The goal of this funding opportunity is to support K-12 education projects that advance inquiry-based Earth System Science learning and stewardship directly tied to the school curriculum, with a particular interest in increasing climate literacy. To address this goal, this solicitation will support service-learning and professional development projects related to NOAA's mission in the areas of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather and climate sciences and stewardship. A successful project will catalyze change in K-12 education at the state, regional and national level through development of new programs and/or revision of existing programs to improve the environmental literacy of K-12 teachers and their students. A successful project will also leverage NOAA assets, although use of non- NOAA assets is also encouraged. The target audiences for this funding opportunity are K-12 students, pre- and in-service teachers, and providers of pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher professional development. There is a special interest in projects that address reaching groups traditionally underserved and/or underrepresented in Earth System science. One group that has been identified as underserved is elementary level teachers and students. This funding opportunity has two priorities, which are equal in their importance for funding. Priority 1 is for innovative proof-of-concept projects that are one to two years in duration, for a total minimum request of $200,000 and a total maximum request of $500,000. Priority 2 is for full-scale implementation of educational projects that are three to five years in duration, for a total minimum request of $500,001 and a total maximum request of $1,500,000.
Amount: Varies (see priorities noted above)
Date due: January 12, 2011