Final Project

Weather/Climate Unit - Earth's Atmosphere

Introduction: This project is designed to help students acquire knowledge about the atmosphere that will assist them in their subsequent study of weather and climate. Included are online and digital activities that students will complete individually and as a class. It is presented in a facilitator-friendly format which includes content knowledge and activities. It will be made available to students via a class website on a weekly schedule.

Content Objectives:

• Compare the properties of the ocean to that of the atmosphere.
• Explain the development of Earth’s atmosphere and the influence of early life on the atmosphere.
• Discuss the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.
• Explain how temperature and pressure change with altitude.
• Describe the layers of the Earth’s atmosphere.
• Discuss the production and importance of ozone in the atmosphere & possible effects of losing it.
• Describe what happens to radiation that reaches the Earth.
• Summarize and give examples of the processes of radiation, conduction,  and convection.
• Explain how the greenhouse effect might contribute to global warming.
• Explain the relationship between air pressure and wind direction.
• Describe the global patterns of wind.
• Explain the causes of local wind patterns.
• Describe the major types of air pollution and their causes.
• Explain how air pollution can affect human health, even for those far removed from the source.
• Explain how air pollution can be reduced.

Activities/Assignments to be Completed: 
Complete all Online Activities
View all Online Media
Finish all Written/Digital Assignments
     Questions Ozone Layer
     Questions Energy Transfer
     Make a Table Showing the Characteristics of Primary & Secondary Pollutants
     Essay Acid Precipitation
Finish all Labeled Diagrams
     Layers of the Atmosphere
     Major Pressure and Wind Belts
     Four Different Types of Local Winds
Complete Preview to Review - include term, definition, & image with URL

Scope and Sequence:

Introduction

NASA Composite Satellite Image of North America

Reveal Earthʼs Atmosphere  Compares properties of oceans with that of the atmosphere - “ocean of air above us” (e.g. eddies, waves, pressure, fluid, & surfing).

NASA Weather Satellite IR Pictures 

Origin of Atmosphere

TD Life Before Oxygen

• early earth volcanoes spewed carbon dioxide and water
• photosynthetic cyanobacteria used CO2 and water and produced oxygen as a byproduct
• oxygen and ozone in atmosphere allowed other life forms to evolve
• oxygen was poisonous to other primitive organisms present; which either died or hid in places that oxygen couldn’t get to them, like volcanic vents.
• these life forms live there still and can be studied to help us understand that part of earth history

ACTIVITY:    Vocabulary (What do you already know or can find without assistance?) Create a three column table which includes term, definition, and an image with URL for each term.
atmosphere, air pressure, wind, altitude, ozone, radiation, conduction, convection, energy budget, greenhouse effect, global warming, Coriolis effect, primary pollutants, secondary pollutants, and acid precipitation 

Composition of Atmosphere

Composition of Earth's Atmosphere

Layers of the Atmosphere - Atmospheric gases (fluid like ocean) are layered due to different temperatures & densities.

TD Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere (interactive)

• Pressure and density of atmosphere decreases with increasing distance from earth.
• Temperature variations are not as consistent but are used to define the four atmospheric layers.
• The four layers are: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, and Thermosphere.

Layers of Earth's Atmosphere

Layers of Earth's Atmosphere 3D

  
Air Pressure - Pressure (force / unit area) exerted by air on objects on earth.

• Air Pressure and Altitude
• Lower air pressure higher in atmosphere, since there’s less air overhead.
• Higher air pressure lower in atmosphere, since there’s more air overhead.
• Air Pressure and Weather
• Low Pressure = cloudy/rain (air is rising, cooling, and condensing to form clouds/rain)
• High Pressure = clear/sunny (air is sinking, warming and drying out)
• Air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure causing winds

Digital Demonstration Making ice by boiling water Lowering the pressure causes the water to boil below 100°C, the heat for boiling comes from the water so it cools and freeze.

ACTIVITY:    DRAW AND LABEL a diagram that shows the four major layers of the earth’s atmosphere, include altitude, temperature, pressure and other important characteristics (location of weather, ozone, etc.)
  

Ozone Layer

 
ACTIVITY: Watch A Hole in the Sky and Ozone Hole
While Watching, ANSWER Questions/ADD Ozone Layer to Layers of the Atmosphere Diagram

1. Where is ozone located?
2. What function does it serve?
3. How does ozone form?
4. Why does ozone interact so easily with other elements/molecules?
5. What is the ozone loss sequence called?
6. Which element/compound seems to have caused a shift in the amount of ozone?
7. What might be the impact of a loss of ozone in the atmosphere?

Review Water Cycle (sublimation, transpiration, freezing, melting, evaporation, & condensation)

Observe a Water Drop Travel through the Water Cycle

Energy Transfer

ACTIVITY:  Energy Transfer While Interacting Online, ANSWER Questions, and Include Five (5) Images with URLs

1. Where does heat always move from and to?
2. What is the form of energy transferred by a electromagnetic waves?
3. What does conduction cause atoms to do when energy is transferred directly?
4. Which is the primary method of heat transfer through gases and liquids?
5. Give two examples for each of the three types of energy transfer (3 x 2 = 6 total)  

Earth’s Energy Budget (Convection driven evaporation-condensation system is called the latent heat flux of energy budget)

Annual Mean Global Energy Balance

Energy can be used to change temperature or change state but not both simultaneously

Global Warming (introduce now, cover in more detail later) - The greenhouse effect is necessary for life on Earth BUT ..........

Race to Save the Planet Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect

Coriolis Effect (introduce now, cover in more detail later) - apparent deflection of a freely moving object (not attached like atmosphere, ocean water or a missile) caused by rotation of earth under said object (to its own right in N. Hemisphere, to its own left in S. Hemisphere). But NOT in a sink or toilet, as there is not enough water.

Animation and Merry-go-round Demonstration and Not in a Sink

Earth's Major Pressure & Wind Belts

ACTIVITY:    DRAW AND LABEL a diagram of earth that shows the pressure & wind belts including: Subpolar low and Polar Front in both hemispheres, Subtropical High Pressure in both hemispheres, Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), Polar Easterlies in both hemispheres, Westerlies in both hemispheres, Northeast Trade winds, Southeast Trade winds, and Doldrums.

Major Pressure and Wind Belts

Local Winds

READ and Use to Draw and Label:
Local and Regional Wind Systems and Sea and Land Breezes and Mountain Winds and Katabatic and Anabatic Winds  and Local Winds

ACTIVITY:    DRAW & LABEL at least four (4) diagrams showing different types of local winds.

Atmospheric Pollution


ACTIVITY:    MAKE TWO TABLES Showing the Characteristics of Primary & Secondary Pollutants. Together with students, define primary and secondary pollutants and make tables to show the characteristics & health effects of primary pollutants & secondary pollutants.

• Primary Pollutants - enter the atmosphere directly from their source
• Secondary Pollutants - form in the atmosphere from primary pollutants via chemical and photochemical reactions like smog = smoke + fog

Primary Pollutants

 Secondary Pollutants

How is London Smog different from Los Angeles Smog?


Arctic Haze Researchers from Arizona came to Alaska to look for what they thought would be clean pristine air, but found instead that the air was hazy with suspended particles carried there from far away industrial areas. Once in the Arctic it remains for a very long time. “Research suggests that Arctic haze may be mixing with clouds to trap heat, contributing to global warming.”

NASA ARCTAS (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft & Satellite)Long winters allow transport to continue but low light slows the breakdown of pollutants. Changes in albedo due to changing ice cover change the amount of radiation absorbed/reflected.

Acid Precipitation

• Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from burning fossil fuels combine with water vapor in the atmosphere to form acids that fall from the sky as rain, snow, fog, sleet, hail, or dry particles.
• Often this pollution falls far from its source.
• If the land where it falls is basic (limestone bedrock) the acid is somewhat neutralized, otherwise it can cause pH levels to fall in lakes, ponds, and groundwater. 
• Damage also occurs to metal and stone structures.

Effects of Acid Precipitation

Clean Coal? and Have you Ever Seen the Rain?

ACTIVITY:    WRITE an essay describing the causes, effects, and possible solutions to the problem of acid precipitation, include 2 images with URLs.

Blogs Visited

Ian's was a site I hadn’t visited. I liked the photo on his first post but I think he must have dropped the class, because there were no other posts?

