NOAA-NMFS-SE-2024-2008255 NOFO Report.pdf

Fiscal Year 2024 NOAA Gulf of Mexico Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 4

A. Program Objective 4 B. Program Priorities 14 C. Program Authority 18

II. Award Information 19 A. Funding Availability 19 B. Project/Award Period 20 C. Type of Funding Instrument 20

III. Eligibility Information 20 A. Eligible Applicants 20 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 21 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 21

IV. Application and Submission Information 21 A. Address to Request Application Package 21 B. Content and Form of Application 22 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 29 D. Submission Dates and Times 30 E. Intergovernmental Review 30 F. Funding Restrictions 31 G. Other Submission Requirements 32

V. Application Review Information 33 A. Evaluation Criteria 33 B. Review and Selection Process 39 C. Selection Factors 41 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 41

VI. Award Administration Information 42 A. Award Notices 42 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 42 C. Reporting 48

VII. Agency Contacts 48 VIII. Other Information 49

Notice of Federal Funding Page 1 of 49

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Fiscal Year 2024 NOAA Gulf of Mexico Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-NMFS-SE-2024-2008255

Federal Assistance Listings Number: 11.008, NOAA Mission-Related Education Awards

Dates: Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time on February 5, 2024 to be considered for funding. Applicants should apply online through Grants.gov.

Informational webinars about the FY 2024 Gulf of Mexico B-WET funding announcement will be held on November 16, 2023 from 1-2 pm CT or 2-2 (https://meet.google.com/mke-sjtv-dek) and on December 6, 2023 from 9-10 am CT or 10-11 am ET (https://meet.google.com/kik-qtem-ezz). Please join the webinars at the Google Meet Video call links listed for each.

The NOAA Gulf of Mexico B-WET Coordinator will be available to answer questions Monday through Friday, 8 am - 4:30 pm CT excluding federal holidays.

Funding Opportunity Description: The National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Regional Office (Southeast Regional Office) is seeking proposals under the Gulf of Mexico Bay Watershed Education and Training (Gulf of Mexico B-WET) Program:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/grant/noaa-gulf-mexico-bay-watershed-education-and-training-gulf-b-wet-program.

The B-WET program is an environmental education program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K–12 students and related professional development for teachers.

BWET fosters the growth of new, innovative programs and encourages capacity-building and environmental education partnerships.

The primary delivery of B-WET is through competitive grants that promote Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). The MWEE is a learner-centered framework that focuses on investigations into local environmental issues and leads to informed action. MWEEs are composed of multiple components that include learning both outdoors and in the classroom, Notice of Federal Funding Page 2 of 49 and are designed to increase the environmental literacy by actively engaging students in building knowledge and meaning through hands-on experiences. In these experiences, the core ideas of multiple disciplines are applied to make sense of the relationships between the natural world and society. MWEEs help connect students with their local environment and equip them to make decisions and take actions that contribute to stronger, sustainable, and equitable communities.

This Gulf of Mexico B-WET funding announcement focuses on the following priority areas: 1) Professional Development for Teachers related to Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences, 2) Exemplary Programs combining Teacher Professional Development with Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for their students, and 3) Systemic Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience Implementation.

Again this year, the Gulf of Mexico B-WET funding announcement emphasizes our strong commitment to expanding the participation of marginalized communities in watershed education and is interested in projects that partner specifically with organizations and institutions that serve marginalized groups, particularly minority communities. And, it suggests that the MWEE framework can contribute to one of the most pressing economic, social and environmental issues of today - climate change - by directly fostering climate knowledge and competencies to contribute to climate solutions.

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

a. Overview Every year, the NOAA B-WET Program supports environmental education programs for thousands of students and teachers. These programs engage youth in meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) that provide memorable hands-on, experiential learning that are not typically available within traditional classrooms. It also plays a significant role in providing professional development to classroom teachers nationwide that increases their content knowledge, skills, and pedagogical expertise. Lastly, it supports the expansion of environmental literacy in a systemic manner throughout the region, including providing support for state-level capacity building.

