National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- NOAA’s Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program is designed
to recruit and prepare students for careers as educators in oceanic and atmospheric
science and for public service careers with NOAA and other natural resource
and science agencies at all levels of government.
Scholars receive up to $8,000 annually for full-time study during the nine-month
academic year; a 10-week, full-time summer internship position at a NOAA lab
or other facility; and if reappointed, up to $8,000 for full-time study during
a second nine-month academic year. They must hold a cumulative grade-point
average of 3.0 in all completed undergraduate courses and in their major field
of study and must major in a discipline area related to oceanic and atmospheric
science, research, technology, or education, and supportive of the purposes
of NOAA's programs and mission (e.g., biological, social, and physical sciences;
mathematics; engineering; computer and information sciences; and teacher education).
For more details, see http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/Hollings_info.html.
- NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) unites experts and
resources from both inside and outside the government in an effort to preserve,
sustain, and restore coral reef ecosystems. To accomplish these goals, the
CRCP administers a website, http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov,
that has much to offer teachers and students alike, including free resources.
Remote Sensing and Coral Reefs, a curriculum for grades 4–6, explores
such topics as satellite monitoring of the coral reef environments, phytoplankton
and ocean color, and coral bleaching; its lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations
are available for free downloading. The CRCP online discovery kit consists
of an 11-part tutorial on the biology of and threats to coral reefs; a “roadmap”
to related coral data sources; and lesson plans that integrate information
from the tutorial with data offerings from the roadmap. The lesson plans,
appropriate for grades 9–12, address the benefits of coral reefs to
humans and the major threats to reefs today, as well as how satellites are
used to monitor the reefs’ health.
Students can check out the Coral Kingdom Photo Library and the “Things
You Can Do to Protect Coral Reefs” fact sheet, then follow the links
to live coral-reef web cameras and other related sites.
- The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was established
to encourage protection of the endangered humpback whale and its habitat.
Each winter, Hawaii’s warm, shallow waters attract almost two-thirds
of the entire North Pacific population of migrating humpback whales. The sanctuary,
one of 13 national marine sanctuaries, consists of five protected areas distributed
across the Hawaiian Islands, about 1,400 square miles in all.
The outreach and education programs at the sanctuary have created multiple
resources, along with a page on the website just for kids. They can download
many of these materials, including activity books about the basics of humpback
whale biology and behavior, local seabird and shorebird populations, sea turtles,
and coral reefs. Learners may also read a 24-page newspaper insert on humpback
whales and download and full-color posters.
Visit http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov,
and click on Kids Page.
- The National Marine Sanctuary Program manages designated areas of the oceans
and Great Lakes, protecting their habitats, ecological value, populations
of threatened and endangered species, and historic, archaeological, recreational,
and aesthetic resources. Now NOAA has made lesson plans on the sanctuaries
available online (these lessons have also been selected for NSTA’s SciLinks
database of recommended online resources). Access http://www.nos.noaa.gov/education/classroom/04_sanctuaries.html,
where you’ll find Shipwreck Alley, a physical science lesson that explores
safety issues in commercial shipping on the Great Lakes. The Iron Cheesebox,
a chemistry lesson, focuses on the effects of seawater on iron and efforts
to preserve the wreck of the USS Monitor. Developed for students in grades
9–12, the lessons are easily adapted for students at the middle school
or college level.
- The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary has produced
a coloring book in English and Hawaiian. It retells a traditional tale from
the Marshall Islands about a whale and a plover. The story emphasizes the
importance of interdependence within a healthy ecosystem. The 15-page coloring
book is online at http://www.education.noaa.gov/books/whlplvr/whlplvr.htm.
For a hard copy, write to NOAA Public Affairs/Outreach Unit, 1305 East-West
Hwy., Station 1W204, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
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