Great Lakes Literacy 101
RESOURCE: Explore Great Lakes literacy by watching this video!
RESOURCE: Check out the NEMIGLSI Network's Education Kits-featuring the EnviroScape Model. You can borrow these kits to bolster your PBSE effort!
A watershed is an area of land where all of the water drains into a stream, rivers, and/or lake. RESOURCE: Learn more about MI Watersheds by scanning this guide.
Great Lakes Literacy Principles
<--- ☑️Watch this fun video highlighting the amazing Great Lakes!
The Great Lakes Literacy Principles parallel the Ocean Science Literacy Principles.
Great Lakes literacy is understanding the Great Lakes’ influences on you AND your influence on the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Literacy Principles
The Great Lakes, bodies of fresh water with many features, are connected to each other and to the world ocean.
Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed.
The Great Lakes influence local and regional weather and climate.
Water makes Earth habitable; fresh water sustains life on land.
The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems.
The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected.
Much remains to be learned about the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes are socially, economically, and environmentally significant to the region, the nation and the planet.
A Great Lakes literate person is someone who understands, appreciates, shares about and helps to protect the Great Lakes resources and the watersheds that feed them.
Explore More content and lessons about each principle below.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONNECTION: How can our actions in the Great Lakes impact others inside and outside of the Great Lakes basin?
1. The Great Lakes, bodies of fresh water with many features, are connected to each other and to the world ocean. Explore more here.
Water is in constant motion through the hydrologic cycle (e.g. evaporation, condensation, precipitation, groundwater, transpiration, and runoff).
RESOURCE: Learn more about the Great Lakes water cycle in this MI Sea Grant background resource.
RESOURCE: Explore how lake levels change in this Great Lakes Now lesson.
RESOURCE: MEECS Water Quality Lesson: Explore water movement in this 3D Watershed Model lesson.
RESOURCE: Bimaadziwn Nbi Awan / Water is Life: Explore water, Anishinaabeg culture, and Line 5 in this lesson developed by the LTBB Waganakising Odawa
RESOURCE: Indigenous STEAM Lesson: Explore how water travels (connect with a rainy day!).
RESOURCE: NOAA Lake Level Viewer: Visualize changing Great Lakes water levels and what this might mean for flood exposure (linked in Great Lakes Now lesson).
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONNECTION: How do the Great Lakes continue to change ? Do these changes impact everyone in our watershed the same way? Are there groups that benefit or suffer from these changes?
2. Natural forces formed the Great Lakes; the lakes continue to shape the features of their watershed. Explore more here.
RESOURCE: IL-IN Sea Grant's Teach Me about the Great Lakes Podcast "Limnologists Make up Lots of Words": Explore how the Great Lakes were formed!
SCHOLARLY RESOURCES from the Journal of Great Lakes Research
Larson, G. & Schaetzl, R. (2001). Origin and Evolution of the Great Lakes. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 27(4), 518-546.
Theurekauf, E. & Braun, K. (2021) Rapid water level rise drives unprecedented coastal habitat loss along the Great Lakes of North America. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 47 (2021), 945-954.
Do the changes (past or predicted) in climate impact all human populations equally or are there groups that benefit or suffer from these changes?
3. The Great Lakes influence local and regional weather and climate. 📚Explore more here.
Explore how the average temperature and total precipitation have changed in the past 50 years for your area. ☑️ On this page, click your region on the interactive map or scroll to the bottom and click the maps to enlarge. Then, scan the expected changes to average temperature and total precipitation in the next century for your area. ☑️ On this page, scroll to the two maps that projected changes for temperature and precipitation.
📚 Weather, Waves and Climate: MI Sea Grant's Teaching Great Lakes Science website offers 'Weather, Waves and Climate' lessons and data sets
Does EVERYONE have equitable access to safe water? Why is it important to protect water?
Water is essential to life, and our actions and decisions can have a direct impact on water quality. Explore your local waterway's health in this ☑️How's My Waterway tool from the EPA. This tool can also be used in connection with student-collected water quality data - allowing them to compare findings.
📚Compiled by Elizabeth LaPensée, "Anishinaabe Ways of Knowing: Nibi (Water)" engages youth in learning about many aspects of water.
📚 PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are human-made chemicals and an emerging concern impacting many Michigan communities - including fish, wildlife, and humans.
☑️ Watch or read to learn more about PFAS (pick one).
Learn more about PFAS pollution in Oscoda, MI in this Great Lakes Now episode.
How does EJ connect to what happened/is happening in Oscoda and the connected PFAS contamination from the former U.S. Air Force base? (Matheny, Detroit Free Press)
Additional Resources
📚 MI PFAS Action Response Team Resources
📚 It's literacy raining PFAS around the Great Lakes, says researchers (Ellison, MLive)
How has our shift to a more global society impacted the Great Lakes? Are some groups impacted more?
5. The Great Lakes support a broad diversity of life and ecosystems. 📚Explore more here.
Great Lakes Biodiversity! More than 3,500 species of plants and animals are found in the Great Lakes basin, and more than 1,400 species can be found in protected coastal wetlands of Lake Huron (Burton & Uzarski, 2009 - 📚Research Highlight). ☑️ Explore Great Lakes biodiversity conservation strategies and partnerships. How could students partner on these efforts?
