NASA´s Mission to Planet Earth invests in the future through a broad national education program

NASA´s Mission to Planet Earth Program (MTPE) is a long-term research program to examine the global effects of human-induced and natural influences on the Earth´s interacting physical, biological, and chemical systems. MTPE´s Earth Observing System (EOS) is a comprehensive system which consists of a set of Earth-observing instruments on spacecraft and in situ to collect the data needed for the research, and a data and information system to process, store, distribute, and make accessible the acquired instrument data. While the most significant and visible goal of MTPE is increased scientific understanding, education, in its broadest form, has become an extremely important part of the program, and is embedded in our goals and success criteria. One goal of the MTPE program is to “foster the development of an informed and environmentally aware public”. Within this context, contributions by MTPE to the advancement of formal education are a major aspect of how the success of the program will be measured. The MTPE educational programs and resources are designed with the following objectives: 1) train next generation of scientists to use an interdisciplinary, Earth system science approach; 2) continue to educate and train educators as research evolves and capabilities change; 3) raise awareness of policy makers and citizens to enable prudent policy determination regarding global change; 4) improve science and math literacy; 5) improve interface between educators and scientists; 6) explore mechanisms to leverage the development of materials; and 7) educate the populace to be better caretakers of Earth for future generations. As a response to the above objectives several key national educational programs have been identified and implemented. These include: 1) Teacher Preparation Programs; 2) Curriculum Support Materials Development; 3) Systemic Change-US Global Change Education Workshops; and 4) Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE)