Get Outside This Spring with BioBlitz

Lingering winter got you down? It’s time to think of bioblitzing! 

You, your family, and your learners can
celebrate Earth Day with the Center for Great Lakes Literacy’s/Sea Grant 7th Annual Great Lakes BioBlitz! This event is a great opportunity to engage youth and the public in community science, collect data to support biodiversity research and conservation, and learn more about the organisms in the Great Lakes Basin.

What is the Great Lakes BioBlitz?

A free event that focuses on finding and identifying as many wild, living things as possible in the Canadian provinces and the U.S. states that have coastline on the Great Lakes during a specified period of time. You need not be in the Great Lakes basin watershed to participate, just in a Great Lakes state or province.

When is it?

It begins on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2026, and runs for 4 weeks, ending on Saturday, May 23, 2026.

How do I participate?

The beauty of this project is that you decide your level of participation! Take an afternoon to explore and document some plants or wildlife in an area, or pick a location to return to weekly, or set a goal to find something new every day–there are many ways to participate. 

1. Visit iNaturalist or download the app onto your phone and create an account.  
2. Become a member of the 2026 Great Lakes BioBlitz project
3. Get outside, get out your cameras, and start making and posting observations!

[Additional action: As you are able, verify other participants' Great Lakes BioBlitz Project postings to make them “research grade.”]

Why participate? 

There are many benefits of becoming a BioBlitz wizard, here are just a few:

• Engage in an outdoor activity, discover the wild living things in the world around you, form and strengthen a place-based connection
• Join a global community of observers, learners, and scientists passionate about biodiversity and the Great Lakes
• Contribute to a global database of organisms. Observations made on iNaturalists contribute to research, conservation, and educational outreach programs

And please note: you don't need to bioblitz for four weeks – you can do it for an hour, a day, etc.

Want to learn more?

• Visit the Great Lakes BioBlitz Educator Google Site for more information about the project and educator resources for engaging youth in this wonderful learning experience!
• All the links for the BioBlitz are also available on the WiSG Webpage.

Want to help market this event to others? 

Her are some resources to help you get the word out:

• 2026 BioBlitz Poster 
• 2026 BioBlitz Challenges 
• 2026 BioBlitz Social Media Post

Kids Take Action Book Display and Resources

The Wisconsin Water Library is a great resource on STEM and environmental resources and activities. In a recent blog post they shared some of these resources focusing on kids and teens who take action for the environment. These activities and suggestions are perfect for any library to use in their youth work. And you can borrow books from their library!

They write: "Almost 25% of teenagers (ages 13-17) have participated in a school walk-out, participated in a protest, rally, or other event, or written a letter, emailed or phoned a government official in an effort to combat the climate crisis and make their voices heard. There has been an increase in participation worldwide in school climate strikes, with over 6 million students participating in September 2019."

Stop here to read their most recent blog post and access some great resources.

Image from the Wisconsin Water Library

Earth Day and other Environmental Partnership Opportunities

Victoria Rydberg of DPI's Environmental Learning and Service Learning shared these opportunities with Anne Moser, Senior Librarian at the WI Water Library. This is a great way to connect with your school media partners to make sure they know about these great WI resources and events for WI teachers and students...and to suggest supporting a collaborative project with your school colleagues to support one of these efforts!

Opportunities from DPI: 

• Calling social studies educators! This year’s Wisconsin Council for Social Studies is themed around the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and Gaylord Nelson's daughter, Tia Nelson, is the keynote. I would love to work with some social studies educators to put together a few sessions connecting social studies and environmental literacy and sustainability standards at K-2, 3-5, and 9-12 levels. Proposals are due November 1! Let me know if you are interested and we will investigate logistics to make it happen. Or, you can always submit a session on your own.

• Looking for teachers who plan to reflect on 50 years of Earth Day with their students! We have funding to develop a series of resources about Earth Day from a variety of perspectives and for K-2, 3-5, and 9-12 levels to share through WISELearn. If you have interest in this project, let me know! 

• WATER: A Statewide Inquiry Experience. Do your students engage in water-related community inquiry projects? Perhaps they are investigating water quality or discovering where their water comes from. Or maybe they are trying to take action to address global clean water access issues. Add your project to our growing statewide map of water projects. As we connect with educators, we will grow a list of resources and ideas to share! Learn more: https://dpi.wi.gov/inquiry

Opportunities from Partners: 

• Early Childhood Educators can learn about nature-based early childhood at a workshop in Baraboo on 10/26. Learn more

• 4th Grade Teachers: Did you know you get free seedlings for each of your students? You can place your orders with DNR after October 7: https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/TreePlanting/arborForm.asp

• 6-12 Grade Educators: DNR is offering free groundwater sand tank models for educator teams who attend one of their free workshops on January 29 in Tomahawak or February 19 in Mount Horeb. Learn more

• The Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education has many workshops to get you and your students outside—from understanding how outdoor education can support health and wellness to mapping trees in your school and community to water to renewable energy.

• Scholarship are available to attend "Power of Place" with Green Schools National Network and Prairie Crossing Charter School (northern IL) on October 17-18. Apply for scholarship by 10/8.

• Does your school have an outdoor garden, aquaponics, or containers in the classroom? Add your school to the state-wide map of garden-based education programs. Wisconsin School Garden Network provides free curricular materials, technical assistance, and workshops to help educators take learning into the garden to increase student engagement, social and emotional health and well-being, and learning outcomes. Wondering how gardens grow learning? Watch this 4 minute video. 

• "Connect, Explore, Engage!" Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education Annual Conference will be November 15-16 in Madison. Early bird registration closes 10/1. DPI’s American Indian Studies consultant, David O’Connor is a featured speaker! Learn how to integrate environmental literacy and Act 31 at your school.

Funding Opportunities: 

• The Go Outside Fund provides grants up to $500 (supplies, subs, transportation, etc.) for projects that connect children with outdoor, nature-based learning experiences. Applications are reviewed quarterly and due September 30, December 30, March 30, and June 30. 

• Check out more grants on EEinWI. 

Mark Your Calendars: 

• Wisconsin Youth Summit (gr. 7-12) will be held April 16 at UW—Stevens Point.