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.
Global Connections: Science on a Sphere
The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery/Discovery Zoo in Dayton, OH has developed and implemented a new, permanent exhibition featuring NOAA's Science on a Sphere. The exhibition builds environmental literacy among public visitors, K-12 students, and the myriad of groups that the Museum reaches. A significant portion of the audience is from underrepresented groups. A special display within the exhibition focuses on the Mississippi Watershed and how it is related to the health of the oceans. The exhibition also includes three interactive stations where visitors can engage in hands-on activities related to NOAA datasets.
Worldviews Network: Ecological Literacy Programming for Digital Planetariums and Beyond
The Worldviews Network - a collaboration of institutions that have pioneered Earth systems research, education and evaluation methods - is creating innovative approaches for engaging the American public in dialogues about human-induced global changes. Leveraging the power of immersive scientific visualization environments at informal science centers across the US, we are developing transformative educational processes that integrate the benefits of visual thinking, systems thinking, and design thinking. This "seeing, knowing, doing" approach empowers educators with tools and techniques that help audiences to visualize, comprehend, and address complex issues from a whole-systems perspective. The Worldviews Network will make explicit the interconnections of Earth’s life support systems across time and space as well as inspire community participation in design processes by providing real-world examples of successful projects that are increasing the healthy functioning of regional and global ecosystems
Multicultural students At Sea Together -3 (MAST-3)
The primary goal of MAST-3 is to increase the diversity of students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, electing careers in NOAA related marine sciences. This is done through a multidisciplinary program that engages students in NOAA-related marine research, and explores marine policy, the heritage of African Americans and Native Americans in the coastal environment, and seamanship. MAST students use the Chesapeake Bay to understand efforts to protect, restore and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through an ecosystem approach to management. To do this, Hampton University has formed partnerships with various NOAA labs/sites, several university laboratories, the USEPA, various museums, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the menhaden fishing industry.
Educational Applications of the National Maritime Center Science on a Sphere
This project is developing and implementing a strong environmental literacy and science education program to accompany NOAA's Science on a Sphere® (SOS) at The National Maritime Center's Nauticus museum. The program will use the SOS as a focal point to support learning about global oceanic and atmospheric circulations and their effect on local environments. The team is creating real-time global displays of environmental phenomena for the SOS from the expansive University of Wisconsin environmental satellite database. Computer visualization systems and user-driven interactive displays will allow viewers to move from global scale to regional and local scale in order to explore specific features of the phenomena being visualized and to understand them in greater detail. The displays will be integrated with high quality education materials that are aligned with national standards and specifically address the NOAA Education Strategic Plan. The teaming of the University of Wisconsin, Hampton University, and the National Maritime Center offers the opportunity to expose students from ethnic minority groups to various NOAA career paths and help produce graduates with solid technical backgrounds.
Climate Youth Labs (CY-Labs): Elevating Youth Voices to Promote Climate Resiliency
Minnesota and Wisconsin communities are facing multiple climate hazards including wildfires, drought, pollution, severe storms, flooding, health emergencies, and habitat and species loss. Climate Youth Labs (CY-Labs) is designed to build youth participation in local and state climate resiliency efforts. The goal is to support place-based climate change learning for youth (ages 11 to 15) who are Black, Indigenous, or from underserved populations, providing them with critical knowledge and experiences needed to ensure the resiliency of their communities in the face of climate hazards, and sharing their stories of discovery and action through public media podcasts. Educators will learn to use NOAA educational resources including Climate.gov, Teaching Climate, the Global Climate Dashboard, Climate Explorer and the U.S Climate Resilience Toolkit to help youth learn about climate change. Educators will help youth ensure the resiliency and protection of their communities in the face of climate hazards, create meaningful change within their communities, and advocate for climate resiliency solutions aligned with state resiliency plans. CY-Labs draws on recent research that shows that effective climate change education programs are personally relevant, encourage discussion to navigate controversial issues, engage in the scientific process, address misconceptions, and incorporate youth action projects. At the annual Youth Climate Justice Summit in St. Paul, MN and at Superior Days in Madison, WI students will share their solutions with state legislators. CY-Labs is a partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) Center for Continuing Education, UWS Department of Communicating Arts, the University of Minnesota’s Hennepin County 4-H program in Minneapolis, Native Sun’s Solar Cub program in the Red Lake Nation, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.