...of the agency's 2012 Summer of Innovation (SoI) project. Proposals may be submitted through the National Space Grant Foundation for NASA-themed content in a variety of programs geared toward middle school students. The foundation is administering the grant program for NASA.

Mini-grants are designed to engage a wide variety of education partners—such as museums, schools or school districts, and youth organizations—to infuse science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) content in existing summer and after-school student programs. The maximum award value for each 2012 mini-grant is $2,500.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for a diverse group of organizations to work with NASA and share STEM learning through summer and after-school activities," said Leland Melvin, associate administrator for education at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Even non-traditional providers like church groups and Girl Scout troops can join the NASA team and help us fuel students' curiosity about exploration." For more information about SoI mini-grant eligibility, timeline and application, visit http://soi.spacegrant.org/about

In 2011, 180 mini-grants were awarded in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to organizations including museums, non-profit organizations, public schools and youth organizations. This year, NASA anticipates making approximately 200 awards.