Interagency Support for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl

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This award provides continued funding for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), which was established in 1998 by CORE. The program runs a nationally recognized high school academic competition that provides a forum for students to excel in science, mathematics and technology and introduces team members, their teacher/coaches, schools and communities to ocean sciences as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible future career path. The basic model for NOSB is that of a two-tiered timed competition in which pairs of four-student teams answer multiple-choice, short-answer and critical thinking questions within multiple categories related to the oceans. Each fall, over 400 participating high schools prepare their teams for 25 regional ocean sciences bowl competitions held across the United States in February and early March. Winners of these Regional Bowls advance to the national finals in late April. The current structure layers an array of year-round academic elements onto the basic competition framework and offers a range of program enhancements including summer internships and scholarships for NOSB alumni and opportunities for teacher professional development. Four regional bowls currently receive additional funding to expand recruitment efforts and provide mentoring and field trip experiences for students from racial, ethnic and economic groups underrepresented in the ocean sciences. CORE will to continue to administer and manage the National Ocean Sciences Bowl for the next five years (April 2007-March 2012). This award is the NSF-portion of an interagency effort that supports the NOSB. The combined interagency funds will support the addition of two new sites and expand the diversity initiative. To improve the credentials of the nation's teachers and informal educators, the award will provide funding for coach and regional coordinator professional development including a focus on the fundamental principles and concepts of ocean literacy recently developed by the ocean education community. An additional new element is a longitudinal study of educational and career paths that will assess the role that the program plays in encouraging talented students to enter the pipeline into ocean science careers and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions. By supporting and promoting the program's unique educational and experiential opportunities, all NOSB partners and sponsors contribute to helping our nation better prepare K-12 students in science and technology and identify and cultivate future scientists and technical experts. The NOSB program has been a model for interagency support of ocean education as directed by the President in the U.S. Ocean Action Plan (http://ocean.ceq.gov/actionplan.pdf ) which states that all agencies that fund ocean research and education should work together to ensure a coordinated education and outreach message; the integration of education and outreach components into research, exploration and management activities; that data collected through ocean and Earth observations are translated into useable forms for teachers, students, and the general public; that State and local educators are involved in developing high-quality education materials by participating Federal agencies; the ocean workforce of tomorrow is well-prepared; and that we continue to expand innovative means for bringing ocean science into classrooms and reaching the broader public. This award provides a portion of the funding required to support this program. A majority of the funds to support all other aspects of the program will be provided by NOAA via a parallel award for $1.0 - 1.3 M per year for 5 years. Other agencies that may contribute to the program include the Navy, Minerals Management Service (MMS), NASA, and USGS.