The Cooperative Program for Earth System Education (CPESE) is a joint education project led by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The project aims to share knowledge about weather, climate, oceans, and coasts with pre-service and in-service teachers, K-12 students, and graduate students. The project's objectives align with three key goals of the 2021-2040 NOAA Education Strategic Plan: fostering a Science-Informed Society, promoting a Ready, Responsive, and Resilient community, and cultivating a Future Workforce. CPESE's major objectives include providing nationwide professional development (PD) for K-12 educators, offering fellowships for graduate students in atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences, and undertaking a planning year to reimagine AMS's model and methods for teacher PD course delivery. This planning year will focus on reaching more underserved teachers, schools, and climate-vulnerable communities. The long-term goals of CPESE are to establish a diverse community of practice among educators who are weather, ocean, and climate literate and adept at accessing NOAA data, and to promote retention and growth of graduate students in NOAA mission-related sciences, leading to careers in NOAA-mission disciplines. Key project activities include administering fellowships to 2-5 graduate students annually, offering DataStreme Atmosphere and Ocean as well as Project Atmosphere for graduate credit in partnership with Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest), and awarding microcredentials, such as the PennWest/AMS DataStreme certificate and/or Certified AMS Teacher distinction, to teachers who complete multiple AMS courses. DataStreme courses are offered virtually each fall and spring semester to approximately 70 teachers per term, while Project Atmosphere reaches 16-20 NOAA-supported teachers each summer through online coursework and a one-week workshop at the NWS Training Center. AMS updates DataStreme course materials annually and the Current Studies investigations weekly. In Year 2, AMS will plan for revisions to make Current Studies more dynamic and media-driven and update Project Atmosphere with newer maps, data, NGSS integration, and the 5E model of instruction. A network of DataStreme Mentor Teams supports AMS courses by recruiting teachers, providing learning support, participating in small group discussions, and offering grading input to PennWest faculty members. Mentors receive honoraria, continued PD opportunities, and assistance in participating in state or national educator conferences. In Year 2, a subset of mentors will form an advisory group to help re-envision the AMS course model, with the support of DEI experts and instructional designers (IDs). As AMS modernizes its course model, the project's external evaluator will revise the programmatic logic model and evaluation plan to include evaluative questions connecting participant demographics with teacher and school impact. Key program outcomes include equipping DataStreme mentors with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation to serve effectively, developing similar capacities for teacher participants (including classroom content application and knowledge transfer to students, peers, and administrators), increasing the number of teachers from underrepresented groups and their impact on underrepresented students, establishing an educator community of practice capable of understanding and applying NOAA-related science content (fostering a more ready, responsive, and resilient society that promotes climate justice), preparing graduate students for careers in disciplines that support NOAA's mission, and strengthening NOAA-AMS and external partnerships.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Education Program is continuing its development and implementation of a highly innovative NOAA/AMS partnership built on the recognition that teachers are key to realizing NOAA's and AMS's shared vision of an environmentally literate public and a geoscience workforce that reflects the human diversity of American society. This proposed phase of the program focuses on the crucial professional development of pre-college teachers in the pedagogical content knowledge of the essential principles and fundamental concepts of the atmospheric and ocean sciences. Project Activities and Expected Outcomes: Central to the program is the offering of the AMS DataStreme Ocean and DataStreme Atmosphere courses for in-service teachers and the content-similar undergraduate AMS Online Weather Studies and Online Ocean Studies courses for pre-service teachers. All AMS courses include delivery of engaging inquiry-based investigations of the ocean and atmospheric environments employing Internet-delivered NOAA products and services. The proposed project will expand a cadre of pre-college teachers well trained in the essential principles and fundamental concepts, online data sources, and pedagogical issues related to the teaching of atmospheric and ocean sciences from an Earth system perspective. Participating in-service teachers are committed to changing the way they teach atmospheric or oceanographic topics, will serve as resource agents in their schools, and are expected to provide leadership in science curriculum reform at local, state, and national levels. During this proposed funding, AMS DataStreme courses will train 4,000 teachers via semester-long graduate courses at 50 or more sites nationally via Local Implementation Teams (LITs). Within two years of training, in-service teachers will directly impact 40,000 other teachers and 1,400,000 pre-college students. AMS undergraduate courses with similar pedagogical and content underpinnings will impact thousands of pre-service teachers on hundreds of campuses. Rationale: The AMS, working closely with NOAA line offices and personnel, outstanding pre-college teachers, and science educators around the country, is transforming Earth system science education across the pre-college curriculum by addressing what and how teachers teach. Trained content-competent teachers are essential to realizing a scientifically literate public and creating a high-quality geoscience workforce that reflects and benefits from the diversity of American society. The AMS recognizes that teachers must experience learning that incorporates an Earth system science perspective and develop pedagogical content knowledge if they are to more effectively deliver authentic inquiry-based instruction in their classrooms. Major Project Partners: All NOAA line offices have been and will continue to be partners as AMS assists NOAA in advancing its goals of environmental assessment and prediction, protection of life and property, and the fostering of global environmental stewardship. The State University of New York grants tuition-waived graduate-level credit for the DataStreme courses.

