Agencies
Services
Environmental Education Web Resources
Conservation Foundation offers a multitude of educational webinars and provides previously recorded events on YouTube.
Environmental Education Association of Illinois website provides educational materials for formal and non-formal educators, information on Illinois events, and links to other useful environmental education websites.
The Field Museum offers NGSS curriculum lesson plans, activities, and guides to the museum’s collections for K-12 students and beyond. Content highlights include materials on Illinois plants, animals, and geology. Many resources are also available in Spanish.
Forest Preserve Districts provide education programs and resources pertaining to the flora and fauna of land they protect. The University of Illinois Library lists District websites by county.
The Chicago-based Garfield Park Conservatory has engaging NGSS-aligned lesson plans for classroom-based educators of K-12 students. Lessons include content on sustainability, plant science, and activities for classroom visits at the conservatory.
Illinois Audubon Society offers nature quizzes on many subjects to test your knowledge of the natural world.
Illinois DNR offers professional development classes for educators, loanable educational trunks, various publications like posters and activity books, free podcasts, and online lessions on various ecology topics.
Illinois EPA offers free NGSS-aligned curriculum geared towards upper elementary and middle school students on Surface Water and Algae, Food Waste, Energy, and Waste Management.
Illinois Green Alliance provides a Project Resource Database to help schools on their path to next zero within the Illinois Green Schools Project, assisting schools to explore project ideas, step-by-step toolkits, resources, and project case studies.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant offers an educational toolkit for climate and weather lesson plans. Their new Freedom Seekers Curriculum connects the Underground Railroad, Great Lakes, and science with environmental justice education.
Illinois RiverWatch Network provides volunteer opportunities for local waterway stewardship through monitoring stream habitat and water quality. Their Youtube channel offers many educational videos and a speaker series.
Illinois State Board of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools award program annually recognizes schools that integrate best practices in environmental education.
Illinois State Museum offers an online resources page, Family Fun page and an Educator's page with a variety of environmental resources.
Kidzeum in Springfield offers online science learning opportunities including videos and hands-on activities.
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago teaches students about the wastewater treatment process and careers in water while offering enriching STEM activities. A free children's storybook, "Where Does It Go?" is published on their website as well.
Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago provides hands-on science games, activities and videos on its website.
Project Learning Tree is a multi-disciplinary activity guide for educators and students from Pre K-12 and is hosted in Illinois by the Environmental Education Association of Illinois.
Project WET is hosted in Illinois by the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center and offers water related curriculum resources. A training workshop is required to receive the curriculum.
Project WILD is coordinated in Illinois by the Environmental Education Association of Illinois. and provides a K-12 Guide on interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education focused on wildlife and habitat.
Illinois EPA's Recycling page provides recycling guides for what can and cannot be recycled in curbside bins along with the Beyond the Bin map to find a recycling location near you.
Many Illinois communities also offer recycling education through the Recycle Coach app, which offers users local information on what can be recycled where. The app includes photo recognition and trivia questions to help users learn more about correct recycling habits.
Scarce in Northern Illinois offers community education and assistance to work toward the shared goals of sustainability, recycling and waste reduction, and online environmental education resources that follow NGSS.
Severson Dells Nature Center offers nature education at home with free nature lessons, activities and videos.
Shedd Aquarium in Chicago offers online teaching guides, curricula and more on its classroom resources page.
Skyday is a Chicago based team of scientists, NGSS specialists and artists who offer free, high quality environmental science units to give students the skills to better understand and respond to our changing environment.
Trees Forever supports tree planting across Iowa and Illinois and offers free online webinars.
University of Illinois Extension provides energy & environment webinars and online activities & information relating to their various programs.
The University of Illinois Extension Forestry created the Illinois Big Tree Registry to showcase an interactive digital map of the largest native tree species that can be found in Illinois.
Wildlife Illinois teaches about all animals native to Illinois.
Backyard Bio is committed to conservation and provides online resources such as how-to guides, kid-friendly activities, downloadable posters, and more.
Berkeley Lab K-12 is a live science series for K - 12 that includes episodes and worksheets that explore innovative research and related hobbies at home.
Cafeteria Culture focuses on waste free schools and plastic pollution with youth made messages and videos. The Microplastic Madness lesson plans and video are available free for Title One schools.
Center for Ecoliteracy Ecological Education in California offers free teaching resources on a variety of environmental topics.
Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Networks (CLEAN) offers teaching resources and data related to climate and energy, including an interactive animation that focuses on the Carbon Cycle.
EcoRise offers educational programs for students on real-world environmental challenges, including the Introduction to Environmental Justice Curriculum.
Earth Rangers has nearly 100 free, fun, and educational Eco-Activities that can be done at home with more being added often.
Envirothon is a national, outdoor, environmental competition for high school students. The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts sponsors and coordinates the Illinois competition.
Great Lakes Now offers free resources for remote learning for grades 5-8 on the Great Lakes and groundwater.
Green Teacher offers free live webinars in Spring. Access to current and past webinars, articles, activities, and magazine issues can be obtained through a subscription.
Kids Against Climate Change has climate change-related information and activities for students, adults, and educators.
Kiss The Ground offers educational materials on farmland, stewardship, and regenerative agriculture, along with a free middle school curriculum designed to introduce students to soil and its connection to our food, health, and climate.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy offers environmental education curricula for grades 3 through high school on Air Quality, Climate Change, Ecosystems & Biodiversity, Energy Resources, Land & Environment, Land Use, and Water Quality.
NASA Global Climate Change provides scientific data on climate change as the expert in Climate and Earth Science in an easy to understand method with a wealth of information.
National Geographic Kids offers interactive and educational games and quizzes about science, animals and more.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has several modules that focus on the health impacts of climate change globally.
National Science Teachers Association provides free online teaching resources in addition to other resources with a paid membership.
New York Restoration Project offers many environmental education resources including virtual field trips, and lesson plans.
NOAA Planet Stewards Education Project provides webinars and workshops on a range of environmental topics integrating citizen science, STEM, community resilience, and climate science. NOAA also offers a Teaching Climate web page with educational resources and a resilience toolkit.
North American Association for Environmental Education provides training, workshops, conferences and more for educators in the field.
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy offers a variety of energy-related resources for educators.
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute offers a wealth of educational YouTube videos.
Population Education offers free classroom resources for all grades.
Science Friday offers a Remote Learning Kit that provides free educational STEM activities.
U.S. EPA's Environmental Education Center provides access to classroom ideas, activities and other resources for educators and students. The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Resources page offers several resources for students and educators on reducing, reusing, and recycling. The Mercury Messes with the Environment booklet teaches how mercury affects the environment and our health.
U.S. EPA Region 5 Environmental Education website provides access to environmental education materials such as books and posters. Educators and students in Region 5 can order printed publications at no cost. Additionally, some materials are available in PDF format to print or download.
U.S. EPA EnviroAtlas offers Educational Materials with multiple lesson plans for the grade level K – Undergrad and can be used in informal and formal educational settings. All lessons are aligned with Next Generation and State Science Standards.
U.S. Department of Energy offers online resources on energy efficiency and clean energy through its multiple offices, including the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Office of Electricity, and STEM Rising.