NOAA Planet Stewards 

Progress and Final Report Template

This report is meant to provide NOAA Planet Stewards with a review of the 

cumulative activities and outputs you have achieved to date with your project. It 

provides the opportunity to submit information about successes, difficulties, 

alterations to your plan, and lessons learned during your project’s implementation. 

Follow the directions as indicated. If you have questions or concerns, contact 

bruce.moravchik@noaa.gov

1. Complete the document in the format below. Include specific details. Add anecdotes, stories, and 

information that will help explain your project’s progress (successes, difficulties, alterations, etc.) to 

date. Educators submitting well-written reports and excellent imagery will have an opportunity to be 

published in the nationally-distributed peer reviewed education journal The Earth Scientist. 

Your completed document should be no more than eight pages in length excluding images and 

detailed image captions. These MUST be submitted separately as independent files. 

2. Submit at least 6-12 new high resolution photos of your project with detailed descriptive captions

for each progress report and with the final report. 

● All Images MUST be submitted as individual high resolution files e.g. JPGs. NOT embedded 

within other documents 

● Submit captions in a separate document. Captions MUST include the names of all individuals 

appearing in the image(s). 

● Images with captions are in addition to the eight page document limit. 

● We want pictures of participants in action – particularly front facing views. EVERYONE

appearing in a photo MUST complete a NOAA Image Release Form for Photos & Videos. 

3. When completed, place a copy of all documents and high resolution images with detailed captions into 

the Google Folder(s) assigned to you. If you do not have the link, send an email to 

bruce.moravchik@noaa.gov and he will provide it to you 

4. NOAA Talent/Photo Release/Permission Forms may be submitted as .JPG or .PDF files. 

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Your Name and Primary Email Contact:

Your School Name and Location (city and state): 

Your Project Title:

Part I - Project Narrative - Project Overview/Summary:

In brief narrative form summarize the following points. You may draw details from your project 

proposal. Provide specific details - qualitative and quantitative metrics - as applicable:

● What was the specific environmental issue(s) your project addressed? 

●What was the issue(s) relationship to your school or community, and why was it important for you 

to address this issue? 

●What were the specific quantitative outputs/outcomes you hoped to achieve by your efforts? 

● What was your strategy/the activities you implemented to address the environmental issue(s) and 
achieve your outputs/outcomes? 

● Did you face any difficulties/issues in implementing your project? Did you have to make any 

amendments to your project - either with its implementation or planned outputs/outcomes to 

continue moving forward? 

● Provide a brief list of “lessons learned” during the project. Note changes you would make or 

recommend to improve the process or activities you undertook if you were to do it again.

 

●Who was actively involved in your project? What did they do? Note the specific role/engagement of 

partners and their contributions. 

● What were the specific outputs/outcomes of your project to date? What specifically did you 

achieve? Did your efforts meet the outputs/outcomes you hoped to achieve in your proposal?

●Will your project continue to address the environmental issue beyond the funding period? If so, 

how? 

● How might you expand on this project, or what associated activities might you want to carry out if 

you were to apply to Planet Stewards for future funding? 

If your project spanned more than one academic year your narrative should cover the entire period 

of your project. Data requested below should only include this current academic year that you have 

been working on your project. 

Three Things:

In a brief bulleted format of one to two sentences ONLY, note three specific outputs/outcomes you 

are most proud of as a result of this project. 

Include specific details, i.e., The number of students or student person hours engaged in this project; 

The number of external partners and their total in-kind contribution(s) made - monetarily or in-person 

hours; Specific outcomes to date i.e. the amount of marine debris collected (lbs); the amount of carbon 

sequestered (lbs), number of acres of habitat restored or conserved, number or amount (lbs) of nonnative trees/foliage removed, number or amount (lbs) of native trees/foliage planted, etc. 

Below the bullet statement you may provide a brief supplementary narrative to expand, help 

explain, or place your statements into context. 

Observations/Quotes: 

Provide a brief personal statement. Focus on what the implementation of the project has meant to you, 

the students you work with, your school/organization and/or community, the local environment. 

Provide at least three to five brief quotes from your students, colleagues, and/or community members. 

Statements may include what they have learned by engaging in this project e.g.what the project has 

meant to them personally, the school/organization they are working with, the community and/or the 

environment. 

Stewardship Activities:

● Provide a timeline of your project’s activities to date. 
●For each activity, provide: 

○ A brief description of what was done 

○ The individuals involved with the activity 

○ The specific outcomes/outputs of that activity as they relate to achieving your desired project 

outcome(s)/output(s) 

Part II: Program Data

Data Collection:

1. List specific quantitative information/data you have collected this academic year. The 

information/data should measure the progress toward your project’s outcome(s) noted in your 

proposal and the project narrative section above. 

2. Present the data in the table format below. 

3. Below the table provide a brief narrative explanation/summary of the data you collected and its 

relationship to the project. Two examples: 

Type of Data: Marine debris distribution, abundance, and type. 

Data Collection Method(s): Students walked a “fire line” twenty feet wide along a 300 meter 

stretch of beach/park. All marine debris observed was collected and bagged. After the activity all 

marine debris was weighed and sorted. 

