The Greatest Lakes
The Lake, It is Said, Never Gives up Her Dead…

Painting of "Every Man Knew" from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

A Lesson on "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
by Timothy McDonnell
Victor Jr. High School

With Adaptations from Lessons from
Shipping the Great Lakes from Ohio Sea Grant

CONNECTIONS TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:
The geographically aware person knows…
Std. 4 - The physical and human characteristics of places.
Std. 6 - How culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions.
Std. 15 - How physical systems affect human systems.

CONNECTIONS TO THE NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS FOR FINE ARTS (MUSIC):
Std. 3 (Intermediate Level) - Students will demonstrate the capacity to listen to and comment on music. They will related their critical assertions about music to its aesthetic, structural, acoustic, and psychological qualities. Students will use concepts based on the structure of music’s content and context to relate music to other broad areas of knowledge. They will use concepts from other disciplines to enhance their understanding of music.

OBJECTIVES: (to know, to do, and to be like)
1. The students will describe the conditions that caused the foundering of the S.S. Edmund Fitzerald in November 1975.
2. They will compare the actual events to the accounting told by Gordon Lightfoot in his song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
3. The students will identify the musical instruments used in Gordon Lightfoot's performance of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and they will describe they are used to create the moods of impending doom and grief in the song.  


MATERIALS:
Activity Worksheet (in pdf format); tape/ CD of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot, lyrics of the song, map of the Great Lakes and Lake Superior, atlas of North America.

PROCEDURES:
1. As the students enter the room, play Gordon Lightfoot's classic song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, on a tape recorder, or a CD player. When finished, ask the students what they know about the song, or what they might have heard while listening to it for the first time. Make a list on the board.
2. Have the students read the short account of the last voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald (found at the end of the Activity Worksheet). The students then should answer the questions on Part One of the worksheet.
3. Plot the positions of the ore boat (on the Great Lakes, no vessel is called a ship). Use the latitude/longitude coordinates in Part Two of the worksheet to find these positions.
4. Label the important landmarks on the map. A list is found in the worksheet.
5. Listen to the song again. This time provide students with the lyrics. Make a list of factual information and a second list where Lightfoot used "artistic license." Decide why he decided to add information that probably is unknown, and maybe even false.
6. Now analyze the song as a musical composition. List the instruments that can be heard in the performance. Are any other voices heard other than Gordon Lightfoot's? What moods are created by the various instruments (tension, sadness, hope, etc.)?
7. Have the students write a new verse to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, looking back a quarter century later. And, of course, they should perform it!

SUGGESTED STUDENT ASSESSMENT
1. Assess the worksheet for accuracy of information.
2.  Have students rewrite the song, using a different melody.
3. If you can get the sheet music for the song, musically talented students might be able to play it, or they can sing it as a choral arrangement.

ADAPTATIONS AND EXTENSIONS:
1. There are many songs about shipwrecks and life on the seas in general. Listen to and discuss these compositions, too.
2. There are several very good websites about the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and shipwrecks of the Great Lakes in general. Visit these links: 

     Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes: http://www.great-lakes.net/tourism/cul/shipwrecks.html    
     S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online: http://www.ssefo.com/
     Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum: http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/ (This is the home to the Edmund Fitzgerald's bell, which was recently retrieved from the bottom of Lake Superior.)