This project provides for the continued development of a national cadre of precollege teachers competent in ocean and coastal environmental science content and appropriate pedagogy who serve as Ocean Education Resource Teachers and leaders in their local areas and home states. In recognition of the vital role of teachers in promoting environmental literacy, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) proposes the ongoing offering and continual development of its in-service precollege teacher enhancement course entitled DataStreme Ocean (see https://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/ds-ocean/home.html). The semester-long, three-credit hour graduate course will be offered at up to 25 sites nationally via three-member Local Implementation Teams (LITs). About 75 specially trained precollege teachers, college/university professors, and scientists serve on LITs. Project institutional partners include NOAA and the State University of New York at Brockport. DataStreme Ocean is partially delivered online and focuses on investigations of the ocean and coastal environment emphasizing the use of the most current NOAA data available on the Internet. Offered fall and spring semesters, 400 teachers will be trained during the 2005-06 school year. As part of their training, participants develop Plans of Action outlining their roles as Ocean Education Resource Teachers in their schools.

The Cooperative Program for Earth System Education (CPESE) – with assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport – is a major collaboration between the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and NOAA that advances NOAA’s mission of Science, Service, and Stewardship by sharing knowledge and information about weather, climate, and the ocean. CPESE facilitates national offering of the DataStreme Atmosphere and DataStreme Ocean courses and supports Project ATMOSPHERE leadership training workshops at the National Weather Service Training Center (Kansas City) for in-service K-12 educators. Over five years, about 3,000 teacher participants will earn graduate credits through a partnership with SUNY at Brockport and become confident Earth science educators capable of implementing engaging, pedagogically appropriate activities in their classrooms. These educators are expected to impact more than 30,000 additional educators and one million K-12 students. In addition to the professional development for in-service K-12 educators, CPESE enables the AMS to design curricula for introductory college-level Earth science courses, which help prepare pre-service educators. CPESE is built on a shared vision that highly trained educators are key to an environmentally and geo-scientifically literate public.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) work together to share knowledge and information about weather and climate, ocean, and coasts with educators and students across the country. The goal of this effort is to build a scientifically informed and engaged society and a diverse STEM workforce prepared to respond to environmental hazards. AMS facilitates a national offering of the DataStreme Atmosphere and DataStreme Ocean courses and supports Project ATMOSPHERE leadership training workshops at the National Weather Service Training Center for in-service K-12 educators, with focus on those at schools with considerable numbers of students underrepresented in STEM. By 2023, about 2,100 educators will earn graduate credits through a partnership with California University of Pennsylvania and become confident Earth science educators. These educators are expected to impact more than 20,000 additional educators and several hundred thousand K-12 students.

