Education Resources & Curriculum

The GLREC can help connect educators and learners to learning opportunities, educational materials, and lesson plans developed around the natural and cultural resource of the Great Lakes and national parks. Educational materials are developed by the National Park Service and our partners and are tied to park interpretive themes and learning standards including the Next Generation Science Standards and/or state standards.

 

Educator Resources K-12

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  NPS Educator Resources & Lesson Plans

  Connect to educational resources including lesson plans, materials, professional development opportunities, field experiences, and more.

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  The Great Lakes Odyssey

  Connect to K-12 resources from a journey around Great Lakes parks to explore resource issues. A partnership with Expeditions in Education.

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  Center for Great Lakes Literacy

  Connect to resources from the Center for Great Lakes Literacy

 

Great Lakes Literacy Principles

The GLREC recognizes the importance of the Great Lakes as the world's largest surface freshwater resource and their critical contributions to the environment, communities, and economies of the region. Great Lakes literacy is an understanding of the Great Lake’s essential principles and fundamental concepts about the characteristics, functioning, and value of the Great Lakes, their watersheds and tributaries. A Great Lakes literate person can communicate accurately about the Great Lakes’ influence on systems and people in and beyond their watershed and is able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the Great Lakes and the resources of their watershed (Center for Great Lakes Literacy - CGLL). The Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), developed the Great Lakes Literacy Principles for the to serve as a guide for education of students and the public. Not all GLREC partner parks lie on the coasts of the Great Lakes. Still, the National Park Service and the GLREC promote these principles through education, communications and research in Great Lake’s coastal national parks.