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Beach Cleanup, small plastics Lake Michigan sparks curiosity and can offer many cross-curricular connections. IISG can help you learn more about this amazing shared resource through activities, curriculum, professional learning, and stewardship project support. Explore the education resources and tools below to enhance your appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of southern Lake Michigan.

Educator Resources

Center for Great Lakes Literacy

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant collaborates with other Sea Grant educators through the Center for Great Lakes Literacy. The center’s goal is to develop a community of Great Lakes literate educators, students, scientists, environmental professionals, and citizen volunteers, dedicated to improved Great Lakes stewardship”.

Curriculum and Activities

Bring Great Lakes science to life with experiential learning. Our curriculum materials and activities focus on hands-on ways of exploring science concepts, environmental challenges, and stewardship through the lens of the Great Lakes.

Explorers

Use these tools to explore a curated list of external educational resources on the topics of weather and climate, pollution and nutrient losses in our waterways.

Learning at Home

Explore the Great Lakes from home with a curated list of online resources for educators, parents, and curious lifelong learners.

Loanable Kits

Borrow materials to provide hands-on learning for your students. Ready-to-use educational materials cover topics ranging from Great Lakes fisheries, invasive species, marine debris, plastic pollution and water quality.

Professional Learning

Find learning opportunities and stewardship support to bring the Great Lakes into your formal or non-formal classroom through professional development.

Students Ask Scientists

Connect your classroom with a research scientist who can illustrate concepts with real-world examples, expose your students to careers in science, and deepen their understanding and appreciation for the Great Lakes.

Recent News

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IISG Instagram

Who: 9-12th grade educators with a freshwater aquarium in their classroom

What: Pilot test a new NGSS-aligned curriculum for the Know Your H2O water quality test kits, which includes three multi-day lessons, taking up to six class periods

When: Feedback needed by December 31, 2025

Interested? Contact Amy Shambach (ashambac@purdue.edu) or Julie Fiorito (fiorito4@illinois.edu).

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Who: 9-12th grade educators with a freshwater aquarium in their classroom What: Pilot test a new NGSS-aligned curriculum for the Know Your H2O water quality test kits, which includes three multi-day lessons, taking up to six class periods When: Feedback needed by December 31, 2025Interested? Contact Amy Shambach (ashambac@purdue.edu) or Julie Fiorito (fiorito4@illinois.edu).

As the sun sets on the 2025 Shipboard Science Immersion aboard the R/V Lake Guardian, we celebrate 15 incredible educators who immersed themselves in Great Lakes science alongside scientists from the @epa_greatlakes, @uwmilwaukee, and @purduefnr. These educators return home not only with new knowledge but also with support to incorporate hands-on, experiential learning and stewardship in their own classrooms and other learning environments.

This week-long experience was conducted in partnership with the EPA, @noaa.SeaGrant, and with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Hosts for the Lake Michigan immersion are the Center for Great Lakes Literacy partners, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, and @uwiscseagrant.

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As the sun sets on the 2025 Shipboard Science Immersion aboard the R/V Lake Guardian, we celebrate 15 incredible educators who immersed themselves in Great Lakes science alongside scientists from the @epa_greatlakes, @uwmilwaukee, and @purduefnr. These educators return home not only with new knowledge but also with support to incorporate hands-on, experiential learning and stewardship in their own classrooms and other learning environments.This week-long experience was conducted in partnership with the EPA, @noaa.SeaGrant, and with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Hosts for the Lake Michigan immersion are the Center for Great Lakes Literacy partners, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, and @uwiscseagrant.

Shipboard Science Immersion educators are diving into scientific sampling alongside Dr. Paris Collingsworth, processing samples from Green Bay to study how larval fish and zooplankton communities shift from nearshore to offshore in Lake Michigan.

Back in the lab, with @purduefnr graduate student Anna Hill, the educators are sorting benthic samples, identifying the organisms collected. The relatively large quagga mussels are easy to spot!

@epa_greatlakes @nyseagraa2966 @miseagrant @ohioseagrant @uwiscseagrant @paseagrant @ilextension @noaaeducation @seagrant_noaa

#greatlakes #lakemichigan

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Shipboard Science Immersion educators are diving into scientific sampling alongside Dr. Paris Collingsworth, processing samples from Green Bay to study how larval fish and zooplankton communities shift from nearshore to offshore in Lake Michigan. Back in the lab, with @purduefnr graduate student Anna Hill, the educators are sorting benthic samples, identifying the organisms collected. The relatively large quagga mussels are easy to spot! @epa_greatlakes @nyseagraa2966 @miseagrant @ohioseagrant @uwiscseagrant @paseagrant @ilextension @noaaeducation @seagrant_noaa #greatlakes #lakemichigan

Shipboard Science Immersion educators stepped off the ship and onto beautiful Beaver Island for a hands-on day at @cmichbiology Biological Field Station, hosted by the amazing Dr. Kevin Pangle!

From seining for fish and towing a plankton net to testing water quality with a multiparameter sonde, educators practiced aquatic science techniques that can translate to shoreside learning within their educational programming. The day wrapped with a scenic dune hike — science and nature at its best!

@epa_greatlakes @noaaeducation @seagrant_noaa

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