Science Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE)

The Science Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE) has been established to encourage innovation and excellence in education, as well as to encourage the use of high-quality on-line resources by students, teachers, and the public. In 2009, the prize recognized outstanding projects from all regions of the world that brought freely available online resources to bear on science education.

Science would like to repeat the success of the SPORE prize in 2010. Winning projects should reinforce one or more of the four strands of science learning recommended by the National Academies (Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 [2007], National Academies Press; see also Bruce Alberts, "Redefining Science Education," Science 23 January 2009: 323, 437; http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/323/5913/437) and be consistent with the science education standards published by the National Academies (National Science Education Standards [1996], National Academies Press) and the AAAS (Benchmarks for Science Literacy; http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php). Please refer to the winning SPORE essays published in Science in the last issue of every month throughout 2010 for additional guidance.

Winners will be selected by the editors with the assistance of a judging panel composed of outstanding teachers and researchers in the relevant fields, chaired by the Editor-in-Chief of Science. Individuals responsible for the creation of the winning resources will be invited to write an essay that describes the resource for publication in Science in 2011.

Rules of Eligibility for SPORE-2010:

  • The project must focus on science education.
  • The resources described must be freely available on the Internet.
  • The project can be targeted to students or teachers at the precollege or college level, or it can serve the informal education needs of the general public.
  • The Internet resources must be in English or include an English translation.
  • Nominations are welcome from all sources. Both self- and independent-nominations are welcome.
  • Nominations must be received by 31 March 2010, with the information described below.
  • Nominations should be submitted by e-mail to the address SPORE2010(at)aaas(dot)org. This is a non-reply e-mail to be used solely for the purpose of submitting SPORE nominations

Nominations: Please provide the following information about the project:

  1. The nominator's contact information: name, affiliation, address, telephone, and email address.
  2. Contact information for the person(s) who would receive the award: name, affiliation, address, telephone, and email address.
  3. The name and URL of the main web resource.
  4. A description, in 500 words or less, of why this project deserves the award.
    IDENTIFY THE TARGET AUDIENCE; DESCRIBE THE GOAL AND THE TYPE OF EVIDENCE THAT EXISTS, FROM RESEARCH OR ELSEWHERE, THAT DEMONSTRATES EFFECTIVENESS.
  5. Up to 3 brief letters of support from others may be included.
  6. Please email nominations to the following address: SPORE2010(at)aaas(dot)org.

The prize will be awarded without regard to sex, race, nationality, geographical location of the project, or membership in AAAS. Funding partners of AAAS, previous SPORE winners, employees of Science and AAAS and their subsidiaries, and immediate family relatives of employees, are not eligible for the prize.

Essays from SPORE Winners

Essays on the winning sites can be found at www.sciencemag.org/special/spore/