I2U2: Interactions in Understanding the Universe supports and strengthens the education and outreach activities of scientific experiments at U.S. universities and laboratories by providing the framework on which a rich portfolio of coherent, collaborative online science education laboratories can be developed. It maintains an "educational virtual organization" that supports participating teachers, students, and laboratory content developers, and is a sustainable program to enhance the outcome of K-12 science education. The I2U2 collaboration of scientists, computer scientists and educators directly addresses the urgent national priority to grow and sustain the scientific workforce, and to promote the public's appreciation of and support for the complex collaborations of our national scientific programs. I2U2 develops and maintains a virtual online portfolio of educational laboratories for a diverse range of disciplines and provides tools and support services to assist developers in creating these educational resources. These laboratories break new ground by using the national Grid cyberinfrastructure for education in the same way that science increasingly uses the Grid. This grant provides resources to complete evaluation and enhancement of a pilot "e-Lab", and to support the development of prototype online labs and resources for formal and informal education. The educational content of these online labs leverages the science of a range of NSF-funded research projects, beginning with but reaching far beyond physics.
