New York's Great Lakes: Ecosystem Education Exchange
Basin Bins

Sections on this page: What is a Basin Bin? | What can I find inside a Basin Bin? | Where can I find a Basin Bin? | Basin Bins created by


What is a Basin Bin? back to top

A Basin Bin provides hands-on resources for teachers and educators to use in teaching about the Great Lakes ecosystem and environment. Its development is an educational initiative of New York Sea Grant and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Please use the worksheets, activities and other materials to share environmentally-sound information about the Great Lakes with students via classroom, organization, or club. The Basin Bins were designed for your use and benefit. Basin Bins are limited to a two-week loan period and must be returned to the Basin Bin host at that time.

  • New York's Great Lakes: Ecosystem Education Exchange Basin Bin Partnership / Locations (pdf)


What can I find inside a Basin Bin? back to top

The Basin Bins include 25 hands-on resources such as a life-size replica of a Lake Sturgeon, Round goby and Sea Lamprey specimen, a resource notebook full of factsheets, articles, pamphlets and brochures including issues regarding natural resources, water quality and sustainability and four classroom-ready Great Lakes-related activities to help educate students about dichotomous keys, invasive species and testing overall Great Lakes knowledge.

Please review the following content lists for all items included in the bin:

  • New York's Great Lakes: Ecosystem Education Exchange Basin Bin: Bin Contents (pdf)

  • New York's Great Lakes: Ecosystem Education Exchange Basin Bin: Binder Contents (pdf)


Where can I find a Basin Bin? back to top
  • New York's Great Lakes: Ecosystem Education Exchange Basin Bin Partnership / Locations (pdf)

There are many Basin Bins distributed at environmental education facilities throughout the NY Great Lakes basin. This was made possible through the NYGLEEE Basin Bin partnership, a voluntary agreement between New York Sea Grant, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Great Lakes Program and Basin Bin host organizations. This allows all interested educators to have convenient local access to the Basin Bins.

The map below portrays the locations where multiple Basin Bins are available for loan from the furthest Western New York host organization location on Lake Erie to the furthest Northern New York host organization locations along the St. Lawrence River.

Interested educators should contact the most conveniently located host organization to request a Basin Bin for loan. It is recommended to reserve in advance or have a range of dates to be sure that you are able to have access to a Basin Bin when you need it. The loan period shall not exceed two weeks from the date of pick up to the date of return. If there are any missing or damaged items please notify your host organization, NYSG or NYSDEC.




New York Sea Grant Offices

    17. Contact: Nate Drag
        (716) 645-3610       
        nwd4@cornell.edu
        Location: Buffalo, NY

    18., 19. Contact: Sharon Mullen
       (315) 331-8415
       slm22@cornell.edu
       Location: Newark, NY; Oswego, NY

NYSDEC Field Office

    16. Contact: Emily Fell
        (315) 785-2382
        emily.fell@dec.ny.gov
        Location: Watertown, NY

     

1. Lake Erie State Park
2. Niagara Falls State Park
3. Tifft Nature Preserve
4. Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve
5. Beaver Meadow Audubon Center
6. Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge
7. Seneca Park Zoo
8. Hansen Nature Center
9. Upstate Freshwater Institute (UFI) 
10. Montezuma Audubon Center
11. Clark Reservation State Park
12. Oswego County Soil
      and Water Conservation Office
13. The Nature Conservancy
14. Save The River
15. Indian River Lakes Conservancy
20. Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper

Please Contact Us if you have any questions


Basin Bins created by back to top

New York Sea Grant Extension; Helen Domske and Brittney Rogers
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Great Lakes Program; Emily Sheridan

New York Sea Grant and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation would like to thank the following people and organizations for their time, effort and expertise on this wonderful educational tool.

  • Sharon Mullen, New York Sea Grant Administrative Assistant
  • Jane Warfield, New York Sea Grant Administrative Assistant
  • Susan Carver, NYS Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation
  • Meaghan Boice-Green, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Betsy Ukeritis, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Beth Schoellkopf, Immaculate Conception School in East Aurora
  • Kim Preshoff, Williamsville North High School
  • Mary Claire Vivian, Ellicott Elementary, Orchard Park

We hope you, the educator, and your students enjoy the finished product as much as we do!



New York Sea Grant Home *  NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Home

This website was developed with funding from the Environmental Protection Fund, in support of the Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act of 2006. 

Problems viewing our Site? Questions About our Site's Social Media / Other Features?
- See Our Web Guidelines