Gulf Research Program Awards Over $5M to Support Place Based Education for K 8 Youth

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Gulf Research Program Awards Over $5M to Support Place-Based Education for K-8 Youth

News Release| September 25, 2024

WASHINGTON - The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today an award of $5.1 million dollars to fund 12 place-based education projects in the Gulf of Mexico region targeted toward students in grades K-8.

Collectively, the projects will engage young learners with local environmental issues, such as mapping litter in Louisiana communities, restoring salt marshes with recycled glass in Mississippi, and participating in immersive field trips and camps in Texas and Florida. Additionally, local teachers from Gulf states will receive paid professional development opportunities to incorporate place-based education into their practice.

"We are excited about the scope of these projects to empower youth across the Gulf of Mexico region, helping them deepen their connection to place, continue to build their scientific and environmental literacy, and work toward the betterment of the region at large," said Karena Mothershed, director of GRP's Board on Gulf Education and Engagement.

The 12 projects are:

School to Shore: Creating Connections to the Gulf

Project Director: Megan Pratt, Pensacola MESS Hall

Project Location: Pensacola, Florida

Award: $143,000

Project Summary: The Pensacola MESS Hall will engage learners in grades three to five at 25 schools with inquiry-based, hands-on activities, by bringing the shore to the school. Each year, the theme will be slightly different. In year one, for example, "Explore the Shore" will highlight coastal life, and in year two, "Living in the Littoral Zone" will highlight sources of energy and its flow through systems. This experience will reach approximately 5,000 students each year.

In addition, deeper engagement with 10 high-need schools will focus on fifth grade students who will participate in classroom activities on water and its properties; a role-playing experience that considers the points of view of community stakeholders in a simulated town faced with extreme precipitation challenges; and an exercise to evaluate different interventions that they could utilize to improve the environmental impact of their school. This program will reach approximately 600 students each year.

The activities will be fully aligned with state science standards; focus on the "nature of science" including modeling, graphing, and other skills; and incorporate math and engineering concepts along with cross-curricular connections.

Map It Clean! 2.0

Project Director: Fran Harvey, Louisiana Remote Sensing and GIS Institute - doing business as Global Geospatial Institute (GGI)

Project Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Award: $218,657

Project Summary: As the world becomes more technologically connected, students and educators need skills to analyze information from a spatial perspective and resources to effect positive environmental change. The Map It Clean! 2.0 program uses Esri's ArcGIS Online - the leading geographic information system (GIS) technology - to engage grades three to eight in mapping the litter landscape of their community. Students collect, store, manipulate, analyze, and display geographical data of litter, helping them visualize the effects in their locale.

Over 24 months, GGI will implement the program at the Eva Legard Learning Center for Coastal and Environmental Studies, Park Forest Creative Sciences & Arts Magnet Elementary School, and Magnolia Woods Elementary School, reaching 380+ students and 24 educators. The partner schools serve student populations that are more than 95% economically disadvantaged and primarily from minority backgrounds. Educators will participate in comprehensive professional development workshops, which equip them to teach how to become active citizen scientists and effective environmental stewards. 

Glass Roots: Cultivating Salt Marshes of Tomorrow

Project Director: Alison Rellinger, Mississippi State University

Project Location: Biloxi, Mississippi

Award: $356,618

Project Summary: Glass Roots: Cultivating Salt Marshes of Tomorrow is a program for fifth to eighth graders in coastal Mississippi that leverages several successful high school programs to design an experience tailored for younger students to learn about marsh and dune restoration and the role of these important ecosystems in climate resilience and watershed management. Glass Roots students and educators will grow plants for restoration in sand made from recycled glass and perform experiments to optimize growth. This unique, sustainable solution to marsh and dune restoration will give students a hands-on experience solving some of our most pressing coastal issues.

Wide Horizons: Place-Based Education and the Future of the Gulf

Project Director: Julian Rankin, Walter Anderson Museum of Art

Project Location: Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Award: $467,427

Project Summary: The Walter Anderson Museum of Art will scale the Wide Horizons place-based initiative for students in grades seven and eight that blends science, history, geography, and self-expression to target environmental challenges in the Gulf of Mexico. This program was inaugurated with GRP funding in 2022.

In partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi's Marine Education Center and Center for STEM Education and the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the museum will lead two years of activities for students and teachers, including: mobile science and storytelling experiences in classrooms; immersive daylong field days to surrounding environments accompanied by journaling, art creation, and data-gathering; and climate action exhibitions co-created between students, artists, and curators that communicate data-driven environmental solutions through multimedia installations.

Growing Galveston: School-Based Outdoor Education for a More Resilient Future

Project Director: Kristi Hibler-Luton, EcoRise Youth Innovations

Project Location: Austin, Texas

Award: $421,880

Project Summary: Growing Galveston: School-Based Outdoor Education for a More Resilient Future will provide a comprehensive outdoor learning and environmental literacy program for K-8 students in the Galveston Independent School District. In partnership with Galveston's Own Farmers Market, this school garden program will cultivate scientific and environmental literacy and empower students to solve local environmental challenges through a collaborative, multi-pronged approach. EcoRise aims to build on this collaborative, place-based model for student-centered garden education, nurturing a new generation of change makers.

