “Where does the salt in Great Salt Lake come from?”
  • Day 4 – Students will use models of the Great Salt Lake and their knowledge will be evaluated with individual explanations of what they have learned.

Accompanying Resources 

Author of Curriculum: Megan Black

Floating on Great Salt Lake Lesson Plan

Through exploring the phenomenon that it is easier to float on salt water than on fresh water, students will develop a conceptual model for molecules and how the arrangement of molecules affects density. 

Teaching Overview

  • Day 1 – Students will engage with models of floating on Great Salt Lake and explore by comparing weights of salt water and fresh water.
  • Day 2 – Students will learn about why salt water is denser through conceptual models.
  • Day 3 – Students will compare the densities of fresh water, salt water, and an egg as well as read about floating objects in order to elaborate on the lessons from previous days.
  • Day 4 – Students’ knowledge will be evaluated through explanatory models.

Accompanying Resources

Author of Curriculum: Megan Black

Pelicans on Gunnison Island Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will explore interactions between a population and the environment as they learn about why so many American white pelicans spend the spring and summer on Gunnison Island in Great Salt Lake. 

Teacher Overview

  • Day 1 – Students will engage with images of Gunnison Island and pelicans.
  • Day 2 – Students will use data to explore where pelicans find food.
  • Day 3 – Students will read articles about pelicans.
  • Day 4 – Students will elaborate on environmental changes and be evaluated through written explanations.

Accompanying Resources

Author of Curriculum: Megan Black

View full lesson plan.

Lesson Summary

  • Read the book Aipimpa
  • Learn about and write using figurative language
  • Use chalk pastels and collage techniques to illustrate a personification sentence
  • Explore the importance of water to the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute

Time Duration: Two sessions each 30-45 minutes 
 
Lesson Objectives

  • Locate Ibapah, Utah and the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation on a map. 
  • Identify and interpret figurative language in text. 
  • Write a personification sentence. 
  • Experiment with chalk and use a variety of techniques to illustrate a personification sentence. 
  • Use art vocabulary to describe illustrations in the book Aipimpa and individually created artwork.

Source: Created in Partnership with BYU Arts Partnership and Brolly Arts. All materials are the property of Brolly Arts and BYU Arts Partnership© Learn more about the partnership.

Bird Beak Adaptation Facilitation Guide

This activity explores the ways that different local birds have adapted to their environment and their food sources. The activity looks specifically at how different birds have evolved with different types of beaks to gather specific foods. Students will get the chance to collect food with various types of "beaks" (tongs, chopsticks, ladles, etc.) and draw conclusions about the role and importance of adaptation.

Bird Detective Activity

This is a short activity that teaches participants what an ornithologist is and introduces them to the feeding habits of Loggerhead Shrikes.

Time required: 15–30 minutes

Brine shrimp are the largest animals that live in Great Salt Lake. This unique organism has several adaptations that help it survive in its extreme environment. Use the Brine Fly Life Cycle worksheet (Brine Shrimp Life Cycle Student Page (fillable pdf) the to accompanying the Brine Shrimp Life Cycle activity on Learn.Genetics.

Learning Objective

  • Brine Shrimp have a five-stage life cycle.

Accompanying PDF

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center.

Students classify Great Salt Lake organisms by placing illustrations on a tree representing the three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

Learning Objective

  • There are three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. 
  • Great Salt Lake is home to a diversity of organisms.

Accompanying PDF

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center. 

A simple protocol for culturing samples from Great Salt Lake to observe microbial growth. This activity can be integrated with a field trip to Great Salt Lake, where students can collect samples, or the Winogradsky Columns wet lab. Water samples, solid samples, or samples from Winogradsky columns incubated from the lake can be used. Additional "challenges" (optional) task students with extending or modifying the protocol to test the response of Great Salt Lake Microbes to different abiotic factors, or pollutants present at the lake.

Tip: Differentiate instruction by assigning the additional challenges to different groups of students and pool results. Results from students following the Culturing Great Salt Lake Microbes protocol will serve as the control group.

Learning Objective

Microbes are everywhere, even if you can't see them. 
If you give microbes the proper nutrients and growing conditions they will grow and reproduce to form visible colonies.

Different kinds of microbes form colonies with different colors, textures and shapes. 
Great Salt Lake microbes grow in a range of abiotic factors (optional: see Abiotic Factors Challenge). 
Pollutants may affect the growth of microbes (optional: see Pollutants Challenge). 
 
Accompanying PDF(s)

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center. 

Field-based experiences are a phenomenal way to learn about Great Salt Lake and the Great Salt Lake Institute has been a part of taking students to the lake for many years. These resources are a field trip guide based on successful field trips the institute has run in the past. The resources are meant to equip teachers with everything they need to facilitate a meaningful trip to the lake. Information is provided concerning everything from the planning phase all the way through the field trip and back to your school's campus.

