Rivers are like arteries, bringing life to the region surrounding them, washing away waste, purifying the environment with their biotic and abiotic processes. Just like in the body, natural communities thrive when the flow is swift and pure and healthy. But just like a body, rivers are there to be used. The native tribes say; think like a river, and you will bring health to her and all she touches. Others say that rivers are tools to be used for efficient support of modern civilization, and should be maximized in such use. Whose perspective is right? Is there a way to do both?
The Ottaway is a case study of the issues that people everywhere are facing in regards to river health and the environmental impact of human activity. It is told though the voices of the people who care about the river, rely on its functions, and want to share their perspectives on what impending change means to them. Through their stories your students will hear the facts and experience the emotional impacts that helped community leaders make decisions on natural resource use such as logging, hydroelectric dams, fishing and boating. Through viewing scientific research methods used to gather data, your students will understand how data is collected and analyzed to determine the health of a fishery – which is the marker for overall river health.
The ultimate question is can humans take advantage of a natural resource without consequences? And if a resource is impacted by human activity, is there a way back? Experience The Ottaway to find your answers in two ways: 1) Watch all the classroom videos at the top of this page, or watch the full one-hour Emmy-winning film, 2) Have your teacher download the classroom Discussion Guide below for a healthy exchange of peer-driven, critical thinking and learning.
Do you want to wade into the murky science of understanding our wetland ecosystems? Discover the answers by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Companion Discussion Guide at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
Join our team of explorers discovers how water cycles, wetland ecology, biodiversity, invasive species, and related human influences impact our lives. Historic and modern impacts from society have shaped the vital role that wetlands play in the water cycle. That directly affects the survival challenges faced by the species within the wetlands ecological pyramid. But this study of wetlands ecology also ripples far beyond the waters in the marshes. That’s why understanding how to manage our shrinking wetlands is vital to so many things in our everyday lives.
So encourage your teacher to download some of the free classroom lesson guides below that companion the online videos to help you expand the pools of your Wetlands Wisdom!
Of course water curious students and educators can learn all about the various roles of water in our lives by exploring Project WET's Discover Water. Just follow the link and dive into all the learning there.
As a bonus to high school educators, follow this link to Project Learning Tree's Biodiversity online educational materials.
In Protecting Forests, Enhancing Lives two girls examine the perception that clear cutting forests is destroying the natural environment by visiting forests and professionals that work with production forests. What they find surprises them - the apparent destruction of clear cutting the trees is actually a method of forest regeneration and invigoration. They learn about the methods of several career foresters in their inquiry, and observe trees in all stages of growth, harvest, and transformation into wood products.
Learn more on this topic by exploring the links below:
Logging in the Great Lakes States
“Track that Product” lesson plan and kit for teachers from LEAF
Deforestation vs. Forest Management
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners.
This page offers a chance for you to see the entire Emmy-winning film in HD. It also provides link to the classroom educational films and lesson activities related to this production. Simply click on the link below to explore some of the classroom educational films, lessons and resources on river restoration.
Throughout this website you'll also find over 100 classroom educational films on science, nature and the environment, all with free companion lesson activities or discussion guides to empower students with peer-driven learning in school. Teachers will find abundant background and other supporting educational resources.
As you'll see, the story of the Ottaway is told through the hearts of minds of over 30 various stakeholders, as they confront the challenges of turning back the hands of time by removing the three upper dams and modifying a fourth to once again connecting the region’s major coldwater river with the waters of Lake Michigan. This film weaves together strong Native American values, the complexity of a changing society, and the unspoken voices of nature’s population of “environmental citizens” whose lives are interwoven with… the rebirth of the Ottaway.
With funding support from the Grand Traverse Band of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, this documentary film also offers a blueprint on how communities across Michigan can navigate the challenges of dealing with the state’s 2500 outdated dams that face similar fates as those near Traverse City.
Over two years in the making, this film was produced by Dan Bertalan, an Emmy-winning documentary producer with deep roots in Michigan and environmental justice. This film recently won an Emmy from the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The film was broadcast via CMU Public Television and public television affiliates across Michigan. Also, the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America awarded the film honors as the top Conservation Documentary in their national awards.
Plans are already underway for a sequel documentary as the final chapter of the river unfolds with the building of a state-of-the-art selective fish passage that will once again connect spawning fish from the Great Lakes with historic waters they haven’t been able to reach in over 100 years.
History shows that rivers are essential to building thriving communities, but who does a river really belong to? The Ottaway describes the life and livelihood a river provides to both human and natural communities through the perspectives of all who depend on it. Explore with your students the struggle for balance and viability that humans must mitigate to both use rivers to support cities and keep natural areas healthy for wildlife.
History shows that rivers are essential to building thriving communities, but who does a river really belong to? The Ottaway describes the life and livelihood a river provides to both human and natural communities through the perspectives of all who depend on it. Explore with your students the struggle for balance and viability that humans must mitigate to both use rivers to support cities and keep natural areas healthy for wildlife.