Ecosystem services are the benefits provided by nature. ☑️ Learn more about ecosystem services by watching this video.
What ecosystem services do the Great Lakes provide?
Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) supports science and monitoring that informs many of Michigan's biodiversity conservation efforts from natural communities (ecosystems) to the organisms that inhabit them. MNFI scientists provide a wealth of expertise and biodiversity content specific to Michigan. 📚 The MNFI website is a great tool for exploring Michigan's rare and protected species, natural communities, and related resources.
📚 Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) (Michigan Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) offers Ecosystems and Biodiversity Lessons and supporting videos available from the PBS Learning Center.
📚 Alliance for the Great Lakes Native and Invasive Species Lesson: Explore Great Natives native and invasive (i.e. non-native species that cause harm) species.
📚 H.O.M.E.S. at Home BioBlitz (episode 9): video exploring iNaturalist and community science learning opportunities.
How might decisions we make upstream or at the edges of the Great Lakes watershed impact groups or communities downstream or along the shores of the Great Lakes?
6. The Great Lakes and humans in their watersheds are inextricably interconnected. 📚Explore more here.
The Great Lakes are shared between the United States, Canada and many Tribal Nations. Collectively, the Great Lakes are governed by treaties, laws, norms, and more supported by Tribal, federal, state, and local partners. These governance strategies help decide how resources are used. Let's explore two governance examples.
☑️ The right to walk on MI beaches (below the ordinary high water) is protected by a 2005 MI Supreme Court decision. Their decision was supported with the public trust doctrine. Read more about this decision in this National Sea Grant Law Center brief.
☑️ Learn more about the 1836 Treaty, where Chippewa and Ottawa Indians gave up land but retained the right to hunt and fish in the treaty-ceded territory. Through the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), Tribal Nations work together supporting management of the 1836 Treaty fishery. The 1836 Treaty fishery continues to be one of the most regulated fisheries on the Great Lakes, subject to regulations under CORA, Tribal nations, FDA HACCP seafood safety, and US Coast Guard maritime safety.
🌍 Think Globally, Act Locally 🌎
📚 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: These 17 goals reflect the interaction of human rights and environmental needs in addressing climate change impacts, resilience and mitigation.
Research can help inform community decision making, but how can communities help inform research? Do all community members have access to the developed research?
7. Much remains to be learned about the Great Lakes. 📚Explore more here.
Research helps scientists and partners learn more about issues that affect the Great Lakes and connected communities. Research can then be used by community leaders in their decision making. ☑️Learn about Michigan Sea Grant-funded research projects here. Pick one current or past project to explore.
Students can contribute in advancing Great Lakes science themselves.
Through PBE, students can partner with researchers helping them collect community science data!
📚Liz Thomson: Alpena Public Schools Alumna ▶️ Michigan State University Student ▶️ Future Alcona Community Schools Educator
While in school at APS, Liz partnered with MI Sea Grant, MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and MDNR to gather footage for future Sturgeon Community Science Efforts. Learn more here.
Liz helped develop this report (Invasive Species Interactions in the Great Lakes) where she worked up community science data collected by APS students involved in the Thunder Bay Watershed Project with the NEMIGLSI network.
Do all groups and/or communities benefit equally and equitably from the Great Lakes?
8. The Great Lakes are socially, economically, and environmentally significant to the region, the nation and the planet. 📚Explore more here.
The Great Lakes support local economies with more than 1.3 million jobs and $82 billion in wages each year (The Dynamic Great Lakes Economy: employment trends from 2009- 2018). ☑️ Learn more about the Great Lakes economies here.
☑️ Explore how we use water across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin. Factsheet data source: Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Regional Water Use Database.
📚MEECS Water Quality Lesson: Explore water use and how your students directly and indirectly use water.
📚 NOAA Coastal County Snapshots: Explore flood exposure, wetland benefits, and Great Lakes jobs (listed as Ocean) by county.
📚 Water Teachings: Explore more water lessons from the Anishinaabe.
Center for Great Lakes Literacy
CGLL is a collaborative effort led by Sea Grant educators throughout the Great Lakes watershed. CGLL fosters informed and responsible decisions that advance basin-wide stewardship by providing hands-on experiences, educational resources, and networking opportunities that promote Great Lakes literacy among an engaged community of educators, scientists, and citizens.
📚Explore curricular resources and education kits available through the CGLL network at www.cgll.org.
Did you know? CGLL supports the Lake Huron Watershed PBSE Summer Teacher Institute by providing participant stipends and more!
Teaching Great Lakes Science
Here is a great source to connect the Great Lakes and STEM learning. This website features a suite of lessons, activities, and data sets focused on the Great Lakes for both formal and informal education. All the lessons, activities, teacher tools, and data sets are free and targeted for 4-12th grades.
NOAA Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences
MWEE 101: This course is made up of three lessons: Why MWEEs, What Makes a MWEE, and Planning and Evaluating MWEEs. These lessons will introduce you to the MWEE, explore what MWEEs can look like, highlight the MWEE's components, and introduce the tools that support the development and implementation of MWEEs.
PDF: An Educator's Guide to the Meaningful Watershed Education Experience (MWEE)