I liked Dave's background that looked like rain on a window and am wondering if that was a template or something that he added himself. I also like the idea of using the positive feedback whenever possible so that students can make important connections within processes like metabolism AND global warming.

James' page has the same drops on a window background, so I’ll look again at the templates. I’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand, so that caused my initial interest in this blog.   I liked his comments about our connectedness to the ocean (something I didn’t totally appreciate growing up in Michigan).

Cryosphere - Terrestrial Ice

Even though I considered myself fairly knowledgeable about glaciers (which I was thankful for while progressing through this module : ) I did gain new knowledge and new ways to show glacial movement including: Documenting Glacial Change, which is six pairs of pictures of Alaskan glaciers taken 100 years apart. The Vimeo of the Mendenhall Glacier and the comparison views of Alaskan Glaciers were both very cool and most certainly useful. I also needed the review of permafrost and its importance in global climate change.

Documenting Glacial Change

I particularly like the Alaska-specific examples of global climate change. Even though we live nowhere near the Arctic and especially because many of my students suffer from fairly severe parochialism and believe that their little corner of the world is actually the center of all there is (since in their limited life experience, it has been). These examples will help them see how global climate change is affecting others in their state, rather than others with whom they might never interact.

I had used the drops in a bucket activity but lost the data (which undoubtedly is still on some errant piece of paper somewhere in my files). I’m glad to have a link to a digital source, so that I can use it once again. I had never seen the 1000 ice crystals activity and will add that to my list of resources.

Stradivarius "Messiah" Violin

I also found this interesting information about the effects of climate change in the process of my research, “Antonio Stradivari, the famous violin maker, produced his instruments during the Little Ice Age. It has been proposed that the colder climate caused the wood used in his violins to be denser than in warmer periods, contributing to the tone of Stradivari's instruments.....Historian Wolfgang Behringer has linked intensive witch-hunting episodes in Europe to agricultural failures during the Little Ice Age."

I spent three weeks on the Big Island of Hawaii studying volcanology with other science teachers from the Pacific States. We visited the Mauna Loa Observatory, where CO2 in the atmosphere is measured (since it’s far and away from sources of CO2). The researcher told us that the CO2 released by our van on the way up registered on his monitors, so he knew when we would be arriving shortly thereafter. Interesting too, that they had built a lava wall uphill of the facility to divert possible volcanic flow from the active volcano, which is showing signs of inflation leading to a probable eruption (the first since 1984).

Mauna Loa Observatory

I'll be in Hawaii next week at this time, so have been checking on current volcanic activity. I'm hoping to see lava flows while there. I'm considering a visit to the observatory too (although, I haven't yet convinced my husband of the fun in that). And, of course, this will need to be when I'm not sitting on the beach sipping something from a coconut, being careful not to poke myself in the eye with the little umbrella  : )

Hawaii from Space 

Cryosphere - Arctic Sea Ice

The science content was mostly familiar to me but I found that the added perspective of those who have lived in the Arctic for tens of thousands of years added immensely to my greater understanding of a fairly complex issue. The changes that are occurring in the Arctic as the global climate changes is particularly interesting to me and the resources that demonstrated that were very useful, Arctic Climate System  and How the Arctic Ecosystem Might Change .

I thought that the discussion about feedback mechanisms was a very good way to convey the interconnectedness of the systems studied and the impact that humans have had/continue to have on those, sometimes delicately balanced, systems. Beyond the resources mentioned above, I will use the climate resources when I teach the subject later in the year. I will also be using the resources about phase changes and the earth’s albedo in physical science in connection with learning about states of matter and energy transfer.

Earth's Albedo

I read an interesting and pertinent article in a recent issue of Science News. Arctic Lake Yields Climate Record  (Witze, November 20, 2010) “It took the better part of a decade, $10 million, and help from the guys who build ice roads for Canadian truckers. But scientists now have the most continuous record of ancient climate ever extracted from the terrestrial Arctic.”

Drilling Core Sediments from an Ice Platform in an Arctic Lake

 Last summer (as part of the Maury Project) I visited the National Ice Center, near Washington DC. ...operated by the United States Navy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Coast Guard. Our mission is to provide the highest quality, timely, accurate, and relevant snow and ice products and services to meet the strategic, operations, and tactical requirements of the United States interests across the global area of responsibility.

