The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will partner with The Exploratorium and with three smaller science museums that have strong connections to rural and Spanish-speaking populations in Texas: Discovery Science Place, Loredo Children's Museum, and Science Spectrum to develop TexNET, a four-year project modeled on the Exploratorium Network for Exhibit-based Teaching (ExNET). TexNET builds on lessons learned from past exhibit outreach models and addresses the needs of small, rural partners for exhibits and capacity-building workshops. Each small museum partner will host a set of ten exhibits for one year. Exhibit topics are 1) motion, 2) weather and 3) sound. Workshops focus on inquiry learning techniques, science content, programming and workshop design, as well as the institutional needs of each partner. Based on feedback from formative evaluation, the project added three additional partners in its final year, the Children's Museum of Houston, the Austin Children's Museum, and the Don Herrington Discovery Center, and focused its remaining year on building institutional capacity around tinkering. Inverness Research Associates will conduct the project evaluation. They will examine the success of this project by looking at the effectiveness of the TexNET model, the success of the individual exhibit elements to engage rural communities, the effectiveness with which this project has enhanced the abilities of local rural communities to sustain their own educational improvements and the effectiveness of the training components in increasing the capabilities of the local museums to serve their rural audiences.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlie WalterSamuel DeanJoe HastingsRobert Lindsey
The James Agee Film Project is requesting funds to produce a four-part series of one-hour films on the environmental and social history of Appalachia. "APPALACHIA: A History of Mountains and People" will be the first series of films on the history of Appalachia and the first environmental history film ever made about a region in the United States. The project will demonstrate the dynamic interaction and inseparability of natural history and human history. By interweaving the discoveries and insights from scientific disciplines, including geology, ecology, biology and environmental science, with those of the humanities, the series will explore how the mountains have shaped human cultures and how people have shaped the mountains. "APPALACHIA: A History of Mountains and People" is made for national broadcast on PBS and is being co-sponsored by six Appalachian state PBS networks. The series is being produced in conjunction with the upcoming "Encyclopedia of Appalachia." Outreach programs include partnerships with many regional grassroots organizations, PBS stations and educational institutions to extend the film into a wide range of rural communities and schools. The Project Director/Writer of the series will be the Academy Award nominated filmmaker Ross Spears. Jamie Ross is co-producer/writer; Dr. George Constantz, the Science Writer/Content Director. Dr. Constantz is also currently the principal science and ecology editor of The Encyclopedia of Appalachia, which will be published in 2005. A distinguished group of scholars and scientists will contribute to the project. Dr. Gary Henry, Director of the Applied Research Center in Atlanta, will oversee the project evaluation.
The Space Science Institute (SSI) seeks to develop the "Stardust Project," designed to introduce the public to concepts related to the birth of stars, the search for planets beyond our solar system and the search for life beyond earth. The project's three components include a 2,500 square-foot travelling exhibition called "Stardust: Our Search for Origins;" a comprehensive education program for museum staff and grades 4-9 school teachers and a public Web site that incorporates and builds on the exhibit and education content. The project proposes to assemble standards-based educational materials for dissemination through workshops conducted at museums that host the exhibit. The educational programs -- particularly professional development workshops for teachers -- target, among other groups, underserved Native American and Hispanic teachers associated with a partnership between SSI and the NSF Rural Systematic Initiatives in the American West. The project is built around strong partnerships with two NASA Origins Program missions and with established informal education institutions including the New York Hall of Science, the Lawrence Hall of Science, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, TERC and the SETI Institute. Its goals are to make it possible for teachers, students and the public to learn about: The formation of stars, planets, and the solar system; The conditions necessary for life; The effect of life on Earth's environment; The methods used to detect planets orbiting distant stars and The scientific tools used in origin research -- from space-based telescopes to microscopes.
The Anchorage Museum of History and Art, working with the Calista Elders Council, will develop a 5,000 sq ft traveling exhibition presenting 19th-century Yup'ik Eskimo technologies, their contemporary applications, and the underlying scientific processes. Featuring Yup'ik artifacts, it will integrate indigenous knowledge into the teaching of basic science principles as well as demonstrate the role played by science in everyday life. The exhibition will be organized around seasonal activities practiced in the past and retaining modern relevance. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will develop the comparative exhibits on modern science and technology, and the Imaginarium will develop complementary educational programming. Primary audiences will include rural Alaska Natives, both youth and elders, non-Native Alaska residents and visitors, as well as venues outside Alaska. By demonstrating how indigenous knowledge can be related to modern science, this exhibition provides a model for the informal science education field on how to incorporate cultural aspects of their own communities into museum exhibitions and programs. In addition, it demonstrates how artifacts and hands-on science activities can be combined effectively to create engaging educational experiences.
SCITECH will develop and deliver ten sets of twelve portable interactive exhibits and educational programs on space exploration to 220 venues in five states. The project is based on a collaborative of ten small science museums: Imaginarium (Anchorage, AK); Bluedorn Imaginarium (Waterloo, IA); Science Station (Cedar Rapids, IA); Discovery Center (Rockford, IL); Lakeview Museum (Peoria, IL); SCITECH (Aurora, IL); Evansville Museum of Arts and Science (Evansville, IN); Science Central (Fort Wayne, IN); Children's Science Museum (Terre Haute, IN); Science Works (Ashland, OR). The Exploratorium will build the exhibits and conduct a residency program of professional development for staff from the participating museums. The exhibits and programs are intended to reach some 330,000 people in rural and lower-economic areas at 220 nontraditional destinations (fairs, festivals, libraries, scouts and youth clubs). These activities are designed to increase interest in and knowledge of astronomy and space exploration. In addition, this project will provide capacity building and professional development for the small museums, as well as a model that can be used by others not participating directly in this project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David JamesRonen MirShawn CarlsonKua PattenSheldon SchaferSarah WolfMitch LumanAnn Fumarolo