Teacher Resource Center FAQs

A Great Lakes Aquarium Teaching Kit comes with almost everything you will need to teach a pre-designed lesson in your classroom. The kit includes a lesson plan aligned to MN State Standards, materials to run most activities, and background information. Some lessons require consumable materials like paper cups or beads; these materials may not be included in the kit.

The Great Lakes Aquarium Teacher Resource Center also houses tools for teaching from the DNR MinnAqua Program’s Fishing: Get in the Habitat! Leader’s Guide. These kits also contain lessons aligned to MN State Standards, materials to run most activities, and background information.

Each kit comes with setup instructions and lesson plans, but feel free to improvise. Use these kits in the classroom, outdoors, at your science fair, or even on an Aquarium field trip (Need some ideas? Check out our guide for using kits on the exhibit floor.)

Great Lakes Aquarium curriculum is a library of lesson plans that have been written or adapted by educators and scientists. These lesson plans are aligned to MN Science Standards; some are aligned to MN Art and Social Studies Standards, as well. These lessons do not correlate to a kit in our Resource Library, so teachers are responsible for materials to run the lessons.

Great Lakes Aquarium’s Teacher Resource Center has books to help you learn background information, curriculum guides to help you design lessons, and children’s books to use in your classroom.

The Teacher Resource Center also has equipment to use in the field such as binoculars, compasses, light microscopes, and clipboards. You are welcome to check out these resources on their own or to accompany another kit.

You may check out up to two kits and up to four books at one time from the Teacher Resource Center.

Great Lakes Aquarium’s resources may be checked out for two weeks at a time. If an extension is needed, it must be approved by Great Lakes Aquarium staff. If items are not returned within four months of the due date, the price of replacement will be charged to the borrower.