The data that we observed while there showed that the ice left over from year to year was less and less over recent history. Together with those who had analyzed the data, we discussed the possible ramifications of this phenomena. I might add that it was very interesting to be right there at the cutting edge of data collection and analysis!

 

Check out this page of their website that shows near-real-time satellite data from the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). There are some interesting links at the bottom of this same page.

Blogs Visited:
Matt - Disturbing news about radioactive caribou from using nuclear weapons to create a harbor, I had never heard of that. But I’m also sad to say that it's probably not the worst there is to learn about that era in our history.
Esther - I too thought the air surfing was pretty cool. I'm sharing it with my students at the start of our unit on the atmosphere, weather, and climate. I'm sure it will get their attention!
Kristen - Cute photo of a relaxing kayaker.

Changing Climate

Most of the science content was not new to me but the resources and information did provide many ideas for how I can better integrate geoscience topics into the subjects that I do teach (biology, physical science, physics, chemistry, and marine science) and more effectively into each other. For instance, using the study of the properties of the element carbon or the molecule carbon dioxide in chemistry to also convey information about ocean acidification and global climate change.  I knew that most scientists think that humans are contributing to global climate change but didn’t have an easy way to convey that to others until Climate Change: A Consensus Among Scientists?

 

Coral Reef Ecosystem

The media clip of the coral reef ecosystem is a nice example of integrating the physical, geological, and life sciences and will be used across the spectrum of science subjects that I teach. I’ve been looking for a concise way to convey to my students the origin of the elements - the media clips from NOVA The Elements: Forged in Stars and The Origin of the Elements are perfect for this purpose and will put to use next week.

On the subject of elements - for other teachers of the physical sciences who use The Element Song by Tom Lehrer, this animation is one of the better I’ve seen for the song, since it shows not only element name and symbol but also location on the periodic table and it is color-coded to designate different groups of elements. There was big news in the world of particle physics this week Scientists capture antimatter atoms in particle breakthrough. Also in the news this week, more about microorganisms in the ground working through the winter.

CERN Researcher Professor Jeffrey Hangst

As has been the case with each module, I found the content and resources very useful both for my own knowledge and for helping me to better share that knowledge with others.

Blogs Visited:
Martha Insightful comments about space junk. Check out this web site about space junk.
Amy I agree about the media clip describing the origin of the elements - I too have been looking for exactly this.
Sabrina Very interesting - thank you for sharing your experiences.

Atmospheric Systems

The explanations/resources are very useful to assist with learning what are often considered to be fairly difficult concepts. With that said, I’m glad that I was already familiar with the topics presented, particularly the physics of weather. It was always my dream to become a meteorologist, but I was held back by my lack of higher level math skills (i.e. differential calculus). As a young person, I didn’t think that I could manage to learn the math I would need in order to understand the physics involved. I’m positive that I could do it today, but think it’s probably too late in the game to change occupations. Maybe that’s what I should do after I retire from teaching - NOT. Although fully familiar with the polar-jet stream and its associated weather patterns; I had either forgotten or never knew about the existence/formation of the subtropical jet stream, presented very clearly in the video Giving Rise to the Jet Stream.

I teach weather concepts to anyone who wants to know about the weather where ever I find those people (i.e. students in my classes or fellow travelers stranded at airports); so I especially appreciate the near-real-time resources presented, such as Interactive Global Composite Weather Satellite Images and Google Earth Daily MODIS Satellite Images.

Storm in North Atlantic

Storm in North Atlantic (GoogleEarth)

While going through this week’s module and conducting further research, I was reminded of resources that I had previously read/used but have not recently.  I highly recommend the essay The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin. Another resource (formerly a VHS tape that has long since become useless) is a Population Video  that shows graphically how the population of earth has changed over time, while providing historical references (e.g. bubonic plague and the industrial revolution).

