NASA grants inspire the next generation of explorers by helping community institutions such as museums, science centers, libraries, and other informal education institutions and their partners bring science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content to their communities. NASA’s Next Generation STEM project has expanded the Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) program to include a new level of funding and provide even more opportunities for informal education institutions across the country.
The new STEM Innovator tier will fund awards of approximately $250,000, the Community Anchor tier will continue to offer awards of up to $50,000, and the highest award tier will be designated National Connector and will fund initiatives up to $900,000. Solicitations for FY 2024 will target the Community Anchor and STEM Innovator award tiers. The Community Anchor and National Connector awards will be the focus of the FY 2025 solicitation.
The TEAM II program was first expanded to include Community Anchors in 2022. Since then, the program has designated more than 50 institutions in 29 states as NASA Community Anchors. These awards support proposals that strengthen the STEM impact of many community organizations, including:
Students in grades 5-8 from Whiting Village School join Flight Director Tyson as they embark on a virtual Destination Mars mission from their two-classroom school in rural Maine.
NASA
The Challenger Learning Center of Maine reached more than 960 K-8 students statewide through 58 virtual programs spanning 27 mainland and four island schools, hosted a STEM Community Night for residents of rural Whiting, Maine, and hosted two virtual programs featuring NASA female engineers for girls across the state.
“The funding from NASA has allowed Challenger Maine to offer this Mars mission experience to schools of all sizes at no cost,” said Kirsten Hibbard, executive director of the Challenger Learning Center of Maine. “We’ve connected with new schools and become this resource, literally a STEM community anchor, for these schools.”
Youth at the Standing Arrow Powwow on the Flathead Reservation experience remote sensing content with virtual reality.
NASA
The University of Montana’s SpectrUM Discovery Zone provided rural and tribal communities in western Montana with an opportunity to understand the role NASA and its partners play in wildfire detection and response. SpectrUM developed the Montana Fire Detection Virtual Reality Experience. Using ClassVR headsets, visitors learned about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System satellites JPSS-1 and JPSS-2 and how they are used to remotely sense Earth.
SpectrUM collaborated with its community advisory group, SciNation on the Flathead Reservation, to integrate fire and earth science curricula developed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes into their field trips and educational programs, impacting hundreds of students.
A student at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana is excited to complete an activity from the “Aeronautics Museum in a Box” kit developed by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate; Community Anchor grantee Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport, Louisiana; and Central Creativity, an education center in Laurel, Mississippi.
NASA
The Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, introduced middle and high school students to NASA aeronautics content through its Aeronautics Museum in a Box kits. The kits were developed in collaboration with NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Sci-Port, and Central Creativity. The kits include hands-on, fun activities focusing on the parts of an aircraft, principles of flight, aircraft structure and materials, propulsion, the future of flight, careers, and more. Students and families from underserved communities in northwest Louisiana tested the kits and shared feedback with the developers.
“The Museum in a Box program has taken our participants to new heights beyond what they could have imagined. They see themselves as teachers to their children, as a source of guidance for STEM careers rather than as gang members,” said Dr. Heather Kleiner, director of the Northwest LaSTEM Innovation Center, Sci-Port Discovery Center.
U.S. informal education institutions interested in proposing these awards are invited to attend an optional pre-proposal webinar on Thursday, July 25 or Tuesday, August 13. Event times and connection details are available here.
/Public dissemination. This content from the original organization/authors may be of a point-in-time nature and edited for clarity, style, and length. Mirage.News takes no institutional position or bias, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s). See the full story here.