-- Here's a Great Opportunity to Get the Funds You Need For That Exciting Educational Project You've Had in Mind for Years! --


New York, New York, August 4, 2008— Attention educators: You might be surprised to learn just how easy it can be to enhance and expand your science or math curriculum with a Science and Math Improvement Grant from the Toshiba America Foundation (TAF). It's a terrific way to start your school year with a fun and exciting science or math project that you may have wanted to do for years, but just didn't quite have the budget! Best of all, TAF will help you with every step of the process it takes to get your grant, including tips on how to apply and much more.

TAF makes more than $500,000 in grant monies for teachers available each school year, and the program has already awarded educators more than $9 million since its inception.Grants are given to teachers to help them design all kinds of projects to make their own classrooms exciting places to learn.

How to Apply for a TAF Grant!

The TAF Grant program is very easy to access for science and math teachers.You can find out all about the program, and how to apply for a grant by visiting www.taf.toshiba.com. You'll also find all kinds of information to help you through the quick and easy application process. You can also call 212-596-0620 for more information.

Have a pet project you'd like to get off the ground? TAF can help!

A TAF Grant is a great way to get a science or math project off the ground that you've been wanting to do but just haven't had the time or resources. Here are just a few of the successful curriculum-enhancing projects that educators have developed using TAF Grants:

  • University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)

Scientist-Teacher Partnerships to Improve Student Achievement in Science

A $20,000 TAF grant will enable graduate students at UC Irvine to serve as resident scientists in 7th-12th grade biology and life science classrooms in twelve of Orange County's neediest schools.Grant funds will be used to help teachers and resident scientists design inquiry-based lessons, projects, and labs, helping students to understand the scientific research process first-hand.

  • Port Morris School (Bronx, NY)

Jose, Welcome to the Bronx!

A $990 TAF grant will enable fourth grade students to learn about human effects on the physical environment through a study of the North American Beaver population in the Bronx. Students will collect data on water quality in the Bronx River, and they will use their findings to draw conclusions about how pollution and clean-up efforts have changed the river ecosystem. At the end of the project, students will write to their public officials about their project and their ideas regarding clean-up activities.

  • Mat-Su Career & Technical High School (Wasilla, AK)

The Emergence of Tree Buds as an Indicator of Climate Change in Alaska

When did the first buds bloom last spring?Was it earlier than usual?What else is changing in the local forest?These are some of the important scientific questions sixty Alaska students will explore in a new series of biology lessons this year, thanks to a $10,790 TAF grant. By recording the timing of the leafing and flowering of native plant species each year, scientists can learn about the prevailing climatic characteristics in a region over time.

Students will conduct a field-based research project to develop baseline data on the emergence of tree buds as a window into the problem of climate change.

  • Plaza Vista School (Irvine, CA)

Exploring Robotics and Mars Surveyor Mission

This project will enable students to gain hands-on knowledge of robotics, technology, and engineering as they relate to astronomy.Thanks to a $4,920 TAF grant, students will learn how to build and program robots, focusing on how they can use robots to gather data.Advanced-level students will team up to design, build, and test rover vehicles in a simulated Martian environment. They will use these robots to conduct meteorological, hydrologic, and geologic experiments.

  • Linwood Middle School (North Brunswick, NJ)

BUILD-IT: Expanded

A $4,600 TAF grant will enable Linwood Middle School to learn about programming, communications, motion, force, electrical circuits, and buoyancy as they design, construct, and program underwater robotic vehicles.

  • Ramona Convent Secondary School (Alhambra, CA)

Biomes:The Study of Our Environment

In this project, biology students will undertake the construction and study of three model biomes—rainforest, desert and grassland.Using hands-on activities and working in teams, they will use a $10,000 TAF grant to investigate the impact of climate change, pollution and other external factors on each controlled environment. At the conclusion of the Biomes Project, students will be asked to demonstrate what they have learned via power point presentations, a scientific poster presentation, laboratory journals and creation of an educational pamphlet on biomes to share with local elementary school students.

  • Bill Brown Elementary (Houston, TX)

Improving Our Environment: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Thanks to a TAF $990 grant, this project will introduce students to recycling through several hands-on projects.Students will collect old telephone books as part of their telephone company's recycling program, and they will create miniature compost piles in order to study the differences between biodegradable and non-biodegradable items.They will also track the amount of waste that they generate during a typical school day and brainstorm ways in which it can be minimized.

About the Toshiba America Foundation

The mission of the Toshiba America Foundation is to contribute to the quality of science and mathematics education in U.S. communities by investing in projects designed by classroom teachers to help improve science and math achievement for students in grades K-12. The Foundation has supported more than 1,600 schools in communities in all fifty states.

Toshiba America Foundation is a non-profit grant making organization that has been supporting improvements in science and math education through its grants program since 1990.The Foundation was created by Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba America, Inc. and the Toshiba America Group companies.Toshiba Corporation is a world leader in high technology products.For more information and to download applications, visit www.taf.toshiba.com or call 212-596-0620.

Deadlines and Application Process

Grants for K-6 teachers of up to $1,000 are offered each fall. Deadline: October 1st. Grades 7-12 teachers may apply for grants up to $5,000 at any time during the calendar year.Grant requests of more than $5,000 are reviewed twice a year. Deadlines: February 1st or August 1st.