The program's pedagogical approach is grounded in hands-on, place-based education, transforming school gardens into outdoor classrooms. Students will increase their scientific and environmental literacy as they learn and apply concepts across multiple content areas in a school garden setting, including collecting and analyzing data to inform the design of student-driven environmental solutions. In addition, through engaging, garden-based professional development, teachers learn how to effectively leverage outdoor spaces to teach academic content and cultivate environmental literacy, and they can immediately apply what they learn through customized activities and EcoRise's eco-audit micro-grant process.

Guardians of the Gulf: Promoting Youth Engagement for Marine Animal Conservation in Florida's Nature Coast

Project Director: Julie Brown, University of Florida

Project Location: Gainesville, Florida

Award: $427,065

Project Summary: Guardians of the Gulf engages sixth, seventh, and eighth graders from Levy County, Florida, in place-based learning on marine animal conservation. Each year, the students capture community photographs, conduct a marine mammal survey at Manatee Springs State Park, and analyze historical coastal changes and local strandings data, guided by partner marine scientists. At a research symposium hosted by the University of Florida, students present their findings to the scientific community, collaborating with content experts to deepen their understanding of marine conservation, further empowering them as guardians of their place and Florida's Nature Coast.

Students will explore issues like marine animal strandings, resource availability, and ecosystem health, devising conservation solutions showcased in a community gallery at their schools, receiving feedback from professionals and community members, with each classroom implementing its most viable conservation idea. High-quality professional development ensures science teachers will successfully implement and sustain these initiatives. By aligning with state and national science education standards and leveraging local ecological knowledge, the Guardians of the Gulf curriculum fosters deep connection with the environment, enhances environmental literacy, and empowers youth as stewards of local marine ecosystems. Through collaborative, real-world experiences steeped in science and engineering practices, youth gain essential knowledge and skills, preparing them to address local socio-environmental issues and contribute to marine conservation efforts effectively.

Advancing Water Literacy Among K-8 Children in Southeast Louisiana Through the "Living with Water" Program

Project Director: Shannon Blady, Louisiana Children's Museum

Project Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Award: $472,000

Project Summary: The Louisiana Children's Museum (LCM) will implement "Living with Water," its place-based environmental education program designed to supplement traditional K-8 classroom learning by engaging children in hands-on activities that build water and environmental literacy skills as an important first step to becoming problem-solvers for future environmental needs.

Living with Water learning will take place in in Orleans and Jefferson Parish K-5 schools and at the museum's state-of-the-art sustainable facility and expansive indoor/outdoor campus in New Orleans City Park. Currently, the Living with Water classroom curriculum is designed for third grade students; with GRP funding, LCM will adapt the curriculum for children through fifth grade and expand its implementation. Additionally, LCM will tailor the curriculum for students in grades six to eight and implement it through a new two-week summer camp. Lastly, LCM will expand Living with Water to include museum-based activities that engage daytime and after-hours visitors in grades K-8, including Living with Water nights for older children and workshops and demonstrations led by local subject-matter experts. Through Living with Water, LCM will continue to explore the intersection of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Childhood Education, design thinking, Next Generation Science Standards, and Louisiana's academic standards.

Greauxing STEM-Stewards

Project Director: John Underwood, Louisiana Department of Education

Project Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Award: $500,000

Project Summary: The Greauxing STEM-Stewards program is designed to build a community of practice for Louisiana aquaponic STEM educators, increase student awareness of local STEM careers, improve communities' knowledge of aquaponics, and help students better connect with the community they live in. The two-year project endeavors to build the first Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) middle school learning environment in Louisiana. CEAs help students develop a sound knowledge of plant physiology, nutrient cycles, ichthyology, marine ecosystems, and the roles of humans in the biosphere.

Greauxing STEM-Stewards seeks to connect students with aquaculture and conservation fields through a project-based curriculum, guest speakers from the community, daily interactions with organisms, and peer-to-peer mentoring/learning. Middle school students will learn how to operate and maintain the CEA equipment, raise fish, cultivate edible plants, maintain a balanced ecosystem via water quality and nutrient monitoring, and connect their efforts to local business and career opportunities. These middle school students will engage with partner elementary school students to explain and educate their peers on the CEA system. The teachers in the aquaponics community of practice will design lessons for students that include two place-based learning opportunities.

Brilliant Resilience Youth Empowerment Program: Improving Environmental Literacy Through Culturally Relevant Place-Based Learning

Project Director: Bruce Strouble, Citizens for a Sustainable Future Inc.

Project Location: Tallahassee, Florida

Award: $491,495

Project Summary: Citizens for a Sustainable Future is a community-based organization dedicated to advancing resilience by providing transformative learning experiences that promote environmental stewardship, civic engagement, and personal growth. Over the past two years, it has successfully engaged hundreds of children in dynamic, place-based education that has measurably increased their environmental literacy and critical thinking skills. Citizens for a Sustainable Future will further these efforts through the expansion of the Brilliant Resilience Program.

