These Summer Institutes are intense, placed-based, and field-oriented; they include the development of five to seven professional development activities, which the teachers share with their peers upon returning to their respective schools in the fall. The Institute's focus each summer is based on enhanced oceanography and coastal processes content, strengthening instructional skills, and developing lesson plans/activities that are aligned with the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts.

In 2010, teachers will be engaged over a three-week timeframe (July 5-23) in the Online Institute component. This component encompasses presentations, reading assignments, videos made by six additional research scientists, social scientists, and/or educators. (See statistics and reviews from the 2008 online component.) The online component will feature topics such as an overview of the Gulf of Mexico and the importance of stewardship. Teacher-participants also develop an activity on each of these topics.

The Sea Scholars program is implemented aboard one of the U.S. Navy's 329-foot oceanographic survey ships as they become available. The COSEE-CGOM award, funded by NSF, has leveraged funding by NOAA and the U.S. Navy into a model collaboration since its inception in 2003.