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Here's a useful mnemonic for remembering the order of position of the Great Lakes of North America, from inland to the sea (ie. west to east):

" Sergeant Major Hates Eating ONIONS!"

(Superior - Michigan - Huron - Erie - Ontario)

Lake Superior is the largest in area - remember it as being "superior to the rest...!" To recall the sizes of all of the lakes relative to each other, think of either "SHMEO" or:

" Sam's Horse Must Eat OATS!"

Lake Superior - 82,260 km² - 31,760 mile²
Lake Huron - 59,580 km² - 23,000 mile²
Lake Michigan - 58,020 km² - 22,400 mile²
Lake Erie - 25,710 km² - 9,920 mile²
Lake Ontario - 19,270 km² - 7,440 mile²

If confused between the purposes of the two previous mnemonic sentences, Peter Hobbs suggests you recall that "onions" are strung in a line, while a "horse must eat" for size!

Be slightly wary of the popular mnemonic "HOMES" which can be confusing - its letters do give the first letter of each of the five lakes (ie. H,O,M,E,S), but they are in no particular order.

A separate page has a mnemonic recalling the position of Niagara Falls relative to the Great Lakes.