By Geneva Langeland | September 2025

Digital Resource Library

The Sea Grant-led Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) invites educators to explore its dynamic collection of FREE educational resources, hands-on learning, and networking opportunities.

CGLL (pronounced “sea gull”) is a collaborative effort helmed by Sea Grant educators throughout the Great Lakes watershed to foster Great Lakes literacy and stewardship activities among an engaged community of educators, scientists, and youth. 

The brand-new CGLL website includes a dynamic and ever-expanding resource library. Formal and nonformal educators can explore data-driven lessons, curriculum packages, success stories, videos, story maps, and more. Topics range across the spectrum of Great Lakes challenges and opportunities, from aquatic invasive species and marine debris to aquaculture, water quality, and maritime careers.

Five educators sit on the floor working on a Great Lakes lesson. Educators explore water quantity and commercial fishing.
Image of four young students interacting with a crayfish using a small paintbrush.

This free collection is carefully vetted and regularly updated by a team of experts, so educators can confidently meet the latest curricular standards while bringing Great Lakes learning and discovery to life. Subscribe to the CGLL quarterly newsletter for notification about the latest lessons and resources.

Professional Learning Opportunities

CGLL also offers its signature professional learning opportunity (PLO) programs perfect for formal and nonformal educators around the Great Lakes region. These interactive and collaborative programs help educators learn and grow as individuals, and empower them to bring new concepts to their learners.

An annual PLO highlight is the week-long R/V Lake Guardian Shipboard Science Immersion, which brings educators aboard a federal research vessel to work alongside active researchers. 

Educators can also get a crash course on important Great Lakes topics, such as aquatic invasive species, habitat restoration, plankton, or freshwater mussels, through self-paced learning modules called “Great Lakes Literacy Education Explorations” or GLLees. These quick online courses offer an introduction to the topic, resources for hands-on learning opportunities with youth, grab-and-go classroom materials, and entry into a virtual community of practice with like-minded educators. Educators also receive a certificate for three contact hours of study after completing a GLLee course.

Other signature programs include:

  • Students Ask Scientists: These video calls connect classrooms across the Great Lakes region with scientists for live Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes tours, and more. 
  • Maadagindan (Start Reading) Book Club: This virtual children’s book club focuses on Ojibwe culture and the Great Lakes with a mission to advance Great Lakes literacy.
  • Aquaculture Challenge: This STEM competition challenges high school teams to design, build, and operate aquaponics facilities right in the classroom.
  • Great Lakes BioBlitz: This annual event, commencing on Earth Day, encourages everyone to get outdoors and digitally log the wild, living things filling their world. 

To find out about upcoming events and new resources, subscribe to the CGLL quarterly newsletter.

Aerial drone image of R/V Lake Guardian on Lake Michigan taken from stern perspective. Large A-frame with pully system for lowering and raising equipment is visible on stern fantail deck. Navigation and meteorological sensors extend from the roofs of the hotel deck and pilot house.
Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) logo

About the Center for Great Lakes Literacy

CGLL is made possible with funding and support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), Great Lakes Sea Grant Network, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Great Lakes National Program Office.