Shipping On The Great Lakes
Oceanic
Education
Activities
for
Great
Lakes
Schools
SHIPPING ON THE GREAT LAKES
by
Keith N. Schlarb, Worthington Public Schools
and
Victor J. Mayer, The Ohio State University
SEA G R A N T
PELL LIBRARY
BAY CAMPUS
NARRAGANSETT, R I 02882
Ohio Sea Grant Program
Charles E l Herdendorf, Program Director
Victor J Mayer,
l
Principal Investigator
T E A C H E R G U I D E
OEAGLS INVESTIGATION #21
Completed March, 1980
Revised July, 1982
This instructional activity was prepared with the
support of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Grant Nos. 04-158-44099, 04-8-MOl-170 and NA 79AA-D-00120,
and from The Ohio State University. However, any opinions,
findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein
are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect
the views of NOAA or the University.
Figures are adapted from figure C9-19 of Appendix C9
Commercial Navigation, Great Lakes Basin Framework Study,
Great Lakes Basin Comission, 1975.
Copyright
The Ohio State University Research Foundation, 1980.
All rights reserved.
INVESTIGATION
SHIPPING ON THE GREAT LAKES
OVERVIEW
With the increasing cost of energy and with the diminishing
supply of fossil fuels that we will soon experience, it is
becoming more and more important that students understand how
products are transported from place to place and what implications
the methods of transport have for energy use and for the cost
of the product to the consumer. Students see trucks on the
highway every day, but few ever see lake freighters. It is
important that they realize the importance of the lakes in
transporting cargo. That is the major goal of this investigation.
In Activity A, students determine the direction of movement
of various materials shipped from selected ports on the Great
Lakes. In Activity B they determine the distances different
materials must be transported via water, rail and truck, and the
relative costs. Then, in Activity C they study the energy
efficiency and environmental implications of the three different
methods of transport. The investigation provides practice in
conversion of map distances using scales and the computational
skills of multiplication and division.
PREREQUISITE
STUDENT
BACKGROUND
Students should be able to multiply and divide and be able
to use decimals. They should also be able to read maps, understand
the use of scale, and be somewhat familiar with metric units.
OBJECTIVES
When students have completed this investigation they should
be able to:
1. Name some of the major products transported on the
Great Lakes.
2. Identify the cheapest form of transportation.
3. Determine which form of transportation is most energy
efficient.
4. Use the scale of a map in determining distances between
points.
5. Work more easily with metric units.
MATERIALS
The only materials necessary are a pencil, paper, and
string to use in measuring distances between points. It is
advisable to have calculators available for the computations.
2
SUGGESTED
APPROACH
The investigation is designed to be used in an individualized
mode. It could even be assigned as homework.
There should be
an opportunity , however,to conduc lass discussion w h e n
students have completed the investigation.
The review q u e s t ions
at the end of the Student Guide can be used to start such a
discussion. You might also want to have a discussion before
assigning the investigation,
focused on student knowledge of
shipping on the Great Lakes. You might ask them what they know
about the types of products that are shipped via the lakes--what
products are brought to Ohio and are shipped from Ohio. You
might also ask them which of the three modes of transportation,
water,
rail and road are most efficient.
Such a discussion will
serve to orient them toward the investigation and create interest
in working on the investigation.
ACTIVITY A
WHAT PRODUCTS ARE CARRIED ON THE LAKES?
Keywords: import, export, freight, transportation
PROCEDURE
1. Duluth is the one city that exports iron ore.
It is
located near the Mesabi Iron Range, the major iron
ore producing region in the country.
QUEBEC
Figure TG-1. Shipping Routes for Iron Ore on the Great Lakes.
3
2.
Five cities import iron ore; Chicago, Toledo, Buffalo,
Detroit and Cleveland.
3.
See Figure TG-1.
4.
According to the information students are given, the
only thing that Duluth imports is coal; therefore,
only Toledo and Buffalo would have anything to send
back on the ships to Duluth. This, however,is probably
not completely true. There may be other types of bulk
cargo that Duluth is in need of, that other ports can
ship, but regardless, many of the ore carriers return
empty to Duluth.
5.
Green Bay probably imports coal and fuel oil because
it does not have a local source of those energy supplies.
