# Science Career Inquiry - Exploring Native Cultural Experiences (SCI-ENCE)

> **NIH NIH R25** · HOOLA MUSIC AND CULTURAL ARTS · 2024 · $270,000

## Abstract

Science Career Inquiry - Exploring Native Cultural Experiences (SCI-ENCE)
The Science Career Inquiry - Exploring Native Cultural Experiences (SCI-ENCE) program
introduces an innovative way to teach science to students in grades
2
-8; by culturally appropriate
and locally applicable storyboards. Students will meet local
STEAM scientists, learn of their
career pathways, and participate with them in increasingly complex science activities, games and
experiments through a set of ten age-appropriate storyboards. With this curriculum, elementary
and middle/intermediate school youth will gain greater understanding of
STEAM fields and the
concepts of scientific research while exploring their local resources and habitat in a culturally
appropriate learning methodology.
The goal of the SCI-ENCE Program is to increase interest in science and science careers by
creating and implementing an elementary and middle/intermediate school science curriculum
based on storyboards, or illustrated descriptions of the science pathways that local individuals
have taken to pursue science careers. These pathways are scattered with age-appropriate and
NGSS aligned games, activities and experiments for students to do during each age group from
grades 2 to 8. Students will visit with 10 different STEAM scientists over the course of their
learning and grow their science skills and career awareness with the protagonists of their
storyboards. These will be performed in both school based and after school program,
supplemented with meeting the STEAM scientists, field trips and recommendations for
additional informal science activities.
SPECIFIC AIMS
The SCI-ENCE program aims to accomplish the following goals:
1) Create a culturally-based curriculum for youth in grades 2-8 based on ten different STEAM
career storyboards using age-appropriate presentation materials and activities that increase
fascination with science in 60% of involved students.
2) Implement the curriculum with over 1,000 students in schools and after school community
programs using hands-on, age-appropriate research, activities and experiments that will
result in increased confidence or interest in STEAM careers in 60% of participants over the
course of the grant.
3) Develop a website with free access to all educational materials, instructions, and a facilitator
guide to be used for training educators and eventually serving as a platform for mentoring
these educators to train other individuals.
4) Provide teacher training and classroom support for science training to 100 teachers over the
 grant period through face to face and distance training, videos and a public website that will
 result in 50% of teachers increasing confidence in their science teaching skills.
The Science Career Inquiry - Exploring Native Cultural Examples (SCI-ENCE) Program will
provide services to disadvantaged students from across the State of Hawai'i and the US
Affiliated Pacific jurisdiction of Federated States of Micronesia. There will be...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10935949
- **Project number:** 5R25GM150147-02
- **Recipient organization:** HOOLA MUSIC AND CULTURAL ARTS
- **Principal Investigator:** Kauionalani Mead
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $270,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-26 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10935949

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10935949, Science Career Inquiry - Exploring Native Cultural Experiences (SCI-ENCE) (5R25GM150147-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10935949. Licensed CC0.

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