Learn about a project we conducted with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to evaluate environmental education organizations and resources in the Great Lakes region.

NOAA contracted Improved Insights to canvass environmental education-focused and Great Lakes-specific public resources for K-12 audiences. In our research, we identified 70 unique organizations and 112 unique materials that fit our criteria.

We then analyzed the materials by resource type (including curricula, data sets, educational kits, events, media, and more), target age for instruction, cost, personal action component (such as a beach clean-up), digital or in-person resource, and partner organizations.

Our analyses revealed that most Great Lakes-specific educational resources were curricula, field trips, educational kits, and teacher professional development. Resources aimed at students tended to serve middle and high-school-aged youth. Most resources (80%) had no cost associated with them. Over half of the resources were offered digitally. Over two-thirds either had no personal action component or were unclear if they promoted a personal action component.

Next, we leveraged our understanding of the landscape of Great Lakes education resources to produce this Facilitator’s Guide to MWEE (Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences) Training for the Great Lakes region. This train-the-trainer style guide introduces educators to resources and activities for developing MWEEs in their communities.

Listed on the NOAA Education website, this guide now helps formal and informal educators to identify and incorporate Great Lakes environmental education resources in their programs and classrooms.