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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.

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Community resilience from the youth up: a place-based education strategy for southeast Michigan

Funding: $127,028
Year: 2023
Community Resilience from the Youth Up addresses the urgent need to increase resilience in Detroit and southeast Michigan by partnering high school students and teachers with place-based educators, climate scientists, adaptation professionals, municipalities, and community organizations.

Community Resilience from the Youth Up addresses the urgent need to increase resilience in Detroit and southeast Michigan by partnering high school students and teachers with place-based educators, climate scientists, adaptation professionals, municipalities, and community organizations. Using a Place-Based Education (PBE) process and the Climate Resilience from the Youth Up curriculum, students and teachers will explore local climate impacts and develop resilience strategies that protect vulnerable school campuses, households, and neighborhoods from the increased occurrence and intensity of heat waves, storm events, and flooding. Through their involvement in this project, students will increase their climate and civic literacy, actively contribute to broader sustainability initiatives, increase their awareness of and interest in climate adaptation careers, and engage in solution-focused work that inspires hope in their communities. Students will share their work locally and regionally, and teachers and project partners will contribute to regional and national conversations about community resilience education and creating communities of belonging for both educators and youth. Using an ecojustice approach to PBE, this project locates community and climate resilience within a broader vision of youth and adult health and well-being and is grounded in the belief that issues of social and ecological justice are inseparable. It builds on the relationships, partnerships, and educational strategies that were developed and refined in the previous project, Climate resilience from the youth up: A place-based strategy uniting high school students, educators, residents, community organizations, and municipalities in southeast Michigan, and will use them to solidify a community resilience education framework. Building teacher and student capacity to engage in resiliency-focused place-based learning while fostering their identities as change-agents in their communities reflects NOAA’s education mission and goals. This project is led by the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS), housed at Eastern Michigan University and part of the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI), a statewide PBE network. Project partners include GLISA, the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP), Izzie, LLC, Detroit City Council Green Task Force, Ypsilanti Sustainability Commission, NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Great Lakes B-WET, Michigan Sea Grant, and schools throughout southeast Michigan.

Award Number: NA23SEC0080001
Grant Dates: 12/31/2023 to 12/30/2026
PI: Ethan Lowenstein
State: Michigan   County:   Washtenaw District: MI06
Partners:

Sailing Elementary Teachers Towards Ocean Literacy Using Familiar Water Resources

Funding: $461,534
Year: 2007
This project plans to increase elementary and undergraduate ocean science and related Great Lakes science literacy that aligns with the Michigan Curriculum, the national science standards, and the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts.

This project plans to increase elementary and undergraduate ocean science and related Great Lakes science literacy that aligns with the Michigan Curriculum, the national science standards, and the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts. We will 1) develop an elementary storybook and other elementary classroom materials that support ocean and Great Lakes literacy, 2) train pre-service elementary teachers to use this Storybook, 3) develop undergraduate activities that support the NOAA Education Plan and Ocean Literacy in teacher education courses at Eastern Michigan University (EMU), and 4) train teachers in Detroit and Dexter (MI) and Golden (CO) to use an elementary storybook and related activities that support Ocean Literacy. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and oceanographic experts at EMU and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) will partner with us to develop the elementary storybook. This elementary resource will be freely available to all teachers, via the internet (see http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/ocean_education/curre…). Our second objective is that teachers will relate ocean and Great Lakes science to theirs and their students' lives. We will accomplish this by 1) producing teacher-friendly web resources that make Great Lakes data from GLERL accessible for use by elementary teachers and 2) teaching pre-service teachers to interpret these data during undergraduate, inquiry activities at EMU. Our third objective is to measure environmental, ocean and Great Lakes literacy among pre-service teachers and their students before and after implementation of targeted instruction. We will accomplish this via 1) assessing pre- and in-service teachers' content knowledge and ability to apply content knowledge in ocean and Great Lakes science, 2) assessing elementary children for content knowledge and ability to apply content knowledge in ocean and Great Lakes science, 3) performance assessments of pre- and in-service teachers' abilities to interpret environmental data, 4) standardized tests of Earth Science content knowledge, and 5) surveys of pre- and in-service teachers' attitudes towards ocean literacy and supporting materials.

Award Number: NA07SEC4690004
Grant Dates: 10/01/2007 to 09/30/2012
PI: Sandra Rutherford
State: Michigan   County:   Washtenaw District: MI06
Partners: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center for Science Education · City University of New York (CUNY) / Hunter College ·

Envirosphere Educational Project

McWane Science Center offsite link · Birmingham, Alabama
Funding: $185,948
Year: 2006
McWane ScienceCenter (McWSC) is a non-profit, interactive science museum committed to showing the public how science and technology enrich their lives and help them solve problems. McWSC has a goal of extending the power of experiential learning to as many people as possible, particularly those who would otherwise not be able to do so on their own. McWane’s environmental education initiative, the Envirosphere Educational Project, uses NOAA’s Science on a Sphere (SOS) to provide environmental education and workforce development programs for an estimated 200,000 people.