Additionally, the K-12 education system is a well-positioned venue for instilling comprehensive knowledge, skills, competencies, and resilience around one of the most pressing economic, social and environmental issues of today: climate change. According to the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and most recent National Climate Assessment (NCA, 2018), communities in the U.S. are experiencing changes in climate that are resulting in severe storms, flooding, hurricanes, extended drought, change in ocean chemistry and sea level rise, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth. Currently, educational institutions, researchers and policy makers are calling for climate change education that goes beyond knowledge acquisition and formal classroom teaching to efforts that reach audiences of all demographics and incorporate the social, political, economic, and justice elements of climate change. Education has the power to help students develop meaningful personal connections to climate solutions, a sense of personal agency and empowerment, and ultimately impact their behaviors and decision-making in relation to climate change (Kwauk, 2021; K12 Climate Action Commission, 2021). The MWEE educational framework can directly foster climate knowledge, skills, and competencies to address climate change, climate impacts, and the opportunities to contribute to climate solutions in their own communities. Therefore, the B-WET program strongly encourages the purposeful incorporation of education about climate change into programming.

In order to be effective, sustainable, and equitable, environmental education must be integrated within organizations that understand and support the needs of their community. In addition, challenges like the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change will be felt disproportionately by historically marginalized groups, particularly students of

Notice of Federal Funding Page 4 of 49 color and students from low-income families that are more likely to lose environmental education within their local school districts. Therefore, the NOAA B-WET Program is interested in projects that partner specifically with organizations and institutions that serve marginalized groups, particularly minority communities. Projects are strongly encouraged to develop meaningful and mutually-beneficial partnerships that honor the strengths of community organizations. In successful partnerships, organizations have shared goals and work together to share resources, communicate effectively, collaborate on decision-making, and competently engage members of diverse cultures and expertise.

b. Defining the Bay Watershed Education And Training Program The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is an environmental education program that promotes locally-relevant, authentic experiential learning focused on K–12 audiences. B-WET was established in 2002 in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and currently exists in seven regions: Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico, New England, California, Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, and Great Lakes. The primary delivery of B-WET is through competitive funding that promotes Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).

Gulf of Mexico B-WET advances the goals of NOAA’s Education Strategic Plan (https://www.noaa.gov/education/explainers/noaa-education-strategic-plan). It also addresses NOAA's Long Term Goal of Healthy Oceans: Marine fisheries, habitats, and biodiversity are sustained within healthy and productive ecosystems and NOAA's Engagement Enterprise Objective for An engaged and educated public with an improved capacity to make scientifically informed environmental decisions.

Gulf of Mexico B-WET also addresses environmental literacy principles such as the Ocean Literacy (http://www.coexploration.org/oceanliteracy/documents/OceanLitChart.pdf) and Climate Literacy (http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/literacy/climate_literacy.pdf) Principles and Concepts. More information about the national B-WET program can be found at https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet. Information on the Gulf of Mexico B-WET program, including examples of currently supported projects, can be found on NOAA’s website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/grant/noaa-gulf-mexico-bay-watershed-education-and-training-gulf-b-wet-program.

c. Defining the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience The Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) is a learner-centered framework that focuses on investigations into local environmental issues and leads to informed action. MWEEs are made up of multiple components that include learning both outdoors and in the classroom and are designed to increase environmental literacy by

Notice of Federal Funding Page 5 of 49 actively engaging students in building knowledge and meaning through hands-on experiences. In these experiences, the core ideas and practices of multiple disciplines are applied to make sense of the relationships between the natural world and society. MWEEs help connect students with their local environment and equip them to make decisions and take actions that contribute to stronger, sustainable, and equitable communities.

The MWEE consists of four essential elements and four supporting practices that build upon each other to create a comprehensive, student-centered learning experience. Throughout the MWEE, teachers provide structure, support, and encouragement as students use their curiosity and creativity to investigate and take action to address a local environmental issue.

To support teacher implementation of MWEEs, B-WET has also included six characteristics that are recommended to be included in teacher professional development activities.

MWEEs are appropriate for all grade levels with content and practices growing in complexity and sophistication across the grades — starting with teacher-guided investigations and progressing to student-led inquiry. Using the MWEE framework helps educators create an engaging program to achieve their learning objectives (i.e., the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students should be able to exhibit following instruction).

Learning objectives should address academic standards, but might also include other objectives, such as teamwork, social-emotional learning, and civic responsibility.

More information about the MWEE can be found at the following link:

https://www.noaa.gov/education/explainers/noaa-meaningful-watershed-educational-experience.

1. MWEE Essential Elements The MWEE consists of four essential elements that describe “what students do:” Issue Definition, Outdoor Field Experiences, Synthesis and Conclusions, and Environmental Action Projects. These elements, together with the supporting practices, create a learner-centered framework that emphasizes the role of the student in actively constructing meaning from the learning experiences. The essential elements are not meant to be linear. In fact, some elements, such as Synthesis and Conclusions, occur repeatedly throughout the MWEE.

