NACME proposes to develop a 20 minute videotape, with a teacher's guide and student brochure, that will use career opportunities in engineering as a vehicle to encourage math and science course-taking among minority high school students. By introducing engineering careers as dynamic, exciting professions that offer excellent prospects for minority graduates, NACME hopes to motivate students to take academic track science and math courses beginning at the 8th/9th grade crossroads and continuing through high school graduation. The video, geared specifically to a primary audience of 11 to 14 year-old minority students (5th through 8th graders) and a secondary audience of non-minority students, parents, teachers and guidance counselors, will focus on the lives of successful young engineers, male and female, from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose seeks National Science Foundation grant support in the amount of $381,000 (55% of a total project cost of $693,188) to develop over a 24-month period a series of interactive exhibits exploring the subject of rhythm, including both obvious and lesser known manifestations within the natural and physical worlds. Drawing upon the scientific disciplines of mathematics, biology, physics and psychology, RHYTHM takes as its construct the idea of time, the articulation of which means for apprehending and understanding rhythm. Working with outside advisors in science education and specific content areas, Co-PI Michael Oppenheimer will develop and build 20 exhibits, which will be semi- permanently installed at Children's Discovery Museum and accessible to our annual visitor population of 350,000; exhibits will also be profiled on "Kids" Clubhouse," a television program developed jointly by the Museum and our local PBS affiliate, KTEH/54, viewed by 55,000 weekly. Matching funds are also being requested to support curricular materials and a traveling version of RHYTHM. Over a 2-year, 8-site tour the Association of Science and Technology Centers projects that the series will reach a national audience of more than 1,000,000 children and adults. As a comprehensive project, RHYTHM provides a compelling model for addressing imperatives articulated in Science for All Americans, the landmark report issued by Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Located in San Jose, California, the Museum serves an expanding urban area characterized by extraordinary ethnic diversity: Santa Clara County's 1.5 million residents are 42% non-Anglo, while San Jose is 50.8% Hispanic, Asian and Black.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sally OsbergKoen LiemTom NielsenMichael Oppenheimer
Through the proposed project, approximately 555,000 youth and adults will improve their knowledge of the basic sciences and mathematics, and learn to integrate and apply these disciplines, by analyzing local environmental problems using remote sensing imagery and maps. Faculty from the Cornell laboratory for Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing (CLEARS) and Cornell Department of Natural Resources will train county teams of teachers, museum and nature center educators, community leaders, and Cooperative Extension agents from throughout New York State to conduct educational programs with youth and adults in their communities. Previously developed CLEARS educator enrichment workshops and training materials will be enhanced and revised based on the interactions among Cornell Faculty, informal and formal science educators, and students during this program. A facultative evaluation focusing on the workshops, training materials, and educator teaching skills, and a summative evaluation focusing on student learning and attitudes, program delivery in the various community education settings, and the effectiveness of the county educator teams will be conducted. The results of the evaluation will be incorporated into a program handbook and used in nationwide dissemination of the program.
Girls Inc. will develop a national model summer program for girls aged 12 to 16 to encourage their interest in science, their enrollment in science courses in high school, and their interest in science careers. The recruitment of girls from low-income and minority families as participants will be a high priority. The program will represent a synthesis of Operation Smart, an afterschool science and mathematics program, and Eureka Teen Achievement Program, which introduces science and mathematics in summer programs through sports. The program will be developed and field- tested in five diverse Girls inc. sites around the country and to other interested groups. Substantial formative and impact evaluation is planned.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Libby PalmerHeather Johnston Nicholsonellen wahl
Founded in 1979, the Science Skills Center (SSC) is a non-profit community based program which encourages young minority and female students to pursue careers in science, mathematics, and technology. At its current two sites, located in Brooklyn, New York, approximately 400 students, ages six to eighteen, are enrolled in programs where they take accelerated courses in biology, chemistry, physical science, rocketry, oceanography, botany, and advanced mathematics. Classes, which are presented within the cultural and linguistic understanding of minority children, provide students with an opportunity to recognize the relationship of science, mathematics, and technology to their everyday lives. The SSC proposes to replicate its present programs, establishing three additional sites in the New York City area in three years. The SSC also proposes to establish a systematic replication program which would assist other communities, both regional and national, to establish their own SSCs. This project would require a resource person to guide communities in all aspects of program development. To assist in that effort, SSC proposes development of comprehensive educational and administrative manuals as well as the preparation of accompanying training and profile videos. Finally, the SSC proposes to develop a research module in software and manual form which would assess and track student learning, school performance, performance on standardized exams, career aspiration and selection, and student attitudes in a community based science program targeting minority students.