Both are used for generation of electricity and for
industrial power sources.
6.
Grain is exported by Chicago, Duluth and Toledo.
7.
Buffalo imports grain.
8.
See Figure TG-2.
Figure TG-2. Shipping Routes for Grain on the Great Lakes.
9.
Ships returning to Duluth could take coal from Buffalo:
those returning to Chicago could carry limestone.
According to the information provided, Toledo doesn't
import any of the things that Buffalo exports. Again
there may be other bulk cargos that the ships could
carry, however, many of them probably return to their
ports empty.
10.
Detroit produces steel required in automobiles. All
three products are necessary in the production of steel.
11.
Cement, sand and gravel are used in construction of
buildings and highways, both for concrete and in what
is called road metal, loose material used under the
highwav to promote drainage.
12.
Buffalo is one of the largest railroad centers in the
United States. Grain is unloaded here for rail
transport to be distributed throughout the East.
ACTIVITY B
WHAT IS THE MOST ECONOMICAL FORM OF TRANSPORTATION?
PROCEDURE
Keywords: bulk products, manufactured goods, metric ton
1. See Figure TG-3.
5
2. See Figure TG3.
3. See worksheet.
4. At this point students have no basis for selecting
one or the other of the methods of transport. Ask
them to justify any choice that they do make, but
don't imply that there is a right or wrong answer
to this question at this point.
5. See worksheet.
6. The cheapest method of transporting cargo from Duluth
to Buffalo is by water.
7. The response here will depend upon their response to
question 4.
8. Grain and iron ore have a very low cost per pound or
gram, therefore, the method of transport has to be
very inexpensive. If not, then the cost of transport
will approach the price paid for the cargo, making the
end product, bread or steel, quite expensive. Cars,
on the other hand, are very expensive in comparison to
bulk cargo. Therefore, even using expensive means of
transportation, the cost of transportation per pound
or gram will be relatively low. Speed of transport, then,
becomes more important, so that the cars can be sold
quickly, allowing the producing company to get its
investment back more rapidly.
9-10.
See worksheet.
11. Even though the distance of the water route is almost
three times that of the land route, water is still the
cheapest method of transport.
12. Yes.
13. Transporting materials by water between Duluth and Buffalo
costs about a tenth that of transporting them by railroad.
You might point out to students that truck transportation
is 23 times as expensive as water transportation over that
distance.
14. Railroad transportation costs about four times that of
water transportation between Chicago and Toledo. It
costs about ten times as much to transport materials by
truck. Because of the disparity in the length of the
transportation routes, a great deal of the cost advantage
of water transportation has been lost.
15.
Because of the great cost advantage, companies would
be much more likely to ship grain by water between
Duluth and Buffalo. Between Chicago and Toledo the
cost advantage, although still sizeable, is not
quite as great. There might be instances then,
of grain shippers using the railroad, especially if
time was a factor.
ACTIVITY C
WHICH TRANSPORTATION METHOD USES THE LEAST ENERCY?
Keywords: liter, metric ton, kilometer, energy efficiency
PROCEDURE
1. See worksheet.
2. On the Duluth-Buffalo route, water is the most fuel
efficient method of transport.
3. See worksheet.
4. Because of the shorter distance, railroads are the most
energy efficient in carrying freight from Chicago to
Toledo. You might point out to your students that
trucks require 4 times the amount of energy of either
railroads or water.
5. Even though railroads are the most energy efficient,
over this route they are not the cheapest. This is
because of the greater labor required on railroads,
both for running the trains and for maintaining track.
6. As energy becomes scarce, and expensive, we would
expect that water transportation will become more and
more important between Duluth and Buffalo. Even
manufactured goods will be transported in this manner.
Between Chicago and Toledo we might expect truck
transportation to become less and less important
because of its low energy efficiency. Railroads will
take on an increasing share of the transportation of
materials from trucks and perhaps even from water
transport.
7. Accept any reasonable ideas the students suggest.
It would be good to have a class discussion on this
topic. Ideas you might expect include:
Tracks must be constructed by the railroad. This can
result in the disruption of scenery, and the exposing of rock
and soil to erosion. The companies must purchase, maintain
and pay tax on the land for the right of way for their tracks.