1.1. Issue Definition

During Issue Definition, students learn about an environmental issue by planning and conducting background research and investigations. An environmental issue is an environmental problem, often with observable phenomena, to which community members bring a variety of perspectives. To provide structure for their exploration of the issue, students focus on a driving question that is defined by the teacher. This question is the “big

Notice of Federal Funding Page 6 of 49 picture” question that sparks curiosity and organizes student inquiry and investigations, which ultimately informs environmental actions. It should be open-ended, relevant to students’ lived experiences, and meet learning objectives. To support youth voice and deepen the learning, students are actively involved in co-developing supporting questions with teachers to better understand the driving question and environmental issue. To explore the driving and supporting questions, students gather information by making observations, finding and reading credible sources, talking to experts, and carrying out field investigations.

Students also consider environmental policies and community practices and reflect on personal, stakeholder, and societal values and perspectives to develop a comprehensive picture of the root causes of the environmental issue. Through this exploration of the local issues, students will understand their connection to the greater marine or estuarine environment and watershed system; and how their actions within that system can affect the environment.

1.2. Outdoor Field Experiences

Students participate in multiple Outdoor Field Experiences to explore the driving question and strengthen their connection to the natural world. Within appropriate safety guidelines, students are actively involved in planning and conducting the field investigations, including developing supporting questions to explore the driving question in the field. Field experiences allow students to interact with their local environment and contribute to learning in ways that traditional classroom or laboratory settings may not. During field experiences, students can use their senses, scientific equipment, and technology to make observations, collect data or measurements, and conduct experiments necessary to answer their supporting questions and inform environmental action. Students who have opportunities to learn in, thrive in, and appreciate the outdoors can become informed and engaged champions for our natural resources.

Outdoor Field Experiences can take place on school grounds or at locations close to schools, such as streams or local parks. They can also take place at off-site locations such as state or national parks, wildlife refuges, marine protected areas, or nature centers that are often staffed by experts and may provide access to field equipment and facilities. A range of partners, including environmental educators, natural resource professionals, or trained volunteers, can help facilitate field experiences; however, they should be co-developed and co-taught with teachers so that field experiences support learning objectives. Teachers and partners should ensure an accessible outdoor learning environment for all participants, including students with a range of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social abilities. They should also prepare students by providing information and discussing what students can expect to see, feel, or experience during their time outdoors to ensure students feel safe and comfortable during their field experiences.

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1.3. Synthesis and Conclusions

During Synthesis and Conclusions, students reflect on each experience and investigation in relation to the issue, and share their claims and conclusions with each other. Teachers should plan for this to occur regularly throughout the MWEE. This learning and frequent reflection provide the foundation for the development of claims and environmental action that address the driving question and connect to the environmental issue. Throughout this process, students should demonstrate understanding of their investigations and conclusions with their peers or the school community. This could involve multiple disciplines and a variety of formats including discussion, journaling, presentations, graphing, performing skits or songs, or creating art.

1.4. Environmental Action Projects

As a result of their investigations, students identify solutions and develop Environmental Action Projects that directly address the issue within their school, neighborhood, or community. Students are actively engaged in and, to the extent possible, drive the decision-making, planning, and implementation of the action project. Teachers facilitate this process by forming groups, moderating, and answering questions. Students reflect on the value of the action and determine the extent to which it successfully addressed the issue. This essential element allows students to understand that they personally have the power to bring about change by taking action to address environmental issues at the personal, community, or societal level. Taking action instills confidence in students and can contribute to students becoming environmental stewards in their communities. Environmental Action Projects can take many forms and may fall into the following types:

a. Restoration or Protection: actions that assist in the recovery or preservation of a watershed or related ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. Examples include: plant or restore protective vegetation/trees; restore a local habitat; remove invasive plants; clean up litter at local beaches, parks, or school grounds; develop a school garden, natural history area, community garden, or other sustainable green space; install rain gardens to help manage storm-water.

b. Everyday Choices: actions that reduce human impacts on watersheds and related ecosystems and offer ways to live more sustainably. Examples include:

refuse/reduce/reuse/recycle; monitor and save water in the face of potential drought or reduction in water availability; compost food or yard waste; research and implement energy efficient strategies or energy alternatives at school and/or at home.

c. Community Engagement: actions that inform others about how to address community-level environmental issues. Examples include: give presentations to local organizations;

organize community events; record or broadcast public service announcements; share information on social media; post flyers in community; share posters at community

Notice of Federal Funding Page 8 of 49 events/fairs/festivals; mentoring.

d. Civic Engagement: actions that identify and address issues of public concern. Students acting alone or together to protect societal values or make a change or difference in a student’s school, neighborhood, or community. Examples include: present to school principal or school board; attend, speak, or present at town meetings; write to local or state decision makers or elected officials.