Amount: 50 lbs of marine debris were collected from the area, they were organized in the 

following categories: cigarette butts; paper trash; single use plastics i.e. water/drink bottles, cups, 

straws, utensils; used fishing line and “gear” e.g. lures, weights, etc. 

Explanation/Summary of data collected: The largest categories of marine debris collected were 

cigarette butts (5lbs), water/drink bottles (15lbs), and fishing line and gear (15lbs). This 

corresponds to student observations that this area is frequented by a majority of fishers. The 

observations and data collected confirm the need for the posting of weatherproof educational 

signage, permanent garbage and specialized recycling receptacles to be set out (for plastics and 

used fishing line), and a program for garbage and recycling collection to be integrated into existing 

municipal and volunteer programs - which this project is working to realize. 

Type of Data: Pre and post tests of student climate change and carbon footprint knowledge 

Data Collection Method(s): 300 students at John Glenn middle school were given a two page 

knowledge and attitude test prior to, and following, the three climate change/carbon footprint 

lessons/activities noted above. 

Amount: See explanation/summary of data below. 

Explanation/Summary of data collected: Prior to the lessons/activities only 43% of the students 

could properly identify the causes and impacts of climate change globally and in our region of the 

country. Only 15% understood what a carbon footprint was, and of those 15% only 8% had any 

ideas of how they and their families, and all of us in the school might work to reduce it. The posttest indicated that 95% of the students could properly identify the causes and impacts of climate 

change, understood what a carbon footprint was, and had specific ideas of how they, their families, 

and all of us in the school will be able to reduce it as presented in our project plan. 

4. You may submit and link to a document(s) i.e. a Google Doc. which provides a more detailed 

presentation and narrative of the data.

Type of Data Data Collection Method Amount
Explanation/Summary of Data Collected: 

Project Participants:

List the total number of people involved with your project this academic year (including yourself!) -

be as complete as possible in your reporting. Use only the categories noted below. You may include 

further explanation or descriptions of individuals engaged in the project in the “Additional Notes” 

section below the table.

In the Preparation column, list the hours spent preparing materials, teaching subject matter, attending 

planning meetings, etc. 

In the Stewardship column, list the number of hours spent implementing the action project (planting, 

collecting recyclables, removing marine debris, etc.) 

In this section you must report “person hours.” For example, if 200 students were involved in your 

project and they each spent 4 hours in preparation, and 20 hours involved in direct stewardship 

activities, you would report preparation hours as 800 and stewardship/project involvement hours as 

4,000. 

Participant Number 

involved

Preparation 

(in hours)

Stewardship or 

project involvement 

(in hours)

Other 

(specify)

K-12 Students

Post-secondary students

K-12 Educators

Post-secondary educators

Other adults (list affiliation)

Partners (list affiliation)

Additional Notes: 

NOAA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative

In addition to data collected on overall project participation, NOAA Planet Stewards is collecting data on 

the number of underrepresented audiences (educators, students, project volunteers, etc.)participating in 

our programs. This is being done as part of a NOAA-wide effort to improve engagement of individuals in 

these communities with our programming and resources. The NOAA Office of Education defines 

underrepresented audiences as:

Populations in STEM who are categorized in the following racial or ethnic minority groups (Blacks or 

African Americans; Hispanics or Latinos; American Indians or Alaska Natives, and Native Pacific 

Islanders) based on their representation in STEM education or employment being smaller than their 

representation in the U.S. population.

List (to the best of your ability - including yourself) the total number of people involved with your project 

who meet the definition above as being a part of an underrepresented community. 

As with the project participation data fields above, only list people involved with your project this 

academic year - including yourself. Use the space below the table to provide a brief narrative 

explanation/summary of the data provided if necessary.
Participant Number 

involved

Preparation 

(in hours)

Stewardship or 

project involvement 

(in hours)

Other 

(specify)

K-12 Students

Post-secondary students

K-12 Educators

Post-secondary educators

Other adults (list affiliation)

Partners (list affiliation)

Additional notes: 

NOAA and Other Key Educational and Environmental Resources used for your project:

Complete the table below. Include all key resources you used to date to implement your project. 

Resource URL (if applicable) Used how?

Additional notes: 

STEM Careers:

Complete the table below. Include all key STEM career-related speakers or materials you have used to 

date. This section should convey the STEM careers students have actively learned about during the 

project. 

Resource Source or Affiliation Used how?

Additional notes: 

Communication:

Complete the table below. This section should reflect the communication and outreach plan noted in your 

proposal i.e. How you publicized the project to your local community, the media, and other interested 

parties? How did you publicize your results to your school, the local community, and beyond? Please 

include links to materials/content created by external sources i.e articles from newspapers, TV pieces, 
etc., as well “internal” external materials created i.e. class videos,news articles, etc. 

Type of Communication Audience Content

Additional Notes:

Budget:

Complete the table below. Include your total actual budget to date. Highlight the items purchased and 

their costs. Use the space below the table to explain any changes to the original budget submitted in your 

project proposal.

Item Number Total Cost

Additional notes: