Explore awards
Use the filter menu and interactive map to explore the past competitions offered and grants awarded through the Environmental Literacy Program.
To learn more about project findings and outcomes, view the summaries of our grantees’ summative evaluation reports.
Measuring the Effectiveness of North American Environmental Education Programs with Respect to the Parameters of Environmental Literacy
The North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE) will assess environmental literacy levels of middle school students and compare the results to baseline data collected nationwide in 2007. In this study the research team will solicit and select a purposeful sample of schools and other program sites that represent the following categories: (1) Networks, e.g., Lieberman schools, Earth Force/Green Schools, Blue Ribbon School, etc.; (2) Programs, e.g. WET, WILD, PLT, IEEIA, etc.); (3) environmentally focused Charter and Magnet Schools; and (4) Independent Schools. By comparing 2008 programmatic assessments to the established 2007 base-line levels of environmental literacy (while investigating the variables that may contribute to school wide or classroom levels of literacy), the field of environmental education and NOAA may make future curricular and program decisions that are grounded in sound scientific data. The Research Team will review these results and generate a report to be submitted to NOAA and NAAEE (and other partners as needed). These results comprise a presentation at the annual NAAEE Conference and other venues. Articles will be submitted to professional newsletters and journals.
A NOAA Spherical Display System at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park (SNZP) in Washington, DC is integrating the NOAA Science on a Sphere(SOS) spherical display system into SNZP's Amazonia Science Gallery (ASG). The SOS system at ASG will be seen in person by tens of thousands of visitors each year and potentially by millions more through electronic outreach programs. The SOS system will become an integral part of the exhibit and will be used for both informal and formal science education programs at the National Zoo.
Linking Evidence to Explanation in Global Science
The University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS), in partnership with the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI, propose to develop and evaluate curriculum-based content modules for spherical display systems. These modules will combine successful research-driven curriculum materials with the compelling nature of a spherical display to engage and inform museum visitors in the process of observing and interpreting patterns of global climate data.
Environmental Literacy for All: Creating Comprehensive Environmental Service Learning and Professional Development for Diverse K-12 Students and Teachers
NatureBridge is expanding its highly successful, 41-year environmental education model through teacher engagement and service learning programs to empower the next diverse generation of climate and environmentally literate citizens. Through partnerships with schools, districts, and environmental organizations, service learning opportunities will be established for civic engagement in NatureBridge students' home communities. This engagement effort includes the creation of new climate literacy curriculum, the application of cutting-edge monitoring technology and online resources for public participation in scientific research, the exposure of youth to STEM career options, and the significant increase in diversity of students served by NatureBridge programming. This work will be informed by and benefit from NOAA assets across our service areas. By strengthening existing and creating new engagement programs throughout our organization, teachers will become fully versed in the principles of environmental and climate literacy. These programs will focus on increasing accessibility, diversifying our participants, and incorporating best practices and climate literacy content.
Secondary Analyses of the National Environmental Literacy Assessment: Phase I & II Students, Teachers, Programs and School Survey
Phase Three of the National Environmental Literacy Assessment (NELA) will analyze the relationship between middle school students' scores on the MSELS and other measured variables that may have critically impacted the development of environmental literacy in these students. Phases One and Two of the National Environmental Literacy Assessment (NELA) relied on four data collection instruments: The Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey (MSELS), the School Information Form, the Program Information Form, and the Teacher Information Form. The primary outcomes of these phases were to identify general levels of environmental literacy (measured by the MSELS) and to compare these levels both within and across the studies. Through the comparison of these data sets, we could identify schools in which grade level cohorts of students displayed markedly higher levels of environmental literacy variables than their peer cohorts at other schools. However, questions remain concerning the magnitude and influence of variables that were reported on those survey forms, as well as the relationships among variables measured by the MSELS scales. The major research questions that will guide this Phase are: 1) To what extent do the variables measured by these Forms during Phase One and Two appear to have contributed to or influenced students' environmental literacy scores; 2) How do these variables appear to interact with each other; and 3) What are the relative contributions of knowledge, affect, and skill variables to actual commitment or behavior. The resulting analyses of this study will be shared both through peer-reviewed publications as well as appropriate professional conferences.