2. MWEE Supporting Practices The MWEE also includes four supporting practices that describe “what teachers do,” along with their partners, to ensure successful implementation with students. The supporting practices are Teacher Facilitation, Learning Integration, Sustained Experiences, and Local Context.

2.1. Teacher Facilitation

MWEEs require that teachers support student learning for the duration of the MWEE, both inside and outside the classroom. Teachers balance roles of facilitation, direct instruction, and coaching to create a student-centered learning experience where the essential elements of the MWEE come together to support goals for learning and create opportunities for students to take active roles in the learning process. Teachers provide space for student choice and voice by creating learning experiences that center on what students value. Even when activities or lessons occur at partner sites or are primarily led by partners at the school, teachers should be actively engaged. Teachers should connect these experiences to prior learning, foster critical thinking, and lead reflection after the experience so, regardless of the facilitator, the entire MWEE experience feels cohesive to the students. To support this level of engagement, teachers should have access to professional development opportunities that support their content knowledge, understanding of the MWEE framework, and confidence and intention to implement MWEEs independently (see Teacher MWEE Professional Development Characteristics for specifics).

2.2. Learning Integration

The MWEE is an educational framework that helps teachers meet their learning objectives in an engaging way. MWEEs are not meant to be something “extra”, but rather a means of enriching lessons for deeper student learning while meeting academic standards. To achieve this vision, MWEEs should be embedded into the school curriculum to support goals for learning and student achievement. They can also provide authentic, engaging interdisciplinary learning that crosses traditional boundaries between disciplines. Finally, the MWEE essential elements can also be used by educators in out-of-school settings (for example, after school programs, clubs, or summer camps) to enrich activities and complement school-based programming.

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2.3. Sustained Experience

MWEEs rely on teachers to plan and implement a series of rich and connected learning opportunities where each essential element — from asking questions during Issue Definition through implementing Environmental Action Projects — builds upon and reinforces the others. To accomplish this, MWEEs are incorporated into a unit or multiple units, where learning happens both in and out of the classroom. This provides adequate time for students to not only reflect on the individual lessons and experiences, but also on how all of the elements cohesively come together. While an individual lesson may occur in one class period or field experience, that lesson or experience should be explicitly connected to the larger learning sequence of the MWEE.

2.4. Local Context

MWEEs have teachers use the local environment and community as a context for learning that is relevant to students’ lives. Situating the MWEE within local contexts promotes learning that is rooted in the unique culture, history, environment, economy, literature, and art of a students’ school, neighborhood, or community. To enrich MWEEs, local resources (e.g. partners, expertise, field sites) should be incorporated. Partnerships, such as those with local community-based organizations, create opportunities for students to engage with members of their community of diverse cultures, values, and expertise that can create a more equitable and inclusive experience. Emphasizing the local context enables students and teachers to develop stronger connections to, and appreciation for, their local environments and communities. This also enables students and teachers to explore how their individual and collective decisions affect their immediate surroundings and in turn affect larger ecosystems and watersheds.

3. Teachers MWEE Professional Development Practices Professional development providers play a crucial role in preparing teachers to implement successful MWEEs with their students. Professional development that includes characteristics such as: relevant content; explicit modeling of educational frameworks;

collaboration, feedback and modeling instruction such as student-centered teaching;

adequate time for professional development including time for ongoing support; and offering participation incentives that teachers value leads to a variety of positive outcomes.

Professional development should empower teachers to confidently and competently use the MWEE framework to support standards-based learning that aligns with local education agency initiatives. Teachers should gain confidence in the value of MWEEs and strategies for conducting them so that they will be able to implement MWEEs after the professional development has ended. To set teachers up for success, the following six overarching characteristics, informed by education research and evaluation results, are recommended for

Notice of Federal Funding Page 10 of 49 inclusion in professional development to support teachers implementing MWEEs.

