The document discusses NOAA's Environmental Literacy Grants program which provides funding opportunities for K-12 and informal education projects around ocean, coastal, weather, and climate science topics. It provides an overview of the grants including funding amounts, eligibility, types of funded projects, and audiences. It also outlines NOAA's priorities around climate change education and the current solicitation focusing on informal/nonformal education projects engaging the public through technology and utilizing NOAA assets.
3. Education at NOAA: A 20-yearPlan An educated public is needed to serve as stewards of the natural environment, take appropriate action in the case of severe weather, and participate in the national debate on complex issues such as climate change. Goal 1 : An environmentally literate public supported by a continuum of lifelong formal and informal education and outreach opportunities in ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences. Goal 2 : A future workforce, reflecting the diversity of the Nation, skilled in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and other disciplines critical to NOAA’s mission.
13. ELG-Supported Climate Change Projects 2005-2009 Project Title PI and Lead Institution Award Amount Aquarium of the Pacific's Ocean Science Center Jerry Schubel, Aq. of the Pacific $985,306 Climate Change and the Ocean: Awareness to Action Cynthia Vernon, Monterey Bay Aq. $913,593 A National Coalition of Aquariums Educating about Climate Change (collaborative project) Cynthia Vernon, Monterey Bay Aq., Nancy Hotchkiss, Nat’l Aq. in Baltimore, William Spitzer, New England Aq. $1,490,960 Building Environmental Literacy: How the Ocean Community can Connect More Effectively With the American Public Bill Mott, The Ocean Project $375,100 Climate Change Community Outreach Initiative Debbi Stone, The Florida Aq. $627,082 NOAA Earth System Science Courses: Building on the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) Bob Myers, IGES $645,815 Resources for Climate Literacy Instruction Jo Ellen Roseman, AAAS $750,000 Promoting Enviro Lit. through Teacher PD Workshops & Climate Change Student Summits Frank Rack, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln $694,093 Interpreting Global Half-Hourly Cloud Observations to Promote Weather and Climate Literacy Rosamond Kinzler, American Museum of Natural History $580,265 Building and Distributing SciGuides and Science Objects Albert Byers, NSTA $463,071 National Model Earth Science Lab Course Tamara Ledley, TERC $497,029 TOTAL $8,022,314
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15. National Council for Science and the Environment: Climate Change Education Workshop March 15, 2010 http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/grantprog.html [email_address] QUESTIONS? Sarah Schoedinger, M.S. Senior Program Manager NOAA Office of Education 704-370-3528 [email_address] Carrie McDougall , Ph.D. Senior Program Manager NOAA Office of Education 202-482-0875 [email_address] Bronwen Rice, M.S. National B-WET Coordinator NOAA Office of Education 202-482-6797 [email_address]
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Notas do Editor
NOAA’s mission supports this vision of society making informed decisions using best available science about global ecosystem. Education is implicit in this vision
History of ELG – Begun in 2005 when Congress added $ to the Office of Education’s budget. While modest in size in comparison to many of the funding opportunities offered by other Federal agencies, these grants represent a significant portion of the Office of Education’s efforts to support the agency’s cross-cutting priority for increasing environmental literacy among our nation’s citizenry. Since 2005, NOAA has funded through this program, 48 projects for a total of $24.6M, approximately 8-10 awards per year, roughly $3.2M - $5M per year. Proposal pressure is high! We calculated the avg. number of applications received to all our ELG funding opportunities (including those for SOS) and funding requested and it comes to 121 applications and roughly $64M total requested per RFP !
History of ELG – Begun in 2005 when Congress added $ to the Office of Education’s budget. While modest in size in comparison to many of the funding opportunities offered by other Federal agencies, these grants represent a significant portion of the Office of Education’s efforts to support the agency’s cross-cutting priority for increasing environmental literacy among our nation’s citizenry. Since 2005, NOAA has funded through this program, 48 projects for a total of $24.6M, approximately 8-10 awards per year, roughly $3.2M - $5M per year. Proposal pressure is high! We calculated the avg. number of applications received to all our ELG funding opportunities (including those for SOS) and funding requested and it comes to 121 applications and roughly $64M total requested per RFP !
