DIGITAL AND DISTANCE LEARNING GRANTS – REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL AND TIMELINES:
The ultimate goal of our Digital and Distance Learning Grants is to help support educators and others in the creation of adaptable K-12 lesson plans and educational resources that you can use during these difficult times. At the same time, we are hearing from school educators that they are not introducing new content this spring, and from nonprofits that summer resources are desired. Therefore, we are developing this timeline with primarily summer and fall learning in mind.

FUNDABLE PROJECTS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

• Creation or modification of a virtual K-12 Casco Bay estuary lesson plan that adheres to NextGeneration Science Standards (NGSS)
  • incorporating NGSS standards into outdoor activities for students to do independently.
• Creation or modification of a Casco Bay “toolkit” or other transferable package for educators.
  • Some of the topics of interest from our survey include: climate change, including policyefforts; connections between land and bay; stormwater pollution; the science andphysics of water and why it matters; coastal wetland protection and monitoring; healthof Casco Bay; citizen science projects; habitats. Local content is desired.
• Place-based field lessons for parents and educators.
  • Our community input survey identified that outside observation activities, sensoryactivities, and place-based resources and activities that are specific to local places withinCasco Bay are desired.
• Creation of a fact sheet, infographics, or other digital resources that could be sharedo
  • Consider adding content to Casco Bay Stories (cascobaystories.org)

Based on our community input survey, we've identified the following formats would be most useful for educators and communicators at this time:

• Videos
• Hands-on activities
• Livestreams with professionals
• Interactive websites
• Of less interest, but still useful are static materials, such as reading materials and worksheets
• School educators provided input to a related survey that Google Classroom is the go-to formatand that products should be shareable in that platform.

Completed forms should be sent to victoria.boundy@maine.edu and are highly encouraged to be submitted no later than Monday, August 24, 2020. Once awarded, final projects are due by Monday, September 21, 2020 at the latest (earlier is better). If necessary, the initial draft will receive a round of comments and revisions from appropriate CBEP staff members and education partners before being sent back to the applicant for finalizing. Applicants are limited to one project proposal for the initial phase of our Digital and Distance Learning Grants. Applicants are encouraged to submit practical, realistic and achievable project proposals given the timeframe and award amounts specified under this announcement.

QUESTIONS: In an effort to assist you in brainstorming potential projects and submitting a proposal you feel confident in your ability to complete, we’ve created a Q&A that addresses questions relating to preferred file formats, lesson plan ideas, etc.

Please contact Victoria Boundy at [Victoria.boundy@maine.edu] for more information.