3.1. Increases Teachers’ Knowledge and Awareness of Environmental Issues Professional development facilitators should ensure that teachers have an adequate level of content knowledge in science and specific to their grade level and discipline to support their MWEE. The content knowledge should also be connected to the interactions between natural systems and social systems, including human impacts on local watersheds and larger Earth systems. Recognizing that environmental issues often include different perspectives and opinions about the environment, teachers must also experience and build skills that enable them to address these traditionally non-academic factors in their classrooms. When combined, this knowledge and these experiences often result in teachers who are more aware of, and more prepared for, the complexity of implementing MWEEs.

3.2. Models MWEE Framework

Professional development should also provide opportunities for teachers to understand the goals and rationale behind the MWEE as a framework for fostering learning and environmental stewardship. Facilitators of teacher professional development should utilize the same techniques and experiences that teachers are expected to use with their students, such as hands-on Outdoor Field Experiences, critical thinking about environmental issues, and Environmental Action Projects. Of note regarding Environmental Action Projects:

According to evaluation data on teacher PD, 30% teachers are not participating in Environmental Action Projects, one of the MWEE essential elements, during PD. Research suggests teachers are more likely to engage their students in activities they experience themselves during professional development programs. Therefore, MWEE professional development should always include opportunities for teachers to experience Environmental Action Projects that connect to the watershed issue being studied, as well as the inquiry activities their students will take to plan and implement their own action projects.

3.3. Includes Collaboration, Feedback, and Models High-Quality Instruction Effective professional development includes peer collaboration, time for teachers to experience, plan for, and practice model activities and lesson plans, and opportunities for reflection and feedback. Collaborative opportunities that include observing effective teaching practices and replicating these practices with expert instruction and feedback, can result in higher likelihood that teachers will apply these practices when implementing MWEEs. Such opportunities also foster exchanging ideas and create a collaborative atmosphere for changing the culture around adopting new teaching practices at multiple levels within a school system. In addition, when teachers experience high-quality instruction, such as active learning and student-centered inquiry, they are more likely to use high-quality instruction when implementing MWEEs with their own students.

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Of note regarding quality instruction: Where appropriate, professional development should include tools for teachers to implement MWEEs on their school grounds. Resources exist to support the effective hands-on implementation of MWEEs and the development and continued use of integrated, sustainable indoor and outdoor environmental learning projects that provide substantial benefit to both students and the school environment.

3.4. Allows for Adequate Instructional Time and Ongoing Support Professional development should be multi-day, occurring consecutively or over the course of several weeks or months and include time for ongoing support for teachers. Professional development facilitators should build in adequate time for the types of experience described above, including time to learn, practice, reflect upon, and design practices they learn during the professional development. Even in cases where teachers participate in robust multi-day workshops, such as summer or weekend courses, it is still essential that professional development providers have structures and opportunities in place for ongoing teaching support and enrichment. This can take the form of follow up meetings, web-based forums for communication and feedback, mentor teachers who can serve as points of contact, or teams of teachers from one particular school.

Of note, regarding the time allocated for professional development: Educational research findings and evidence from the B-WET national evaluation system support the B-WET program recommendation that professional development include more than 30 hours of professional development (for example, in-person multi-day workshops, virtual lectures or demonstrations, field-based data collection, one-on-one consultations), of which more than 10 hours should be spent doing hands-on inquiry or engaging in action projects in the outdoors. Where states and/or school districts put limits on the amount of time teachers can spend in professional development, applicants should describe those limitations and how they will maximize the professional development time that is available. It has been shown that these targets will change teacher practice and increase the likelihood that teachers will implement impactful MWEEs.

3.5. Offers Appropriate Incentives

Having appropriate incentives can increase participation in professional development programs. For example, teachers who participated in B-WET-funded professional development programs in the past reported that receiving a stipend or continuing education credits were the “most valuable” incentives enabling them to participate in those programs.

While a variety of incentives can be offered to professional development program participants, it is clear that continuing education credits and stipends can enable participation in ways that other incentives might not.

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3.6. Meets Jurisdictional Guidelines and Engages Leadership

Each jurisdiction has established guidance and recommendations relevant to all forms of teacher professional development. When possible, professional development opportunities for MWEEs should adhere to guidelines set forth by state and/or local education agencies.

Outreach and training opportunities for school administrators will also help ensure jurisdictional alignment and increase high level support for both environmental education and continuing teacher professional development for teachers.

d. Resources For Implementing The Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience The following resources explain the Meaningful Watershed Education Experience (MWEE) and provide guidance on implementing a MWEE.