This game is designed to teach students about the magnification of toxic chemicals as they make their way through successive trophic levels. Students will each get assigned a type of organism at the beginning of the game and as the organisms interact (eat one another) toxic chemicals (colored chips) will be passed through the food web, accumulating at higher trophic levels. 

Time required: 30–45 minutes

Build the Great Salt Lake food web with cut and paste graphics. Use this before, during, or after exploring the interactive Great Salt Lake Food information on Learn.Genetics.

Learning Objective

  • Organisms in an ecosystem can be arranged into a food chain by what they eat. 
  • Food chains in an ecosystem are often linked, creating a food web. 
  • Some organisms make their own energy—they are called producers. 
  • Some organisms eat other organisms to obtain energy.

Accompanying PDF

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center. 

This bird guide contains concise information about 12 of the most common birds spotted at Great Salt Lake. The guide includes a photograph of each bird as well as a detailed description of the bird, its scientific name, its voice, its habitat, and its nesting habits. 

Creator of guide: Hatley Laughridge

Guide to Common Great Salt Lake Birds

Brine shrimp are an essential part of Great Salt Lake ecosystem, and the commercial brine shrimp industry generates $40–60 million each year. In this activity, students experiment to determine the effect of abiotic factors on the hatch rates of this important organism.

Time required: 20–30 minutes to gather supplies, 90 minutes of class time for setup and design, 1–2 days to hatch brine shrimp.

In addition to completing the "Hatch-a-Cyst" activity, students may be interesting in seeing what brine shrimp look like in action. The Great Salt Lake Ecosystem program brochure provides step-by-step instructions for hatching brine shrimp in a miniature ecosystem. The brochure is also a great resource for extra information about brine shrimp and their life cycle. 
 
Accompanying PDF(s):

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center.

Brine shrimp populations survive in some of the harshest environments. Subject brine shrimp cysts to extreme conditions then try to hatch them to see just how tough they are!

Learning Objective

  • Some organisms have adaptations that allow them to survive in extreme environments
  • Brine shrimp cysts are very hardy and can survive a number of extreme conditions

Accompanying PDF(s)

Time required: 20–30 minutes to gather supplies, 90 minutes of class time for setup and design, 1–2 days to hatch brine shrimp.

Prior Knowledge Needed: Brine shrimp life cycle

Materials (for each lab group):

  • Student Pages 
  • 0.25 g brine shrimp cysts (available from a number of biological supply companies) 
  • 100 mL 3% salt solution (dissolve 3 g non-iodized salt such as sea salt or Instant OceanTM in
  • 100 mL tap or deionized water) 
  • 100 mL or larger container for hatching the cysts 
  • Aquarium pump and flexible tubing (optional) 
  • Various materials to mimic environmental extremes

Before doing the lab: Order brine shrimp cysts (often referred to as brine shrimp eggs) from any biological supply company (see quantity at right). Cysts will come dried and will keep for years.

Activity Instructions

  • Give each student the Abuse-A-Cyst Student Pages. Help students think of environmental extremes cysts at the Great Salt Lake are likely to encounter. Extreme environments that can be reproduced by students in the lab include: 
    • Extreme Heat - Bake the cysts in an oven, immerse them in boiling water. 
    • Extreme Cold — Use a freezer, dry ice, or liquid nitrogen. 
    • Dehydration — A food dehydrator on the "herb" setting works well. 
    • pH — Soak them in acidic or alkaline solutions (vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda etc.). 
    • UV radiation — Use a UV light box, or a goggle cabinet sterilizer. 
    • Wildfire — Soak the cysts in alcohol and light them on fire! 
    • Digestion — Mix cysts with pepsin and/or hydrochloric acid. 
    • Chemical/Toxin Exposure — Expose cysts to acetone, yard care chemicals, insecticides or auto care chemicals. 
    • Salinity — Mix a concentrated salt solution with non-iodized salt (calculate percentage salinity in grams per 100 mL) 
  • Have students work in groups or individually to design and conduct their experiments. Provide salt solution and containers in which students can hatch their treated cysts. Aerating the hatching containers with an aquarium pump and flexible tubing is ideal, but brine shrimp cysts can still hatch without it.
  • Tip: If subjecting cysts to a chemical treatment, be sure students avoid contaminating the hatching environment by using water and a fine filter (such as a nylon stocking) to wash the treatment off of the cysts prior to placing them in the hatching containers.

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center.

Illusion of Abundance is a grassroots film project addressing social, racial, and climate justice issues relating to the rapid decline of Great Salt Lake (Great Salt Lake). It exposes a climate and culture in crisis directly related to the immediate shrinking of Great Salt Lake.