McWane ScienceCenter (McWSC) is a non-profit, interactive science museum committed to showing the public how science and technology enrich their lives and help them solve problems. McWSC has a goal of extending the power of experiential learning to as many people as possible, particularly those who would otherwise not be able to do so on their own. McWane’s environmental education initiative, the Envirosphere Educational Project, uses NOAA’s Science on a Sphere (SOS) to provide environmental education and workforce development programs for an estimated 200,000 people. This number includes the general public, school groups from across the region, and 2,500 children in low-income communities from across the state of Alabama. All visitors have the opportunity to go to the SOS exhibit and participate in environmental education programs led by McWSC Education Staff. Each program corresponds to one of the SOS data sets and to the Alabama Course of Study Standards for elementary and secondary schools. The intended outcomes of the Project are to make complex environmental science concepts more accessible to people of all ages; to provide educational opportunities to children who would otherwise not have access to this type of information; to partner with local and state academic institutions, school boards and municipalities to improve environmental science curricula and awareness; and to increase the visitor’s knowledge of and pique his/her interest in science and its related real-world applications.

Award Number: NA06SEC4690011
Grant Dates: 10/01/2006 to 09/30/2007
PI: Angela Turner
State: Alabama   County:   Jefferson District: AL07
Partners: Birmingham City Schools / Minor Elementary School · University of Alabama at Birmingham ·

A National Coalition of Aquariums Educating About Climate Change

Funding: $484,751
Year: 2009
This collaboration led by three major national aquariums - National Aquarium in Baltimore, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and New England Aquarium - will develop a leadership initiative to build capacity within aquariums and related informal science education institutions nation-wide, enabling education staff to engage and inspire millions of visitors to take action about climate change and the ocean.

This collaboration led by three major national aquariums - National Aquarium in Baltimore, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and New England Aquarium - will develop a leadership initiative to build capacity within aquariums and related informal science education institutions nation-wide, enabling education staff to engage and inspire millions of visitors to take action about climate change and the ocean. Over three years, the aquariums will increase climate literacy among informal science educators by: 1) creating a national network for training, resource sharing and support; 2) developing climate change activity carts to support exhibit interpretation; 3) providing training for youth interpreters; and 4) hosting regional and national summits to strengthen collaboration and showcase and disseminate model programs. Outcomes for educators will include increased knowledge of climate change science; knowledge of strategies, tools and materials for educating about climate change; and confidence in their ability to communicate about climate change.

Award Number: NA09SEC4690046
Grant Dates: 10/01/2009 to 09/30/2013
PI: Nancy Hotchkiss
State: Maryland   County:   Baltimore City District: MD07
Partners: North Carolina Aquarium Society / North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island · California Academy of Sciences · Monterey Bay Aquarium · New England Aquarium Corporation / New England Aquarium (NEAq) · Seward Association for the Advancement of Marine Science / Alaska SeaLife Center · Florida Aquarium · National Association for Interpretation (NAI) ·

Visualizing Change: Training and Tools to Support Informal Educators

Funding: $185,752
Year: 2013
A consortium of Aquarium of the Pacific, National Aquarium in Baltimore, New England Aquarium and Seattle Aquarium will build educator capacity in the aquarium community and informal science education field to more effectively communicate about climate change and its impact on coastal zones and marine life. The project will utilize NOAA datasets and visualizations in providing interpreters with training and strategic framing communication tools based on the best available social and cognitive research.

A consortium of Aquarium of the Pacific, National Aquarium in Baltimore, New England Aquarium and Seattle Aquarium will build educator capacity in the aquarium community and informal science education field to more effectively communicate about climate change and its impact on coastal zones and marine life. The project will utilize NOAA datasets and visualizations in providing interpreters with training and strategic framing communication tools based on the best available social and cognitive research. The objectives of the project are to: (1) develop and test four exemplary interpretive “visual narratives” that integrate research-based strategic communication with NOAA data visualization resources; (2) test the application of the visual narratives in a variety of geographic regions and institution types (aquarium, science center, etc.) using multiple technology platforms; (3) build a professional development program for climate change interpretation with data visualization; and (4) leverage existing networks for dissemination and peer support. Other key partners include the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory (VisLab), the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the Ocean Explorium in southern Massachusetts, FrameWorks Institute and New Knowledge Organization.

Award Number: NA13SEC0080012
Grant Dates: 10/01/2013 to 09/30/2017
PI: Heather Doggett
State: Maryland   County:   Baltimore City District: MD07
Partners: Aquarium of the Pacific · Exploratorium · Monterey Bay Aquarium · New England Aquarium Corporation / New England Aquarium (NEAq) · Science Museum of Minnesota · Seattle Aquarium · Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) · NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory · NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) ·