1. MWEE Description: The full definition of the MWEE is provided online in an easy to use online format. https://www.noaa.gov/education/explainers/noaa-meaningful-watershededucational-experience.

2. NOAA MWEE Resources: This website, https://www.noaa.gov/officeeducation/bwet/resources/mwee-resources, provides links to resources that will help educators find the tools they need to implement student MWEEs.

Resources here include: the MWEE definition, the MWEEs in action video series, MWEE implementation guides, student outcomes for environmental literacy, MWEE training courses, and an online resource that supports hands-on environmental learning titled Bay Backpack. Of special note is the new national guide, titled “An Educator’s Guide to the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE), found here:

https://www.noaa.gov/officeeducation/ bwet/resources/mwee-guide.

3. EPA’s “How’s My Waterway?” Tool: This tool provides watershed boundaries, definitions, and a comprehensive overview of water quality data and information within those boundaries. How’s My Waterway? pulls in data from several sources with the goal of answering questions about aquatic life, eating fish, swimming, drinking water, restoration and protection. https://mywaterway.epa.gov/.

4. Tools for Implementing MWEEs on School Grounds: School Grounds for Learning lists instructions and resources for 100+ educational green projects on school premises.

https://maeoe.org/environmental-literacy/school-grounds-for-learning.

5. NOAA Assets: We encourage applicants to use NOAA assets, such as data, resources, expertise, or places, in forming and implementing the MWEE. NOAA has a wealth of

Notice of Federal Funding Page 13 of 49 applicable products, data, and services as well as a cadre of scientific and professional experts who can enhance student experiences both in the classroom and in the field. These resources complement the educator’s strengths and augment the educational resources.

Additionally, NOAA personnel can serve as important role models for career choices and stewardship. For more on NOAA assets for education please see: NOAA Education Resource collections (https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections), NOAA in your state (https://www.noaa.gov/legislative-and-intergovernmental-affairs/noaa-in-your-stateterritory), and NOAA in your backyard (https://www.noaa.gov/education/noaa-in-yourbackyard).

B. Program Priorities

a. Gulf of Mexico Alliance Priorities The NOAA Gulf of Mexico B-WET program responds to regional education and environmental priorities through local implementation. Therefore, applications are asked to employ MWEEs that address the priorities outlined by the area’s Regional Ocean Partnerships, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is a partnership of the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, with the goal of significantly increasing regional collaboration to enhance the ecological and economic health of the Gulf of Mexico. The five U.S. Gulf States have identified six priorities that are regionally significant and can be effectively addressed through increased collaboration at local, state, and federal levels.

The Gulf of Mexico Alliance priority issues are: Coastal Community Resilience, Data and Monitoring, Education and Engagement, Habitat Resources, Water Resources, and Wildlife and Fisheries. The Gulf of Mexico Alliance cross-cutting issues are: Human Benefits of Nature, Integrated Planning, and Marine Debris. For more information about these priorities please visit the Gulf of Mexico Alliance website at: http://www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org/ and the Governors’ Action Plan IV at: https://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/what-we-do/governors-action-plan/. Applicants should describe how they address one, or more, of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance priorities.

b. B-WET Priority Areas Proposals MUST address one of the following B-WET priority areas: (1) Professional Development for Teachers related to Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences; (2) Exemplary Programs combining Teacher Professional Development with Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for their students; or (3) Systemic Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences Implementation. Each of these three B-WET priority areas are described below. Applicants must indicate which B-WET Priority they are applying under.

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1. Professional Development for Teachers related to Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences The NOAA B-WET Program seeks applications for projects that provide teachers opportunities for professional development in the area of environmental education.

Professional development should empower teachers to confidently and competently use the MWEE approach to support standards-based learning that aligns with local education agency initiatives. Long-term professional development opportunities will reinforce a teacher's ability to teach, inspire, and lead young people in exploring current critical issues that impact the watershed resulting in thoughtful stewardship of our natural resources. In order to gain and maintain environmental education competencies, teachers benefit from sustained, high quality professional development that includes ongoing support and feedback. Projects should be designed so that teachers are capable of conducting a MWEE and provide the resources and technical support needed to implement an experience in their classroom.

Proposals submitted under this area should be designed so that teachers not only understand what a MWEE is, but why this type of pedagogy is important. The goal is to ensure that professional development experiences for the teacher ultimately benefit the student.

