21 March, 2003

Polar Education Proposal Opportunities

This document is NSF 03-033 and can be found on the NSF web site at http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/nsf03033.htm

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

4201 Wilson Boulevard

Arlington, VA 22230

March 6, 2003

Dear Colleague,

The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) would like to call your attention to an opportunity to request NSF support for projects that integrate polar field research and education.

OPP and EHR jointly encourage proposals for well-designed, creative education projects that immerse K-12 teachers in polar research experiences and that offer structured support to effectively transfer those experiences into classrooms and communities. An opportunity to propose such a project currently exists through the Teacher Professional Continuum http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/esie/programs/te/te.asp (TPC) program, which is managed by the Division of Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education (ESIE). The required pre-proposal deadline for the TPC program solicitation http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm, NSF 03-534, is May 19, 2003.

Proposals are encouraged from partnerships among researchers, educators, curriculum developers, informal education centers, media centers and other centers of science research and education expertise. Potential PIs should examine the TPC program solicitation http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm to ensure that their project design meets all TPC program requirements. In addition, interested PIs are encouraged to contact OPP program officers (Guy Guthridge, gguthrid@nsf.gov, or Renee Crain, rcrain@nsf.gov to discuss field support that OPP could provide and ESIE/TPC program officers http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm to discuss educational aspects such as effective classroom and community transfer of polar research experiences.

A forerunner project supported by OPP and EHR, Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic ../tea_aboutus.html (TEA), is scheduled to end its current 5-year project grant https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/servlet/showaward?award=9904860 on March 31, 2004. OPP, EHR and the research and education communities have valued the TEA project as a pathway to improve science education through teachers' experiences in scientific inquiry, as a conduit for reciprocal exchange of experience and knowledge between researchers and educators, and as a foundation for a growing community of students, educators, researchers and the general public that is engaged in science teaching and learning. A future project may build on this valuable experience base to integrate research and education while significantly contributing to the knowledge base on science teaching and learning.

We look forward to reviewing innovative and competitive proposals that join polar science with science education reform.

Sincerely,

Karl Erb

Director, Office of Polar Programs

Judith Ramaley

Assistant Director, Directorate for Education and Human Resources