This can be an economic benefit to those areas traversed by
the railroad. Railroad engines cause some noise and pollution,
however,
it is limited to the area of the railroad tracks and
terminals. Accidents can release hazardous materials.
7
Trucks use the same highways as passenger cars and
buses. Because of their size, this causes a hazard for
other users of the highway, Highways are not maintained
by the trucking industry, but by the public. Although trucks
pay taxes through registration and fuel use, the taxes are
much less than the industries' share of the cost of construction
and maintenance. Being the least energy efficient, trucks
produce the most air pollution of the three types and a great
deal of noise. Because of the greater prevalence of trucks
and the extensive network of roads, this noise is quite
widespread. Accidents can release hazardous materials in
populated areas.
Lake freighters use the water and, therefore, save costs
of construction and maintenance. What air pollution is
produced is widely disseminated. They tend to be the least
disruptive of the environment. There can be spills of diesel
oil used as fuel and this can harm the aquatic environment.
Also a ship may sink, causing the spreading of a certain amount
of debris. If the ship is carrying a hazardous cargo, such
as chemicals, such an accident could have a very serious effect
on the part of the lake where the accident occurred. Such
accidents, however, seldom occur, and when they do, they do
not affect heavily populated areas.
8. This may be a difficult question for the students
to answer. If we are considering the negative impact
upon the environment per pound or gram of material
carried, then trucking would have the greatest negative
impact because of its extremely low fuel efficiency.
This means that much more fuel must be burned,
producing a much greater quantity of pollutants than
either of the other forms of transportation. In
addition, since trucks travel the same roads as you
and I do, hazards they cause, such as possible
accidents, are much more likely to impact us.
REVIEW
QUESTIONS
1. The major products carried by lake freighters are
bulk products such as iron ore, grain, cement, sand,
gravel, limestone and fuel oil.
2. Shipping by water (freighter) is the cheapest method
of transporting bulk cargo on the Great Lakes.
3. Shipping by water (freighter) is the most energy
efficient means of transporting cargo, unless the
route traveled is much longer than the route traveled
by railroad. In that case, the railroad may be
more energy efficient.
4. Water transportation has the least impact
on the environment since it uses already existing
routes, i.e., the water, and can carry much
larger cargoes in a single shipment, using much
less fuel per metric ton/km.
5. The use of lake freighters should increase in the
future as energy becomes scarce and expensive. The
use of railroads will also increase whereas the use
of trucks should decrease. The major reason is the
relative energy efficiencies of the three methods
of transportation. Students may come up with other
reasons as well.
REFERENCES
Great Lakes Basin Commission, Great Lakes Basin Framework Study,
Appendix C9, Commercial Navigation, published by the
Commission, 1975.
EVALUATION
ITEMS
1. Which of the following is not a product that is usually
shipped on the Great Lakes?
1. Grain
2. Iron Ore
*3. Vegetables
4. Limestone
2. The major type of product carried by Great Lakes freighters is
1. manufactured goods.
2.
fresh food products.
*3.
bulk products.
4. chemical products.
3. The equation: cost x metric tons x km equals
1.
amount of money saved.
2. amount of energy conserved.
3. total number of liters of fuel used.
*4. total cost of shipping.
4. The cheapest method of shipping iron ore from Duluth, MN,
to Buffalo, NY, is by way of
1. truck.
2. train.
3. airplane.
*4.
lake freighter.
5. When finding out which type of shipping will cost the
least amount of money, you consider several things. Which
of the following is most important?
1.
Time of year
*2.
Distance
3. Weather conditions
4. The direction in which you are shipping your product
6. Grain is usually shipped from most other ports on the
Great Lakes to which other port?
1. Toledo, OH
2. Duluth, MN
*3. Buffalo, NY
4. Chicago, IL
7. When shipping bulk cargo, such as iron ore, the cost of
transportation is a major consideration because of the
1. difficulty of handling bulk cargo.
*2. low unit price of bulk cargo.
3. price of diesel fuel.
4. amount that has to be moved.
8. Which of the following transportation methods has the
greatest effect on the environment?
1. Lake freighters
2. Trains
*3. Trucks
9.
Which method of transportation is the most energy
efficient for transporting cargo between Duluth and
Buffalo, NY?
1.
truck
2. train
3. plane
*4. lake freighter
