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COMMUNITY:
Project Descriptions

Breaking Ground: Plants and People

July 1, 1993 - December 31, 1997 | Exhibitions
The Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden aim to cooperatively and cost-effectively develop, evaluate, and produce three permanent exhibits (2600 sf at BCM, 1200 sf at BBG, and a 3600 sf outdoor Discovery Garden at BBG) and two copies of an 800 sf traveling exhibit in a project called Breaking Ground: Plants and People. When complete in 1996, these exhibits will teach 1.5 million annual public visitors about basics in botany, ethnobotany, and urban to ecology, promote an understanding of plants' importance to human life, and foster positive environmental ethics among children 6-12 years old. This project is important because collaboration with professional botanists will teach a leading children's museum how to effectively present in-depth science content, and allow a major public garden to experiment with interactive exhibits in a natural setting. Joint promotions using NSF-funded program materials will encourage children in culturally and economically diverse areas around New York City to return again and again to two important community resources for informal science education. This strategy will reinforce learning and promote lifelong appreciation for experiential exhibits in botanical gardens and for a meaningful depth of science in children's museums.

Funders

NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 9254614
Funding Amount: 1028083

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Carol Enseki
    Principal Investigator
    Brooklyn Children's Museum
  • Robert Hyland
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Brooklyn Botanic Garden
  • Discipline: Ecology, forestry, and agriculture | Life science
    Audience: Elementary School Children (6-10) | Middle School Children (11-13) | General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Exhibitions | Museum and Science Center Exhibits | Parks, Outdoor, and Garden Exhibits

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