I found the research on breast-feeding in the Arctic both fascinating and frightening. I recommend this news story Invisible Pollutants in the Canadian Arctic: Toxins From Industrial Cities Far to the South Keep Inuit Mothers From Breast-Feeding Infants (April 6, 2007).  How sad that people who live so far (geographically and economically) from the source of the pollutants produced are those who have the potential to be the most negatively affected by heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. “Heavy metals and organic pollutants are adsorbed by plankton at the base of the food web and biomagnified to significant levels at higher trophic levels.Top Arctic predators such as seals, cetacea, and polar bears have surprisingly high levels of contamination. Northern Inuit communities rely on marine mammals for a large portion of their diet and are therefore vulnerable to contaminant exposure.” (I did not purchase this article, but quoted from the abstract). Marine Pollution Bulletin Volume 38, Issue 5, May 1999, Pages 356-379

Beluga Whale Hunt

Pollutants in Beluga Whales

Blogs Visited This Week

I visited the blogs suggested by the instructor including Doug's photo tours of the Ring of Fire and Volcanic Hot Spots - very cool. I also visited Emerson's blog and found the Lituya Bay simulation and video quite useful. Finally, I read Sandi's blog about how technology has changed how we live and the timeliness of obtaining information to use in our classrooms. I also found the Science Scope module interesting.

Blogs Visited

I enjoyed reading Ernestine's blog, especially information about Tlingit oral traditions. I revisited Nick's blog because when I changed my settings to show a thumbnail of the blogs I've visited, his caught my attention. I'm a Three Musketeers fan from way back. I responded to a question  he had raised about information from my blog and included a link to another application called Liquid Mac that uses the accelerometer in newer Mac computers like the Mac Seismometer does.  I visited Michael's blog.

Liquid Mac

Ocean Systems

Earth from Space

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth 
when it is quite clearly Ocean." 

 -Arthur C. Clarke

The content of this module was not new to me; but as with previous modules, the resources are very good and will only add to my ability to convey to my students what might otherwise be difficult topics to convey. I particularly liked those that help to demonstrate the Coriolis effect, thermohaline circulation, and the video about Ben Franklin's discovery of the Gulf Stream. As an aside, the Examine Global Surface Currents interactive seems to have lost its linkage (or at least I was not able to access it).
 

Beach Seining in Chesapeake Bay

 I had the pleasure of participating in a program for teachers of oceanography at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland for two weeks last summer. The knowledge gained there added to my own knowledge gained from college days and years of teaching about the oceans to students who live near, depend on, and interact daily with the marine environment. It was a fantastic program that I would recommend to any/all teachers of the ocean sciences.  It’s called the Maury Project http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/maury/. 

I found it interesting to see the presentation by Dolly Garza. Some years ago, I participated in a summer program about Global Climate Change that she organized. 

Collecting Data

I’m using the resources provided almost immediately, in fact I’ve backed up to review plate tectonics with the additional resources gained in previous modules. The resources from this module will be used when we cover surface and deep ocean currents in the ocean science class I’m currently teaching. 

Being relatively new to the community, I often depend on the local knowledge possessed by my students about the local environment. Encouraging them to share their expertise serves a dual purpose - I learn local knowledge and they gain confidence in sharing their knowledge with someone who they normally look to to provide answers rather than questions.

While looking for climate data for this module, I found this interactive world climate map, which I found useful for comparing the cities assigned and a number of other locations relative to proximity to the ocean and/or ocean currents.

World Climate Index Map

Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis

As always, I appreciate the video and interactive resources that I can use immediately in my classroom. My favorite subjects to teach are in the earth sciences because it is so easy to relate those concepts to the lives of my students (e.g. geologic hazards, weather, tides, erosion, deposition.....). I integrate earth science, including earthquake waves, into other courses (to review earth science not taught since middle school and to discuss wave forms, characteristics, and applications to sound and EM radiation). This is especially effective if the students have experienced earthquakes first hand (or vicariously through video and animation).

If you’re a Mac user and you don’t yet have a seismometer for your computer you can download one from http://osxdaily.com/2007/03/01/turn-your-mac-laptop-into-a-seismometer-with-seismac/. Google Earth continues to amaze me and is a wonderful tool for anyone to access spatial information about our planet. I spent three weeks one summer studying volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii with a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. It was phenomenal and I have been back twice since to wonder at the birth of new earth in a place that is incredibly special to the people who live and visit there. In fact, we’re planning a visit to the Big Island over the winter holidays to celebrate a hallmark birthday for me.

