ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY TOGETHER WITH PROJECT TEAM PARTNERS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC CHILDREN S CREATIVITY MUSEUM MUSEUM OF LIFE AND SCIENCE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA AND SCIENCENTER PROPOSES SPACE AND EARTH INFORMAL STEM EDUCATION (SEISE). SEISE ADVANCES THE NASA SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE (SMD) VISION FOR EDUCATION BY ENGAGING PUBLIC AUDIENCES NATIONWIDE IN INFORMAL AND LIFELONG LEARNING RELATED TO FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) CONCEPTS. THE PROJECT LEVERAGES NASA SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS (SMES) SMD ASSETS AND DATA AND EXISTING EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS AND ONLINE PORTALS TO CREATE COMPELLING LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT SHARE THE STORY SCIENCE AND ADVENTURE OF NASA S SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS OF PLANET EARTH OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE UNIVERSE BEYOND. SEISE LEVERAGES A STRONG NATIONAL NETWORK OF AROUND 600 ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING OVER 350 MUSEUMS SCIENCE CENTERS AND OTHER INFORMAL LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS. CURRENTLY KNOWN AS THE NATIONAL INFORMAL STEM EDUCATION NETWORK (NISE NET) THIS ROBUST COMMUNITY WAS DEVELOPED THROUGH PREVIOUS NSF FUNDING. NISE NET LEVERAGING PARTNERS ARE LOCATED IN ALL 50 STATES AND PUERTO RICO IN BOTH URBAN AND RURAL AREAS. THEY REACH MULTIPLE AND DIVERSE PUBLIC AUDIENCES THROUGH ONSITE AND OFFSITE EFFORTS AS WELL AS LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. TO FACILITATE LOCAL COLLABORATION AMONG INFORMAL LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS NISE NET PARTNERS WITH OTHER NATIONAL NETWORKS COALITIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS DEDICATED TO INFORMAL AND LIFELONG STEM LEARNING INCLUDING THE AFTERSCHOOL ALLIANCE NATIONAL GIRLS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT NASA MUSEUM ALLIANCE STAR_NET AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN S MUSEUMS AND ASSOCIATION OF SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY CENTERS. THE GOALS OF SEISE ARE TO: 1. ENGAGE MULTIPLE AND DIVERSE PUBLIC AUDIENCES IN STEM LEARNING FOCUSING ON ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES AND HIGHLIGHTING NASA SMD MISSIONS AND RESEARCH IN HELIOPHYSICS EARTH SCIENCE PLANETARY SCIENCE AND ASTROPHYSICS; 2. IMPROVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OF INFORMAL EDUCATORS TO THE DELIVER EFFECTIVE AND AUTHENTIC EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES RELATED TO EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF PROJECT LEVERAGING PARTNERS TO OFFER HIGH-QUALITY STEM ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION; AND 3. ENCOURAGE LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE STEM PARTNERSHIPS IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AMPLIFYING THE IMPACT OF INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATIONS AND PROJECTS AND HELPING THE NETWORK TO REACH UNDERREPRESENTED AUDIENCES. SEISE ADDRESSES SEVERAL OF NASA SCIENCE EDUCATION OBJECTIVES: ENABLE STEM EDUCATION; IMPROVE US SCIENTIFIC LITERACY; ADVANCE NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS; AND LEVERAGE EFFORTS THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS. IN ADDITION THE PROJECT CREATES TANGIBLE OPPORTUNITIES AND IDENTIFIES CLEAR POINTS OF CONNECTION FOR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS NATIONWIDE TO CONTRIBUTE TO NASA S SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES. SEISE COVERS ALL FOUR OF NASA S SCIENCE DISCIPLINE AREAS AS WELL AS CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PROJECTS. PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL FOCUS ON PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNERS EXPLORE AND BUILD SKILLS IN THE CORE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CONTENT SKILLS AND PROCESSES RELATED TO EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO EMPHASIZE THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE PROJECT GOALS AND NASA OBJECTIVES MAJOR PROJECT ACTIVITIES OF SEISEINCLUDE: STEM ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING: A. DEVELOP AND DELIVER HIGH QUALITY STEM EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS TO LEVERAGING PARTNERS REACHING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE EACH YEAR BY THE END OF THE FUNDED PROJECT PERIOD; B. ENGAGE LEARNERS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES THOUGH A VARIETY OF STEM LEARNING AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES; C. BROADEN PARTICIPATION IN INFORMAL STEM LEARNING BY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS; EDUCATOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A. PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND USEFUL RESOURCES TO THOUSANDS OF INFORMAL EDUCATORS ALLOWING THEM TO INITI