The+Great+Lakes


 * THE GRAT LAKES**
 * PAGE 180**
 * Questions 7 through 12,**
 * Listen as an instructor leads a discussion of some material in a a geography class.**
 * //(instructor)// o Today we're going to be reviewing**
 * some information about the Great Lakes,**
 * and we're going to see that traditional**


 * beliefs about the Great Lakes do not reflect scientific reality.• First of all, can you identify the Great Lakes on this map? Hannah?**
 * Lake Superior is the largest and**
 * northernmost of the five Great Lakes. The two smaller lakes to the southeast of the other lakes are Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The two lakes in the middle are Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.**
 * All right. Now I'm going to ask a question that sounds like an easy question but really isn't. This deceptively easy question is, which of the Great Lakes is the largest? lack?**
 * It seems like an easy question because,**
 * on the map, you can clearly see that Lake Superior is the largest, and any almanac of world information lists Lake Superior as the worlds largest freshwater lake.**
 * But I know Lake Superior really isn't the answer you want.**
 * And do you know why Lake Superior**
 * isn't the answer I was looking for to the question about which Great Lake is the la**
 * Yes, I think so. I believe I read that**
 * scientists who have studied the**
 * interactions of the lakes have found that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron actually interact as one lake.**
 * That's exactly right. ... So, in reality,**
 * which of the Great Lakes is the largest? In reality, Lakes Michigan and Huron together are one lake. You could say that Lake Michigan-Huron is the largest of the Great Lakes and the world's largest**
 * OK. e Now, let's go over the arguments for considering Lake Huron and Lake Michigan one lake rather than two. Pat? Well, first of all, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are at the same elevation. and they are connected by the Mackinac Strait, which is also at the same**
 * elevation. If they were two distinct lakes, they might be divided by a stream or a river. However, the Mackinac Strait is not a stream or a river. Instead, it is a body**
 * of water that is 3 to 5 miles wide, wider than most lakes.**
 * That's right. So what does this mean? Mackinac Strait is not a river that separates two lakes; instead, it could be argued that there is one giant lake,**
 * Michigan-Huron, and this one giant lake narrows at the spot known as Mackinac**
 * Strait.**
 * Not bad at all, Pat. I couldn't have done**
 * better. Now let's see if some of the rest of you can match that. What about you, Hannah? What about the flow of**
 * water between Lake Michigan and Lake**
 * Huron?!**
 * The flow of water between the two**
 * lakes can reverse. Whenever~there's an**
 * imbalance in the water levels in the**
 * two lakes, the water levels can equalize rapidly, in either direction.**
 * //(instructor)// Very good, Hannah. And what does this**
 * mean?**
 * //(Hannah)// It means that if the water level becomes higher in Lake Huron, water will flow from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, and if the water level becomes higher**
 * in Lake Michigan. water will flow from**
 * Lake Michigan into Lake Huron.**
 * //(instructor)// So the flow of water between the two lakes can move in either direction, from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan or from Lake Michigan into Lake Huron, and the water levels in Huron and Michigan will**
 * always equalize. What conclusion can be**
 * drawn from this information? Pat?**
 * This means that the two lakes, Michigan and Huron, are, in reality, acting like one lake instead of two.**
 * //(instructor)// Exactly. You seem to have a good understanding of this material. I'll see you at the next session.**
 * 7. WHATIS THE INSTRUCTOR'S MAIN POINT?**
 * 8. WHY DOES THE INSTRUCTOR SAYTHIS:**
 * //(instructor)// Now I'm going to ask a question that**
 * sounds like an easy question but really isn't.**
 * 9. WHICH OF THE GREAT LAKES HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN CONSIDERED THE LARGEST?**
 * 10. LISTEN AGAIN TO PART OF THE PASSAGE.THEN ANSWER THE QUESTION.**
 * //(instructor)// Not bad at all, Pat. I couldn't have done better. Now let's see if some of the rest of you can match that. What about**
 * you, Hannah? What about the flow of water between Lake Michigan and Lake**
 * Huron?**
 * HOW DOES THE PROFESSOR SEEM TO FEE.L ABOUTTHE STUDENT'S RESPONSE?**
 * 11. IS EACH OF THESE TRUE ABOUT LAKES MICHIGANAND HURON?**
 * 12. WHAT CAN BE INFERRED FROM THE**
 * DISCUSSION?**

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater seas located in northeastern North America, on the Canada - United States border. Lake Superior is the largest and northernmost of the five Great Lakes. The two smaller lakes to the southeast of the other lakes are the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The two lakes in the middle are Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Any almanac of world information lists Lake Superior as the world's largest freshwater lake, but scientists who have studied the interactions of the lakes have found that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron actually interact as one lake. First of all, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are at the same elevation, and they are connected by the Mackinac Strait, which is also at the same elevation. If they were two distinct lakes, they might be divided by a stream or a river. However, the Mackinac Strait is not a stream or a river. Instead, it is a body of water that is 3 to 5 miles wide, wider than most lakes. That means Mackinac Strait is not a river that separates two lakes, and Lakes Michigan and Huron together are one lake, and this one giant lake narrows at the spot known as Mackinac Strait. The flow of water between the two lakes can reverse. Whenever there's an imbalance in the water levels in the two lakes, the water levels can equalize rapidly, in either direction. It means that if the water level becomes higher in Lake Huron, water will flow from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, and if the water level becomes higher in Lake Michigan, water will flow from Lake Michigan into Lake Huron. Thus, two lakes, Michigan and Huron, are, in reality, acting like one lake instead of two, and Lake Michigan-Huron, not Lake Superior, is the largest of the Great Lakes and the world's largest freshwater lake.

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