How do we set priorities? National education priorities (America COMPETES; NCLB; NCLI; Academic Competitiveness Initiative, etc.) We are guided by NOAA’s mission goals and related science priorities (see NOAA Strategic Plan). We are guided by the goals and outcomes of NOAA’s Education Pla n (Note: NOAA has a new 20-year strategic Plan available and, as with our previous Ed plan, we will continue to use it as guidance for our efforts.) Priorities of the current Administration (e.g. for example we know the Obama Administration will be focused on the “green economy” and so we’re thinking about ways that our funding opportunities may help in that effort.) Avoiding duplication of other funding opportunities offered by NOAA and other Federal agencies.
Climate lit framework as a framework we can all reference to help maintain consistency of message among grantees of different funding agencies.
Common Characteristics of ELG awards: NOAA partners! We want NOAA offices, programs, personnel, data to be part of our ELG projects. Relevant to at least 1 mission goal Meets at NOAA Education plan goals and employs strategies If project focuses on students and/or teachers in formal K-12 education, then must demonstrate how the project will meet relevant content standards (national, state, local) As the program has matured in its short lifespan, we have placed greater and greater emphasis on projects having solid evaluation plans (including a needs assessment, as well as the formative and summative evaluations). By strong project evaluation we mean… Involving expert evaluators at the beginning of the project (preferably in the planning and design phases); and Project funding may be allocated for evaluation; we provide a guideline of 10% plus or minus depending on the complexity of the project.
The NOAA Office of Education issued a request for applications for informal/nonformal science education projects that engage the public in educational activities that utilize emerging and/or advanced technologies and leverage NOAA assets to improve understanding and stewardship of the local and global environment. All projects must focus on one or more of the following informal/nonformal science education activities: Technologically facilitated outdoor experiential learning for youth and adults; Public participation in science related to one or more of NOAA's mission goals; Exhibitions and online programs allowing the visualization and exploration of data supporting the interpretation of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather and climate sciences for public audiences; Spherical display system (including NOAA's Science On a Sphere) installations and programming; and Professional development programs and training programs for informal/nonformal education staff.
All of our funded projects are focused on building environmental literacy in one way or another and thus all provide the foundation for understanding climate change, although the projects may not be specifically about climate change SOS installs: total = 12 SOS programs: 7 And then these (table) projects that are specifically targeted on the topic of climate change.
NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Grants promotes locally relevant, experiential environmental education in grades K through 12. NOAA B-WET responds to regional education and environmental priorities through local implementation. Funded projects provide meaningful watershed educational experiences for students, teachers and communities. The criteria for these competitive awards emphasize sustained, hands-on, environmental activities that are aligned with academic learning standards. Original programs out of NCBO, Monterey and Hawaii expanded to 3 more regions (PNW, GOM, and New England) in 2008. This program offers grants for projects up to 3 years duration, for $50K - $300K, and are run locally to regionally. Three types of projects MWEEs, Teacher PD and Exemplary programs. Exemplary projects combine meaningful watershed educational experiences for students and teacher professional development. Program Level Evaluation: Results of the 2006-2007 Chesapeake Bay program evaluation (full report available) indicate that B-WET activities were effective at: increasing teachers' confidence in their ability and their intentions to implement MWEEs, increasing the number of teachers implementing MWEEs with their classes, and increasing students’ characteristics associated with environmental stewardship. Results also indicate that participating in MWEEs has the potential to improve student achievement in science. However, there were insufficient data to demonstrate this connection using standardized test scores because science testing had not been implemented in many jurisdictions at the time of the study. Project Level Evaluation (Seaberry’s- not sure if you want this too…): An evaluation report on the 2006-2007 funding cycle showed (draft report available) that California B-WET programs produced statistically significant increases in: students’ knowledge about local watersheds and marine sanctuaries and students’ enjoyment in learning about the ocean and protecting the ocean. Analysis of data did not show statistically significant changes in students’ conservation actions/behaviors. Based on reports that provided paired pre/post-test changes (but did not use statistical tests), California B-WET projects showed increases in students’ and teachers’ ability to identify the ways watersheds and the ocean become polluted and ways to prevent their pollution. Most reports indicated that program participants (students, teachers and other community members) were satisfied with the B-WET program that they received.
Questions? If you want to talk to us about more of details on how to apply, etc. please contact either of us.
This slide is hidden, but Stacey may want it for her breakout group discussion