How Water Shapes Michigan

The shape of Michigan is something very unique to us. Anytime you look at a map of the Earth, you can find Michigan in two seconds. If you’re in the Upper Peninsula, you can point to exactly where you are. Or if you want to tell someone where a city is located in Michigan, and you don’t have a map, you can just hold up your hand and point. For those of us born and raised in Michigan, it seems like a completely normal thing to do. The shape of Michigan is really unique, with two separate peninsulas to tell the story of how our state was shaped into the land we see today. Water has been the predominant factor in shaping Michigan, starting with glaciers over ten million years ago, to rivers, rain and lakes that still shape it today. Water

People often wonder how the continents, states, and other landforms develop their shape and structure. Our earth, continents, countries, and states developed over billions of years and water played a huge roll in the development, shape, and structure. Within this exploratory essay you will gain knowledge on how Michigan, specifically, was shaped and how water affects the state in many ways and will continue to do so every single day until the earth ceases to exist.

1.The term "Three Fires" refers to the dominant tribes in Michigan during the early 1600s. The three tribes were:

It takes all of them to change the land to where it was thousands of years ago. It is still changing today, and will continue to change for as long as we can imagine. The causes range from human causes to natural causes. The beautiful state of Michigan is a prime example of how water has shaped us to what we are now. We take for granted the beautiful Great Lakes we have. We need to conserve what we have. We are lucky enough to have such a beautiful lake such as Lake Superior that we need to count our blessings and remember that it could be taken away within

Although there is no starting or ending point of this cycle, most of the water on the Earth is found in the ocean. When the sun heats the ocean, some water evaporates as vapor into the air and some water turns to vapor directly from its solid form. Water can also be evaporated as it is transpired from plants and soil. Because the atmosphere has cooler temperatures, this water than condenses and it can be moved by air currents as clouds. Particles can fall from the sky as precipitation as rain or snow. Some of this can accumulate into glaciers. As temperatures rise, this condensed snow will begin to melt and flow into bodies of water or into the ground. Most of this water will end up back in the ocean. This process continues to cycle and water changes states and continues moving constantly (The USGS Water, 2015). Because of all of these different forms of water, Michigan has been changed over and over throughout the past millions of years and the land forms we see now were affected by all of the changes and the movement that water goes through.

The great lakes have certainly influenced Michigan’s unique shape and distinctive mitten shape, however those lakes aren’t the only sources of water that contribute. There are over 36,000 miles of rivers and streams throughout the state of Michigan that have also helped shape the land we enjoy today. Rivers help shape landscapes through erosion and the transportation and deposition of

Grannemann, N., R. Hunt, J. Nicholas, T. Reilly, and T. Winter. "The Importance of Ground Water in the Great Lakes Region." Water-Resources Investigations Report 00–4008 (2000): 1-14. US Geology. United States Department of the Interior. Web. 23 Nov. 2014. <http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/pubs/WRI004008/WRIR_00-4008.pdf>.

Lake deposits are primarily fine-grained clay- and silt-size sediments. The most extensive area of lake deposits is in north- ern Ohio bordering Lake Erie. These deposits, and adjacent areas of wave-planed ground moraine, are the result of sedimentation and erosion by large lakes that occupied the Erie basin as Wisconsinan-age ice retreated into Canada. Other lake deposits accumulated in stream valleys whose outlets were temporarily dammed by ice or outwash. Many outwash-dammed lake deposits are present in southeastern Ohio far beyond the glacial boundary. Peat deposits are associated with many lake deposits and formed through the accu- mulation of partially decayed aquatic vegetation in oxygen-depleted, stagnant water.

Relationships of rocks and their qualities are apparent ubiquitously and are comparable between Clear Creek a nearby Valley Wall. Comparability between Clear Creek and a nearby Illinois River location also display an ever-present relationship of their discharge. Through USGS, the discharge of streams and springs correlate two water types; karst development.

Deposition is when rocks, sand and sediment are deposited by erosion. Numerous causes affect when and where deposition occurs once the sediments of the land have been eroded. The speed of the wind and water is the main importance because wind and water slows heavier sediments, that and then dropped out of the soulution and deposited. The mass and size of sediment also affects the rate of deposition because larger, more heavier particles are deposited by wind and water before smaller, less heavy particles. The shape of sediment also has an effect on how sediments are depositioned. Round pieces of sediment settle more quickly than flat pieces (Deposition Facts for

71 percent of the earth’s surface is made of water. 97 percent of earths water is saline water and not safe for human consumption. This leaves just 3 percent of earth’s water as fresh water most of which is icecaps and glaciers. 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth is found in icecaps and glaciers. 30 percent of fresh water is found in ground water leaving around .3 percent of earth’s water as surface fresh water. Of the .3 percent of surface fresh water the great lakes make up 84% of North America 's surface fresh water and about 21% of the world 's supply of surface fresh water. ("Great Lakes Facts and Figures." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.)

Date submitted by teacher* Date checked Date recorded Date activated Responsible animator** Content provider CAPS page numbers Textbook name ; reference page numbers Time taken to create Lesson breakdown Order of clip Name of clip Medium of clip 1 Objectives 2 Underground hydrological cycle 3 Sequence of underground runoff 4 Importance of the underground hydrological cycle 5 Recap 6 7 8 9 10 Quiz Quiz Number of questions Yes 10   Product summary/description After this lesson, you should be able to: Understand where the underground hydrological cycle fits into the entire hydrological cycle Describe and explain the processes that take place with the movement of water underground Understand the vital importance that underground flow has for the hydrological cycle over land Details of animation needed  Details of pictured needed to be drawn  01 Objectives Underground hydrological cycle Sequence of underground runoff Importance of the underground hydrological cycle Recap   02 Underground hydrological cycle

Water covers almost 75% of the earth’s surface and is undoubtedly our most precious natural resource that exists on our planet today. There won’t be any living organism on our planet without water. Water Pollution occurs when a body of water is severely affected due to addition of large amount of materials to the water.[Missouri Botanical Garden]

I was born and raised right here in the beautiful state of Michigan. Michigan is a unique place because it is two separate peninsulas connected by a bridge and separated by the Mackinac Straits. In short, us Michigan natives have grown up surrounded by water. Michigan has about 58,000 sq. miles of land and 38,000 miles of water. The majority of the water that makes up Michigan is formed from the Great Lakes: No point in Michigan is more than 6 miles away from one of the Great Lakes. It is clear that water is a big part of the composition of this state.

The water cycle, also called the hydrologic cycle, operates similarly to biogeochemical cycles in which plant and animal nutrients move through the atmosphere, the earth, and through living things. The