Engaging the Public with Solar Eclipses Through Mini-Grants

该项目旨在通过利用即将到来的日食来促进公众对科学的理解，从而为国家利益服务。北美将出现两次主要的日食：2023年10月14日的日环食和2024年4月8日的日全食。这些活动为科学教育和向学生、教师和公众推广提供了极好的机会。研究人员将实施一项“小型资助计划”，以支持地理上广泛的努力，让人们参与到日食和相关科学的兴奋中来。这项工作将基于一个类似的小型资助计划（由NSF奖DUE-1564535支持），研究人员在2017年8月为日全食进行了研究。这些小额赠款支持的活动惠及了大约29,000名公众。利用美国天文学会（AAS）日食任务小组（SETF）奠定的基础，研究人员将广泛宣传小额资助计划，并邀请非营利组织（中小学、学院和大学、公共图书馆、社区团体等）提出简短的建议，让当地社区参与与日食相关的教育活动和公民科学。建议可能包括，例如，建立太阳-地球-月球模型来解释日食的几何形状，建造针孔观测器或其他安全的观测设备，举办观测活动，或为教师提供专业发展。一个主要的优先事项将是项目能够覆盖到各种各样的个人，特别是来自历史上在STEM中代表性不足的群体的个人。小额赠款提案将由一个专家委员会（主要来自SETF）审查，并将颁发大约40笔小额赠款（大多数低于5,000美元）。小额赠款接受者将被要求收集其项目参与者的数据，并参与对项目影响的系统评估。SETF成员将被分配到每个小型资助接受者作为联络人，小型资助接受者将在日食之后参加一个论坛，分享他们的项目成果。该奖项由STEM教育理事会（EDU）的本科教育司（DUE）、数学与物理科学理事会（MPS）的天文科学司（AST）以及地球科学理事会（GEO）的大气与地球空间科学司（AGS）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by using upcoming solar eclipses to advance the public understanding of science. Two major solar eclipses are coming to North America: an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. These events provide excellent opportunities for science education and outreach to students, teachers, and the general public. The investigators will operate a "mini-grants program" to support geographically broad efforts to engage people in the excitement of the eclipses and the science surrounding them. This effort will be based on a similar mini-grants program (supported by NSF Award DUE-1564535) that the investigators ran for the total solar eclipse in August 2017. The activities supported by those mini-grants reached approximately 29,000 members of the public.Using groundwork laid by the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) Solar Eclipse Task Force (SETF), the investigators will advertise the mini-grants program widely and invite short proposals from nonprofit organizations (primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, public libraries, community groups, etc.) to engage local communities in educational activities and citizen science associated with the eclipses. Proposals might include, for example, building Sun-Earth-Moon models to explain the geometry of the eclipse, constructing pinhole viewers or other safe observing equipment, hosting observing events, or providing professional development for teachers. A major priority will be projects that will reach a diverse array of individuals, especially individuals from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. The mini-grant proposals will be reviewed by a committee of experts (primarily from the SETF), and approximately 40 mini-grants (the majority under $5,000) will be awarded. The mini-grant recipients will be required to collect data on the participants in their projects and to participate in a systematic evaluation of the impact of the projects. An SETF member will be assigned to each mini-grant recipient to serve as a liaison, and the mini-grant recipients will participate in a forum following the eclipses to share the results of their projects.This award is co-funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) in the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU), the Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) in the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.