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a nationally recognized high school academic competition that provides a forum for talented students to excel in science, mathematics and technology and introduces team members, their teacher/coaches, schools and communities to ocean sciences as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible future career path. Established by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education in 1998 (the Year of the Ocean), the program operates within a supportive learning community framework that involves the ocean research community in pre-college education and stimulates broad interest in and excitement about science and the oceans. The basic model for NOSB is that of a two-tiered timed competition in which pairs of four-student teams answer multiple-choice, short-answer and critical thinking questions within multiple categories related to the oceans. Each fall, over 400 participating high schools prepare their teams for 25 regional ocean sciences bowl competitions held across the United States in February and early March. Winners of these Regional Bowls advance to the national finals in late April. The current structure layers a rich array of year-round academic elements onto the basic competition framework and offers a range of program enhancements including summer internships and scholarships for NOSB alumni and opportunities for teacher professional development. Four regional bowls currently receive additional funding to expand recruitment efforts and provide mentoring and field trip experiences for students from racial, ethnic and economic groups underrepresented in the ocean sciences. CORE proposes to continue to administer and manage the National Ocean Sciences Bowl for the next five years (April 2007-March 2012). Funds are requested to add two new sites and expand the diversity initiative. To improve the credentials of the nation's teachers and informal educators, the proposal seeks funding for coach and regional coordinator professional development including a focus on the fundamental principles and concepts of ocean literacy recently developed by the ocean education community. An additional new element is a longitudinal study of educational and career paths that will assess the role that the program plays in encouraging talented students to enter the pipeline into ocean science careers and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions. By supporting and promoting the program's unique educational and experiential opportunities, all NOSB partners and sponsors contribute to helping our nation better prepare K-12 students in science and technology and identify and cultivate future scientists and technical experts.

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.

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), initiated in 1998, is a nationally recognized high school academic competition through which talented students excel in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and are introduced to ocean science as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible career path. As the NOSB also engages high school teachers, schools, and local communities in the competition and other program elements, it results in broader awareness of the ocean sciences and environmental issues and increased attitudes toward stewardship of ocean resources within these audiences. The program operates with the involvement of the ocean science research and professional community. Support from NOAA is requested to support about 20% of NOSB national office staff time needed for total program implementation, subawards to the regional competitions, and site visits for planning the 2015 national finals.

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.

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a program that uses a quiz bowl competition, along with supporting educational activities for students and teachers, to develop the next generation of ocean scientists, stewards, and leaders. The NOSB is managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit and supported by 25 research institutions, federal laboratories, state Sea Grant programs, and aquaria across the United States. The NOSB develops knowledgeable ocean stewards that understand the ocean’s impact on daily life and the importance of scientific research. The program fosters use of the ocean as an interdisciplinary vehicle to teach science and mathematics and encourages its inclusion in curricula. It encourages and support the involvement of under-represented and geographically diverse communities in ocean science. Lastly, it provides students interactive education that develops critical thinking and skills for the workforce and exposes them to ocean science professionals and career opportunities. These objectives are achieved through a fast-paced and engaging quiz bowl competition that is supplemented by career mentoring events, yearly competition themes, and experiential field trips to help students gain a broader and deeper understanding of ocean science content than they would in a traditional classroom setting. The primary audience of the NOSB is high school students and teachers (formal educators serving as coaches). Secondary audiences include the academic and professional ocean science community, many of whom serve as mentors or volunteers, and students who benefit from the participation of their teachers and schools even though they have not participated in a competition. Each year, the NOSB directly engages approximately 2,000 students from 325 schools in 34 states plus the District of Columbia through 25 regional competitions. The top team from each region then competes in the national final competition, which changes location each year. The NOSB’s focus on ocean science is crucial as our nation’s need for an ocean-literate society is increasing given growing environmental challenges as well as opportunities in a sustainable ocean-based economy. Formal coursework in ocean and environmental sciences is not prevalent in most U.S. schools; thus, the NOSB fills a critical role in engaging high school students in ocean learning and expands their knowledge of the ocean’s role in issues affecting our nation’s citizens, such as a changing climate, extreme weather events, coastal resilience, food provision and security, and our economy. The NOSB supports NOAA’s Education Strategic Plan goals of a Science-Informed Society, Conservation and Stewardship, and Future Workforce. NOSB students are introduced to ocean-related STEM fields and career pathways. The NOSB also engages all participants in the competition and other program elements, resulting in ocean science and environmental awareness and increased interest in stewardship of ocean resources within these audiences. The program operates with the involvement of the ocean science research, education, and technology community, including NOAA laboratories and Sea Grant programs.

To promote ocean and climate change literacy that addresses the needs of our region, six aquariums based on the Gulf of Mexico will partner to educate our communities on both our risks and ways to contribute locally to sustainability. The aquariums will combine community outreach programs, stewardship promotion, social networking and workshops for non-formal educators to reach broad audiences throughout the Gulf in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Mexico. Each partner will develop content that emphasizes local ecosystems and consequences of climate change, tailoring stewardship activities to address them. Over five years, the aquariums will reach out to diverse audiences in their communities, which have populations that total over five million people.

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.

The Summer Science in New England project has established a regional network of summer camp programs grounded in ocean science. In year one, six institutions - New England Aquarium, Northeastern University's Marine Science Center, University of Rhode Island's Alton Jones Camp, the University of Connecticut's Project Oceanology, the Seacoast Science Center in NH, and the Marine Environmental Research Institute in Maine - work alongside research scientists to engage campers, ages 14 and up, in near-shore biodiversity monitoring. In years two and three, the number of partners increases to 10, then 12. The project provides a citizen science experience across a wide geographical area, supports and trains informal science center staff to incorporate citizen science while using environmental literacy principles with teens, and offers opportunities for all participants to share findings with peers at annual forums.

This collaboration led by three major national aquariums - Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBAq), National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB), and New England Aquarium (NEAq) - is developing 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. The project increases 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 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.

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, and FrameWorks Institute.

The New England Aquarium worked with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to establish Community Partnerships for Resilience (CPR) starting in 2017. CPR created partnerships in three Boston-area communities that face severe risk from a changing climate – Chelsea, Hull, and Lynn, MA. Project leads worked with local professionals with diverse and relevant expertise in climate science, engineering, community planning and community action, as well as representatives from local schools or school-based educational programs serving youth in Grades 4 through 8. Partners determined the most critical, climate-related hazards for their area that would benefit from public involvement and understanding. With a focus on extreme heat, inland flooding and storm surge, project leads, and educators developed a curriculum framework. The framework was used as a guide for the creation of a unit that had students explore the identified hazards and create a Public Education Project (PEP) to communicate with community stakeholders to drive both understanding and action. Through a series of collaborative working Summer Institutes, project partners led teachers on an exploration of the framework materials, relevant science content, and a crash course on Project Based Learning techniques. Implementation of the unit in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years led to further refinement of the curriculum framework, insight on the need for further teacher supports, and improved relationships and connections with municipal and community contacts. The resulting curriculum framework was finalized alongside partner teachers in the spring and summer of 2020 and can be adapted to different climate resilience topics and PEPs, as driven by student interest. Students themselves represent a key constituency – they will be most directly impacted by future changes, and they will need civic capacity to foster positive change. Teacher resources also include a rubric to evaluate PEP plans to meet project objectives, resources on trauma-informed teachers from colleagues at Riverside Trauma Center (Needham, MA), instructional and motivation videos from educator partners on key unit phases, and a beta version of a mapping portal developed with partners at Metropolitan Area Planning Council using layered data across a variety of sources. As a result of this project, participating educators showed an increase in knowledge and awareness about climate change on a broad level, as well as local impacts in their specific Massachusetts region. CPR participation also made educators more comfortable collaborating with other educators and inviting outside expert voices for lessons. By working collaboratively, participating teachers felt they were able to better support their students to impact their communities in a positive way. CPR provided the opportunity to have students work together to communicate with the public using PEPs, allowing students and community members to collaborate in “a common effort to increase climate resilience.” As a result of this, CPR was able to expand the group of change agents who could tackle critical environmental challenges and strengthen their communities.