Continuing of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) Competitions
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a nationally recognized high school academic competition. NOSB provides a forum for talented students to excel in science and math and introduces team members, their teachers, schools and communities to ocean sciences as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible future career path. The program operates within a supportive ocean science learning community that involves the research community in pre-college education. Its focal point is a national competition that expands high school students' knowledge of the ocean and career pathways in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The program's goals are to: (1) cultivate environments which develop knowledgeable ocean stewards; (2) foster the use of the ocean as an interdisciplinary vehicle to teach science and mathematics; (3) reach out to and support the involvement of under-represented and geographically diverse communities in the ocean sciences; and (4) provide students with interactive education and career opportunities that develop critical thinking and workforce development skills.
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education Scale-up Initiative
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education Scale-up Initiative is a project-based educational program that engages students in 21st century investigations of watershed concepts using real-time geospatial technology. The project's goal is to provide as many as 20,000 students across eight states with a dynamic, geographic learning experience that combines classroom learning activities with outdoor field experiences and technology-supported inquiry. To achieve this goal, the project will provide professional development for 400 educators across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This project builds on an existing educational citizen science project launched by the National Geographic Society in 2009 to study water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and has been designed to serve as a national model for the implementation of classroom and field-based learning.
Building Ocean Awareness Together (BOAT)
A consortium of Alaska SeaLife Center, Florida Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium with their partner National Association for Interpretation will increase the effectiveness of informal science educators (ISE) to promote public understanding of three complex topics that impact the ocean (oil spills, ocean acidification, and energy literacy) and encourage stewardship of ocean and coastal resources. This project will have a direct impact on 252 interpreters in and around Alaska, California, and Florida through 12 weeklong trainings. Groups of interpreters will develop, assemble and produce online training toolkits, all of which will be widely disseminated to the ISE community. Each toolkit will utilize NOAA multimedia content, data visualization products, expertise and other relevant resources. Project participants – who interact with a diverse mix of local, regional, national and international visitors (including underserved local populations) – will provide enhanced training content for their colleagues through professional trainings, presentations, and online networks.
Increasing Community Resilience to Weather-Related Events Through Public Education
This project will convene a workshop to develop a framework to support Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers in delivering coordinated educational programming focused on weather-related events. The workshop will be organized by a collaborative group of aquariums and involve institutions from multiple regions of the United States. It will be held at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the winter or early spring of 2013.
Public Libraries Advancing Community Engagement (PLACE)
The Public Libraries Advancing Community Engagement (PLACE) project was built on the idea that librarians can play a significant role in increasing a community's climate resiliency — the ability to recover quickly from or plan for and anticipate weather impacts. PLACE paired about 50 librarians in rural and under-resourced urban communities across the U.S. with local NOAA/NWS scientists to engage over 1,500 youth and adults in a series of public library programs tailored to the local geography. The programs used popular books and human-interest videos to stimulate discussion and critical thinking about resilient responses to environmental changes and extreme weather events, as well as introducing relevant NOAA tools and resources for data access and resiliency planning. For both audience members and librarians, PLACE enhanced environmental literacy specific to their own region’s geography, vulnerabilities, and threats, toward the longer-term goal of helping them to build local resilience.
Advancing Climate Literacy through Investment in In-service and Pre-service Science Educators (ACLIPSE)
The ACLIPSE project leveraged NOAA assets including the NOAA-funded Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6–8: The Ocean–Atmosphere Connection and Climate Change, data from NOAA-supported ocean, estuarine and atmospheric observing networks, and NOAA-affiliated scientists. ACLIPSE developed strategies for incorporating real-time ocean observing data into climate and ocean science education; designed and implemented an undergraduate curriculum in climate science for pre-service (student) teachers at multiple universities (http://mare.lawrencehallofscience.org/college-courses/ACLIPSE); offered a variety of workshops for teachers and educators across the country and at National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs); and developed materials specifically designed to provide professional learning and instructional materials for middle and high school teachers to use with their students and other learners (http://mare.lawrencehallofscience.org/curriculum/climate-data-aclipse-a…). The professional learning workshops for local teachers and NERR Education Coordinators and research staff (i.e., System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) Technicians) were located at five NERR sites representing different regions of the US, including the Pacific Northwest (Kachemak Bay NERR, Alaska and Padilla Bay NERR, WA), central West Coast (San Francisco NERR, CA), Southeast (GTM NERR, FL), and Northeast/Mid-Atlantic (Jacques Cousteau NERR, NJ). Resources and instructional materials focused on climate and ocean acidification were provided to all participants for learning about and teaching these important and relevant content areas, and as the context for teaching about and applying current teaching and learning research. Emphasis was placed on helping the teacher audiences to becoming more expert on how to use NOAA monitoring data in the classroom in authentic and engaging ways to build teacher and student data skills. NERR educators and their local in-service teachers were provided with professional learning opportunities and a collection of activities providing online data, place-based, locally relevant observing data, NGSS teaching and learning pedagogy, and climate change topics. The project built capacity of formal and informal science educators by providing (1) opportunities to become knowledgeable about global environmental change and real-time data; (2) exposure to place-based connections with the ocean through technological observing systems; and (3) materials and expertise to apply their learning to teaching practice in a long-term, sustainable manner. ACLIPSE instructional materials are based on the principle that real-time environmental data is a valuable tool for providing students with opportunities for self-directed exploration of the natural world. Students engaging in these activities gain a deeper understanding of carbon cycling, ocean acidification, and other phenomena related to climate change. These activities were designed with the three-dimensional approach to teaching in mind (e.g. NGSS-designed), and also use a data literacy framework to build educators and their learners’ skills in using data visualizations. The materials for informal educators and grades 6-8 teachers can also be accessed from the NOAA Education site, Classroom- Ready Data Resources, Climate & Data ACLIPSE Activities at https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/data/classroom-ready. Partners in the project included Rutgers University, Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida State University, California State University East Bay, Louisiana State University, and multiple NERR sites and Education Coordinators across the country and their local secondary teachers.