Proposals submitted under this area should address the specific elements and types of activities that define Teachers MWEE Professional Development Practices (see section I.A.c.3.).

2. Exemplary Programs combining Teacher Professional Development and Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for their Students The NOAA B-WET program seeks applications for exemplary projects that combine Teacher Professional Development with MWEEs for their Students. Professional development for teachers coupled with multiple MWEEs for students that are fully supported in the classroom by their teachers will ensure that the concepts of watershed education are fully reinforced throughout the school year.

Exemplary projects should have a 24-month project period. Projects should focus on teacher professional development in year one, and implementation of student MWEEs in year two.

Proposals submitted under this area should address the specific elements and types of activities that define MWEE Essential Elements, MWEE Supporting Practices, and Teacher MWEE Professional Development Practices (see section I.A.c.).

3. Systemic Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience Implementation The NOAA B-WET program seeks applications that develop and implement systemic MWEEs in school districts throughout the Gulf of Mexico states. Systemic MWEE projects reach the entire student population in one or more grades within a school district, with teacher-supported MWEEs and ensure that the teachers of these students receive high quality professional development to give them the content knowledge and pedagogical skills for

Notice of Federal Funding Page 15 of 49 outdoor learning to support all aspects of the MWEE as defined in section I.A.c.

Systemic projects should have a 24-month project period. Projects should focus on teacher professional development in year one, and implementation of student MWEEs in year two.

Projects that are systemic encourage ownership from a broad range of constituents and promote long-term sustainability of the MWEE project in a school district. These programs require leadership and support from the school district, however, because of the broad reach of systemic projects, partnerships with multiple partners are often required to ensure al students receive all components of a MWEE and meaningful professional development for teachers is provided.

For systemic projects, students should participate in all MWEE essential elements as defined in section I.A.c (Issue Definition, Outdoor Field Experiences, Synthesis and Conclusions, and Environmental Action Projects). Student MWEEs should be organized around a driving question that has students focus on a locally relevant environmental issue, problem, or phenomenon.

For systemic projects, teacher professional development should be offered for all teachers whose students will be engaged in MWEEs so they can support learning integration in the classroom. Projects should deliver training on both content and instruction in the outdoors, include year-long support for teachers, and include a plan for how teachers will be involved in implementing watershed education with their students. This kind of in-depth professional development reinforces a teacher's ability to teach, inspire, and lead young people toward thoughtful stewardship of our natural resources. Where appropriate, teacher professional development should include tools for teachers to implement MWEEs on their school grounds. Teacher professional development under this priority area should address all components of the MWEE as defined in section I.A.c.

For systemic projects, proposals should include details about where the project fits in the scope and sequence of school district curriculum, and applicants should clearly understand and convey the primary learning objectives. Multi-disciplinary objectives are encouraged.

Letters of support from curriculum supervisors and science, social studies, and other relevant subject coordinators at the district level can be effective in communicating such details.

Whenever possible, MWEEs should be embedded across an entire grade level or levels in a district, or be part of a broader systemic program in a school district to reach every student.

For example, projects may reach only half of a grade level’s teachers and students if the application includes documentation from the school district and other partners that the proposed project is a component of a larger systemic effort that reaches the entire grade

Notice of Federal Funding Page 16 of 49 level. If this is not feasible, applicants should explain why it is not feasible and how they will build toward systemic implementation over the course of the grant and into the future.

Applications for projects can come from any eligible applicant, however, substantial coordination and support from the school district is required. To document the appropriate level of support and engagement from school districts, official letters from superintendents, school boards, and/or school district curriculum supervisors are requested with applications.

Per the eligibility information in section III., projects must target teachers and/or students located in any part of the five Gulf of Mexico states which are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

c. Special Interest Areas Any application to this announcement must meet Priority Areas as described in the previous section (I.B.). Additionally, NOAA also has two Special Interest Areas, which are: Climate Education and Gulf of Mexico Fisheries. More information on these special interest areas is provided below. While applicants are not required to address a NOAA Special Interest Area, applicants are encouraged to address one or more of them as they capitalize on NOAA resources and issue areas that are a priority to the NOAA Southeast Regional Office.

