The Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership (IMSEP) announced that it has been awarded a $1,081,904 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The three-year grant is designed to expand IMSEP’s Real World Externship program, which the group says will allow up to 150 teachers learn how math and science are used in all types of businesses within the state, and expose more than 1,500 middle school and high school students to examples of how real-world jobs use science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts.

The program, piloted in 2008, matches teachers with businesses throughout the state for a summer job to learn how their classroom lessons are applied in the day-to-day running of a company.