Watch the Illusion of Abundance trailer.

Accompanying PDF

Source: Created in Partnership with BYU Arts Partnership and Brolly Arts. All materials are the property of Brolly Arts and BYU Arts Partnership©

Learn more about the partnership.

Great Salt Lake is divided into a variety of regions, each with its own defining characteristics. For this activity, there is a worksheet that students can use to record information from the Meet the Microenvironments online activity.

Learning Objective

  • Islands, rivers and man–made structures create diverse areas around Great Salt Lake. 
  • Areas around Great Salt Lake have unique characteristics. 
  • Abiotic factors combine to create microenvironments. 
  • Meet the Microenvironment Student Page (fillable pdf) 

Accompanying PDF

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center. 

 

Oolitic sand, the type of sand found on Great Salt Lake's beaches, is a unique geological component of the area. Oolitic sand is found only in a few locations around the world. It forms when minerals present in the water gather around a small particle in the water (often a brine shrimp fecal pellet). The large white beaches at Antelope Island, Spiral Jetty, and near the Great Saltair are all composed of oolitic sand. This lab will have students combine different substances with oolitic sand and determine whether or not a reaction has occurred.

This activity is an experiential way for students to learn about the challenges a pelican might face in their effort to migrate and breed each year. In this activity, students put themselves in the shoes of American White Pelicans living in Great Salt Lake ecosystem. Students will have four "lives" as pelicans and will do their best to survive as they move to various locations (stations set up by the facilitator). Each location represents a real place a pelican might be found migrating, nesting, feeding, etc. At each location, students will learn about various environmental factors that affect pelican populations. 

This document outlines a simple interactive method for designing and conducting experiments. Students get to interact with the document by filling in blanks, placing and replacing sticky notes, and drawing a graph. The structure of the document can help guide students through a broad variety of experimental contexts.

This is a facilitation guide for a short interactive activity that allows students to taste the salinity of various parts of Great Salt Lake in comparison to the salinity of ocean water.

View the full lesson plan.
 
Lesson Summary

  • Create melodies based on contour lines 
  • Learn how water plays an important role for the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation 
  • Explore how humans can balance everyday needs while conserving water

Time Duration: Four sessions each 30-45 minutes

Lesson Objectives

  • Understand more about the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation. 
  • Compose melodies.  
  • Notate melodies with iconic notation (contour lines).
  • Describe feelings conveyed by a music selection. 
  • Relate music to personal and social experience. 
  • Design solutions or evaluate design solutions whose primary function is to conserve
  • Earth’s environments and resources. 
  • Distinguish between land and water on maps and globes. 
  • Identify leaders of social and political movements.

Source: Created in Partnership between BYU Arts Partnership and Brolly Arts. All materials are the property of Brolly Arts and BYU Arts Partnership©. Learn more about the partnership.

Water Cycle Bracelet Facilitation Guide

This is a short activity designed to teach students about the flow of a water molecule through Great Salt Lake water cycle. Students will pretend to be a water molecule as they travel through the cycle (from one station to another) and build a bracelet that represent their journey. This activity is an experiential tool to show students how water moves, and to get them thinking about the importance of the water cycle to living things. 

This document helps students explore some of the things that make the north arm of Great Salt Lake unique and interesting. It can be difficult to gather the resources to physically take students to explore the north arm of the lake. Although it's not quite the same as being there, this webquest is a great way to expose students to this unique section of the lake.

Author of webquest: Wendy Roberts

Wetlands Web Facilitation Guide

This activity, designed by the Tracy Aviary, is an experiential way to illustrate the connections between various parts of Utah's wetland ecosystems. Each student is assigned a living or nonliving thing that is a part of a wetland ecosystem. Students are then asked to make connections between one another, utilizing a string that gradually unravels from one organism to the next. At the end of the activity, the string connects all the organisms and the interdependence of the individuals becomes evident. View the full facilitation guide with more details for framing the activity and debriefing suggestions.

Time required: 30–45 minutes

A Winogradsky column is a simple microbial ecosystem easily cultivated in a jar or other container. In this activity students use sediment and water samples from Great Salt Lake or another local ecosystem to cultivate and compare microbial life from various locations.

Time required: 1–3 hours for sampling (if you go to Great Salt Lake), 60 minutes of class time to build columns, 10–15 minutes weekly to observe changes for several weeks to three months.

Other notes: The "Turbidity Measurement" document can be used to gauge the opaqueness of the water in your Winogradsky columns over time. The opaqueness, or turbidity, of the water can be an indicator of the quantity of life in your miniature ecosystems.

Accompanying PDF(s)

Source: This was developed in collaboration with Great Salt Lake Institute and the Genetic Science Learning Center.