STEM Grants

Grant Program Wants to Help 1 million Students Explore Space

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/24/21

A company that provides people with access to online telescopes wants to enable a million students this year to explore space from computers in their classrooms and homes. Slooh, which maintains a set of telescopes in multiple sites around the world, has launched the "Slooh Space Exploration Grant" for the new school year.

The grant will provide one teacher from each public school in the United States with access to the Slooh interface as well as professional development and 40 student licenses. Those student seats will allow learners to use robotic telescopes to view space phenomena, including lunar changes, solar flares, asteroids, living and dying stars and a variety of nebulae. The value of the grant is $750, and it's being made available to teachers in grades 4-12 who teach in schools with at least 100 students.

Normally, an annual student subscription to the service is $50.

"Space exploration is a powerful – and truly magnificent – way for students to build their scientific knowledge and practices, while tying celestial phenomena to STEAM concepts," said Michael Paolucci, founder of Slooh, in a press release. "Our new grant provides an equitable opportunity for students across the country to reap the benefits of space exploration as they become well-informed citizens and 21st century thinkers."

To apply for the grant, teachers need to fill out a short application, which asks them to explain how Slooh will support space exploration for students in their school. Applications for the first round of judging are due by October 18, 2021. Additional rounds of grants will be made available throughout the rest of the school year.

Grant applications are available through Slooh.org.