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In 2004, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) embarked on a cooperative agreement with the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) to develop a series of education products for teachers corresponding to topics aligned to NOAA’s mission. The products--called Science Objects and SciGuides--address teacher professional development needs, and provide classroom resources. The agreement includes both evaluative components and a means for dissemination. The topics are drawn from science education standards, specifically a draft Oceans map AAAS produced that is modeled after the benchmark maps found in the Atlas of Science Literacy (2001). The topics are also informed by the National Science Educations Standards (1996). The topics were selected to support the curriculum at the high school level. These topics were in turn aligned to science research produced by NOAA scientists. Several months after the cooperative agreement was formalized, NSTA and the NOAA Office of Education and Sustainable Development agreed to a work order to produce a single SciGuide at the middle school level that will draw on topics found in the AAAS Weather and Climate map. Production for this SciGuide is due to start in June 2005 and will be completed in November 2005. To ensure topic choices, NSTA standards experts proposed a list from which to choose. Its experts also concentrated their analysis of the maps to the grade bands that interested each line office – high school for the NOS and middle school for the OESD. The universe of topics is far from exhausted. NSTA would like to expand on these partnerships to plan, implement, and evaluate two additional Science Objects and two SciGuides at the middle level, which will be disseminated through two Symposia that take place at NSTA conventions in fall 2006 and spring 2007. The additional development will fill in two of the gaps left open in the maps, and equip even more science educators to better teach the science of the NOAA, namely oceans, coasts, charting and navigation, weather, energy flow through an ecosystem, and climate. This partnership will bring NSTA educational professionals and master teachers together in an ongoing working relationship with NOAA scientists, writers, content experts, and communications professionals.

With a three-year $450,000 grant from NOAA, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and partners will implement Phase II of a climate and resilience education program, The Resilient Schools Consortium: Connecting Schools to Coastal Communities. Building on the previously funded Resilient Schools Consortium (RiSC) Program, (2016 - 2019), NWF will work with 200 students and 10 teachers from eight New York City Department of Education public schools. The students will adopt-a-shoreline in Coney Island, Brooklyn—a frontline community battered by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and threatened by sea level rise, coastal erosion, and inequitable exposures to flooding. Through field trips to local beaches, community engagement events, dune plantings, and public art installations, this project will connect students—who live or attend school in the Coney Island area—to residents and community partners. Together, they will increase their awareness of future climate impacts and develop strategies for building climate resilience and equitable adaptation to sea level rise. The Phase 1 RiSC curriculum for grades 6-12, designed by NYC STEM teachers, will be streamlined into a one-year product focused on coastal hazards, natural and built solutions that increase ecological resilience, and civic participation. Adaptable by schools in other coastal communities, the curriculum will continue to offer a strong foundation in climate science. Complete with user-friendly slide decks, handouts, and direct links to NOAA resources and digital tools, it will guide teachers and students through project-based activities during the school year. Key program partners, New York Sea Grant, and American Littoral Society (ALS), and advisors from the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (SRIJB) will provide community science expertise and lead shoreline ecology field trips. An “Adopt-a-Shoreline Field Trip Guide” will help students monitor the shoreline. ALS will lead professional development workshops for teachers and dune-planting activities that will increase shoreline resilience. The Coney Island Beautification Project, a core community partner, will lead public engagement and outreach, and recruit residents with historical knowledge of local weather events for student interviews. Students will build sea level rise markers and install them in suitable public spaces. Culminating Open Houses will bring Coney Islanders together to view student work and provide a platform to discuss flood risks and solutions. Knology will evaluate the project’s impact.

The Sciencenter seeks to develop a 1,500-square-foot traveling exhibition, called "Here to the Ocean," on how activity in inland watersheds affects the health of the ocean, and therefore the planet. The unifying theme of the exhibition is "What we do here, has an impact there," and the key take-home message for museum visitors is that ocean water quality is not just a coastal issue. This exhibition will travel to museums throughout the United States, reaching an estimated 200,000+ visitors annually for at least seven years, resulting in an estimated total impact of 1.5 million visitors in at least 20 U.S. cities. The core audience of this exhibition will be families with children ages 6-12, and children visiting museums in school groups. "Here to the Ocean" will feature interactive open-ended exhibits that bring watershed science to life, including an immersive experience allowing visitors to conduct their own virtual underwater tours of watersheds by stepping inside and operating a submersible research vehicle on an expedition from a backyard creek all the way to the ocean. This and other exhibits will feature stunning high-definition video footage depicting fauna from various water ecosystems, as well as human activities that affect watershed health. Additional hands-on exhibits will help visitors to understand how watersheds are connected to the ocean, basic concepts in hydrology, the impact of pollution, and what science offers in the way of solutions to watershed problems. Exhibits will be designed to inspire visitors to adopt behaviors that protect their local watersheds. Visitors experiencing this exhibition will: 1) leave with an increased understanding of watershed science that will help them make informed, data-driven decisions on issues relating to watersheds; 2) have an increased awareness of the importance of watershed health and positive attitudes about the need to protect local watersheds; 3) have an increased understanding of the value of science in solving environmental problems and will be inspired to stay involved in science through school and/or career; and 4) feel an increased sense of personal watershed stewardship which they will share with others.