I find Lituya Bay to be an amazing place and really enjoyed the interview with two of the survivors of the 1958 tsunami. It’s been a place of awe and wonder for people for centuries and has taken the lives of more than a few of those who sought it’s shelter along what can be a stormy and unforgiving coast. Not only is it a tectonically active location, the narrow opening to the bay is the perfect location for a very strong tidal current that has contributed to the death toll. This is a short article provided by the Geophysical Institute at UAF about other historical events at Lituya Bay http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF16/1651.html.

http://www.laperouse-france.fr/spip.php?rubrique69

Landscapes and Cultural Connections

Google Earth has to be the coolest thing since sliced bread. It is just a tad creepy though to think that anyone anywhere can look at my house and the fishing gear that is strewn across my yard. Luckily, resolution in Alaska isn’t good enough to positively identify all my husband’s “treasures”.

My undergraduate major in earth science and having taught it for years meant that I was already familiar with the concepts presented. BUT, the additional resources, especially the TD videos will be put to immediate use in my classroom. The fact that the videos are Alaska-specific makes them more interesting and relevant for Alaskan teachers/students viewing them. I have been flight-seeing in the beautiful Fairweather Range at the southern end of the Saint Elias Mountains so it was neat to see the geologic processes surrounding them and their relatively rapid growth. (TD Video: Tectonic Plate Movement in Alaska).

http://media.photobucket.com/image/%2B%22fairweather+range%22+%2B%22gustavus+alaska%22/glacierbaygraphix/WinterSunset.jpg

Fairweather Mountains (taken from Gustavus Beach)

Other's Blogs & Why I Visited

Sandi -  I taught with her at Floyd Dryden some years ago
.
Lila - I thought her biography was interesting.

Winsor -  I too have three furry, four-legged friend.

Nick - I realized I had thus far only looked at female's blogs

Dave - I knew someone with the same last name

Everything is Connected

In my experience, smaller schools, where every teacher has to teach multiple subjects, are more likely to integrate subjects - mostly due to necessity rather than any sort of pedagogical reason. Even though I am required to teach science subjects separately to different age groups; as the only science teacher I always try to help my students understand how the different areas of science overlap and interconnect, which makes me a better science teacher and helps them better understand the “big picture”.

I have taught integrated science to middle school students and I believe that it is a better, more effective way to teach science to everyone, especially so for students from cultures who view their world in a more holistic way. Smaller schools or those with teams of teachers also have the advantage of collaborating to integrate across different subjects. Cross-curricular projects are not only a great way to authentically assess learning but also a great way for students to see/demonstrate the interconnectedness of all learning.

Using Video

As a science teacher, I often use video to demonstrate content that would otherwise be difficult to convey (i.e.  in the Ocean Science course I teach I can not take my students to the bottom of the Challenger Deep except via video). The Teacher's Domain looks like a wonderful and useful resource. I'm checking it out for immediate use as soon as I've posted this.  I often use PBS videos because they are current and easy to access online at PBS Video . And of course, YouTube is an amazing resource for all manner of interesting content. Here's one of my favorites: Arcattack Farraday Fun - Imperial March

Technological problems associated with using these resources are always possible but can be minimized by proper planning and by always having at least "Plan B" and possibly even "Plan C" and "Plan D".

One of My Favorite Places/Where I Grew Up

http://www.nps.gov/glba/planyourvisit/gustavus.htm

Gustavus Beach (a glacial outwash plain & the longest sand beach in SE Alaska)

One of my favorite places is the place I've chosen to call home - Gustavus Alaska. It is geologically and geographically unique and is a beautiful place, home to many wonderful people. Living and working in Wrangell is a fantastic opportunity and my students are amazing humans, but it still isn't home. Gustavus is the place where I met and married my best friend and where I've forged many other important and lifelong friendships.

 http://www.wmich.edu/corekids/Michigan-Geology.htm

Geologic Map of Michigan

It’s flat! Well the whole state isn’t flat but it was where I grew up in the Thumb of Michigan. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is shaped like a mitten and is surrounded by Lake Huron to the east and Lake Michigan to the west. I grew up in the heart-of-the-thumb where flat is understandable since the area was a tamarack swamp before it was cleared and drained to farm the rich organic soils.