Set to commence in September 2024, the Brilliant Resilience Program is designed to impact around 500 youths from grades three to eight over two years. The initiative includes two six-week summer camp sessions and six six-week "Saturday School" cohorts, supplemented by four youth-focused community events hosted in underserved neighborhoods of Tallahassee and on the campus of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. This program utilizes an innovative place-based curriculum that combines field trips to the Gulf of Mexico's unique ecosystems with culturally rich and structured activities, aligning with state-wide educational standards. This approach will not only deepen students' connection to their environment but also equip them with the necessary tools to become proactive leaders in environmental justice and community resilience, and students will assume the role of informed and innovative environmental stewards.

Understanding Place: Students and Teachers Researching and Engaging in Authentic Meaning (UP:STREAM)

Project Director: Lillian Madden, Louisiana Tech University

Project Location: Ruston, Louisiana

Award: $597,135

Project Summary: UP:STREAM will develop knowledgeable stewards of the Mississippi River watershed and foster understanding of its relationship to the Gulf of Mexico. UP:STREAM will rely on three strategies connected to place-based education and citizen science: professional development for teachers; school-community partnerships; and afterschool experiences. At the heart of the project's approach is place-based educational activities that foster the development of scientific and environmental skills, competencies, and capabilities critical to solving complex issues in the Gulf region and the areas that feed into the Gulf.

UP:STREAM will consist of a cohort of 25 fifth grade educators from underserved and underrepresented North Louisiana schools and communities. The program will provide these teachers with professional development opportunities, including eight hours of online place-based education awareness in the spring and four days of face-to-face training in the summer, and presentation methods will include inquiry-based and hands-on approaches to meet the needs of the educators. The UP:STREAM team will guide the educator, students, and community as they develop an environmental plan for their unique area. Two environmental camps for up to 20 elementary students per camp (80 total) will be offered during fall and spring each year.

Threading Student-Led Decision-Making and Action Into STEAM-Powered Blue Carbon Place-Based Experiences

Project Director: Karla Klay, Artist Boat Inc.

Project Location: Galveston, Texas

Award: $746,174

Project Summary: Students will receive a yearlong hands-on, place-based program (STEAM-Powered Blue Carbon - Inquiry Workshops, Eco-Art and Blue Carbon Workshops, Eco-Art Kayak Adventures, Action Planning, and Action Projects) facilitated by their teachers and Eco-Art educators (marine biologists and artists) who are trained to foster student-led and inquiry based learning in place that results in students who self-determine their products to share environmental issues and solutions. Additionally, Artist Boat will provide professional development to 50 teachers and key staff who will facilitate the transformative program through focus on student-led decision-making, questions for investigations, and design thinking to determine actions. The participants are from the five counties surrounding Galveston Bay (Galveston, Chambers, Brazoria, Harris, and Fort Bend Counties), which cover a large and diverse geographic (rural/inner city), cultural (ethnicity/religions), and socioeconomic audience of students who are underserved and underrepresented.

OCEAN Kids: Ocean Citizen-Science Educational Audio-Course on Nurdles for Kids

Project Director: Sara Robberson Lentz, Associated Universities Inc.

Project Location: Washington, D.C.

Award: $335,563

Project Summary: OCEAN Kids brings together the expertise of Associated Universities Inc., the Tumble science podcast for kids, and the citizen science project Nurdle Patrol. OCEAN Kids will make an interactive audio course that educates students in grades three to five about microplastics in their communities and around the world. Nurdles are pellets about the size of a lentil used to make almost all plastic products and are the second largest source of microplastic pollution globally. Each year an estimated 445,970 tonnes of nurdles wash up on beaches and riverbanks and can also be found near storm drains and freight train lines. Microplastics are a critical issue students can explore where they live, coastal or not.

OCEAN Kids will be a standards-aligned audio course designed to increase students' science literacy and interaction with their communities. This learner-centered audio course will be freely available online. Taking place over several classroom days, the audio course will be a STEM instructional supplement for third to fifth grade classrooms, home school environments, or informal learning for families or clubs. Students will listen to immersive storytelling and participate in guided activities that will flow into place-based extension materials. It launches young listeners on a mission to solve problems through tinkering, investigating, argumentation, and communication of core concepts. Students will be empowered to explore their own environments and come up with collaborative solutions to plastic pollution problems facing their communities.

The National Academies' Gulf Research Program is an independent, science-based program founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with the companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. It seeks to enhance offshore energy system safety and protect human health and the environment by catalyzing advances in science, practice, and capacity to generate long-term benefits for the Gulf of Mexico region and the nation. The program has $500 million for use over 30 years to fund grants, fellowships, and other activities in the areas of research and development, education and training, and monitoring and synthesis.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

Contact:

Pete Nelson, Director of Public Engagement and Communications

Gulf Research Program

email [email protected]