1. Climate Education: The K-12 education system is a well-positioned venue for instilling comprehensive knowledge, skills, competencies, and resilience around one of the most pressing economic, social and environmental issues of today: climate change. According to the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and most recent National Climate Assessment (NCA, 2018), communities in the U.S. are experiencing changes in climate that are resulting in severe storms, flooding, hurricanes, extended drought, change in ocean chemistry and sea level rise, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth. Currently, educational institutions, researchers and policy makers are calling for climate change education that goes beyond knowledge acquisition and formal classroom teaching to efforts that reach audiences of all demographics and incorporate the social, political, economic, and justice elements of climate change. Education has the power to help students develop meaningful personal connections to climate solutions, a sense of personal agency and empowerment, and ultimately impact their behaviors and decision-making in relation to climate change (Kwauk, 2021; K12 Climate Action Commission, 2021). The MWEE educational framework can directly foster climate knowledge, skills, and competencies to address climate change, climate impacts, and the opportunities to contribute to climate solutions in their own communities. Therefore, the B-WET program strongly encourages the purposeful incorporation of education about climate change into programming.

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For applicants seeking to address the Climate Change special interest area, NOAA provides data, tools, and information to understand and prepare for climate variability and change.

Many resources exist that can support teachers and students including but not limited to:

Climate.gov (https://climate.gov/teaching), the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (https://toolkit.climate.gov/), Climate Explorer (https://crt-climate-explorer.nemac.org/), CLEAN Portal (https://cleanet.org/index.html), National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI, https://nnocci.org/), National Climate Assessment (https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/), NOAA Environmental Literacy Program Resilience Hub (https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/elp/resilience-hub), NOAA’s Climate Resource Collection (https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections), Yale's Climate Communication For Educators site (https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/for-educators/), and the Chesapeake Exploration Teaching Climate Change on line course (https://cbexapp.noaa.gov/course/view.php?id=5581). An additional list of relevant assets (https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/elp/resilience-assets) provide links to NOAA datasets, potential NOAA partners, and other resilience-related assets from federal and nonfederal organizations.

2. Gulf of Mexico Fisheries: The Southeast Regional Office is an office under the National Marine Fisheries Service. We work with partners to ensure sustainable fishing opportunities, protection for endangered species and marine mammals and the conservation of the habitat needed to support marine life. Given these commitments, NOAA is interested in B-WET projects that develop student understanding around the ecological, economic, or cultural importance of Gulf of Mexico fisheries and protected resources including but not limited to shrimp, snapper, grouper, sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, coral, or marine mammals; and the habitats that support them. Projects addressing this special interest area have fisheries or protected resources as the main issue student’s investigate, and include student action to protect or restore the species and/or its habitat. For more information, visit:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-regional-office.

C. Program Authority

Under 33 U.S.C. § 893a(a), the America COMPETES Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is authorized to conduct, develop, support, promote, and coordinate formal and informal educational activities at all levels to enhance public awareness and understanding of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and atmospheric science and stewardship by the general public and other coastal stakeholders, including underrepresented groups in ocean and atmospheric science and policy careers. In conducting those activities, the Administrator shall build upon the educational programs and activities of the agency.

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II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

It is anticipated that approximately $800,000 will be available in FY 2024 to fund eligible applications. NOAA anticipates making approximately four to eight new awards, subject to the availability of appropriations.

For applications to B-WET priority areas 1 and 2, the total Federal amount that may be requested from NOAA should not exceed $100,000. For applications to B-WET priority area 3, the total Federal amount that may be requested from NOAA should not exceed $150,000 per award. In all cases, the minimum Federal amount to request from NOAA is $25,000.

Awards will be made with one allotment of funding that can be accessed over the 2-year award period.

The distribution of funding will depend on the Selection Factors in section V.C. of this announcement. Awards will be made with one allotment of funding that can be accessed over the 2-year award period.

If there are no funds available or if funding for new projects is very limited in FY 2024, Gulf of Mexico B-WET may carry applications recommended for funding forward until funding does become available. In that case, the results of this competition, including the results of the application review and rankings, will be carried over for FY 2025. So while we anticipate funding four to eight applications in FY 2024, additional applications from this competition may be selected for funding in the next fiscal year should funds be available.

The possibility of carrying the results of this competition over to FY 2025 depends on determining that the project applications received under this funding opportunity for FY 2024 funds remain relevant to NOAA priorities in the Gulf of Mexico in FY 2025.

This alternative to developing another, new funding opportunity for FY 2024 acknowledges the great effort required by applicants to develop a strong application as well as the work required by the B-WET Program Office and reviewers to conduct panel reviews.