Continuing of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) Competitions
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), a nationwide high school academic competition managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, has increased high school students’ knowledge of the marine sciences, including the science disciplines of biology, chemistry, physics, and geology for 25 years. The program has exposed students to the breadth of environmental, conservation and sustainability issues facing our global ocean as well as ocean-related careers available in all job sectors. The NOSB has addressed the national gap in environmental and Earth sciences in K-12 education by introducing high school students to and engaging them in ocean sciences, preparing them for careers in ocean science and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Through preparing for and competing in the 25 regional competitions of the NOSB, up to 2,000 students from 300 schools across the nation each year have gained access to ocean science research, diverse marine environments, and experts in the field, all of which helped build the personal and career skills they need as our future leaders to weigh solutions to regional, national, and global ocean and environmental challenges such as climate change, resource exploitation, and habitat loss. The ocean, as a complex system, and focus of program, has also inspired student development of innovation, engineering, and technology skills.
From Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Coast: Fostering Resilient Climate Leaders, Communities and Coastal Ecosystems
Nisqually River Foundation with partners (South Sound GREEN, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, and Mount Rainier Institute) with support from NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region implemented their project, “From Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Coast: Fostering Resilient Climate Leaders, Communities and Coastal Ecosystems,” over 3 years, from 2016-2018. Our region faces the climate change threats of sea level rise, receding glaciers, extreme weather/flooding, ocean acidification and impacts on humans and important local resources, such as surface and groundwater, salmon, forests, and shellfish. Together we engaged more than 120 teachers and their 3,000+ students from the Nisqually, South Puget Sound and Chehalis watersheds to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts. We held three Summer Teachers Institutes to bring teachers connect teachers with local science experts in climate change impacts in the Pacific Northwest. Our 2017 Institute was held in partnership with Mount Rainier Institute, who also hosted Climate Resilient Youth Leadership Programs for 350 12-18-year olds. Participants generated and participated in Community Resilience Action Projects to conserve local ecosystems and increase resiliency in their communities to extreme weather events and changing climate. These projects included: riparian habitat restoration in the Nisqually, Chehalis, and Deschutes basins; creating recycling and composting programs on school campuses; eliminating Styrofoam from school cafeterias; creating a Migration Parade event to explore climate impacts on migratory species; the “Pick a DOT- Do One Thing - What’s your thing?” on-line videos; and the creation of high-impact environmental education art installations, to name a handful. Students also monitored local stream flows, temperatures, and water quality, building on a previous Targeted Watershed Grant from the EPA and a data set that goes back to 1992. NOAA’s mission of Service was supported as teachers and students shared their knowledge in their classrooms, with school districts, at community meetings, and through social media. NOAA assets used included the NW Marine Fisheries staff, Data in the Classroom, CoCoRaHS, NOAA-NASA Cloud Watcher Chart, NOAA’s Climate Literacy Principles, Beat the Uncertainty game, Game of Floods, Thermal Expansion label, the Marine Mammals of the US West Coast, and more. Other local contributing partners include the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Squaxin Tribe, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Nisqually Land Trust, Thurston Conservation District and Capital Region Educational Service District 113.