Future Scientists and Engineers of America (FSEA) is a structured after-school program to promote math and science through engineering applications among American youth, grades 4 through 12. FSEA has hands-on projects at increasing levels of complexity which provide student members with practical engineering applications of science and mathematics. Students advance through categories similar to the Scouts based on Satisfactory completion of projects. They enter as a technician and advance to levels of scientist and engineer. Chapters are sponsored by businesses, professional societies and community organizations which provided mentors and funding for FSEA projects. Each Project is conducted by a team consisting of a volunteer teacher and a volunteer mentor. A mentor must have a technical background in a scientific or engineering field. Mentors can be volunteers recruited from industry, retired scientists and engineers or engineering students. In less than a year, mentors and teachers have attended start- up workshops and 24 chapters have been successfully organized. Increasing demand for chapter development, with continuing emphasis on minority and female youth, has created the need for further development of projects kits, parent involvement and continuity among feeder schools. The proposal intends to develop the procedures, structure and organization that would enable FSEA to develop an additional 35 chapters in Southern California and become a national after-school program and expand to other states.
This planning grant deals with helping people in a flood prone area, Lehigh Valley, understand climate change and the impacts it can have on their livelihood. Through a series of town hall type meetings and distributed materials, the Nurture Nature Foundation and scientists will provide perspective on climate change and options now available to them. The target audience will range from teenagers to adults. During these discussions STEM concepts shall be integrated into the materials. An important aspect of this planning project is devising strategies for interactions with the local groups in meetings and for effective displays and exhibits that not only address the flooding/climate change issues but also reflect the STEM principles and concepts that are involved.
Plantations, the botanical garden and arboretum of Cornell University, is developing a model program of informal education for elementary (K-5) school children. Project LEAP, Learning About Plants, will integrate the academic resources of Cornell University and the informal setting of its botanic gardens with the teaching of mathematics and science in local elementary schools. The project contains five components: 1) a conceptually-based curriculum of biology, ecology and agriculture which will include some components of SCIS (Science Curriculum Improvement Study) and OBIS (Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies); 2) a teacher training workshop to stimulate curriculum integration and modification; 3) multiple two-year visits between Plantations and local schools providing children with direct experience with plants and animals; 4) a quantitative program of curriculum development and evaluation based on learning theory; and 5) a plan for dissemination of the structure and instructional contents of this program. Because children will experience LEAP over a period of years, the complex and meaningful learning of concepts in science will be achieved in the earliest years of a child's education. Because LEAP is being designed to become a model program applicable to many institutions of informal education, two publications will be produced: a notebook which describes the overall structure of the program, and a handbook for teachers which presents the individual lessons of the curriculum and the theoretical background supporting the choice of curriculum material. The notebook will distinguish those elements of the program peculiar to Cornell and Plantations, and mechanisms through which the program can be adapted to other institutions. The project is being split-funded by the Instructional Materials Development and Informal Science Education Programs.
Maryland Instructional Television, in conjunction with the National Science Teachers Association, will use the expertise of scientists and educators and the medium of television to create an exciting science video series for children ages four through seven. The activities of the project include the identification of content, design of instructional video and ancillary print materials, and formative evaluation. Fifteen video programs will be developed, each containing two or three separate sub-programs. These will be supplemented by teacher and parent guides which will suggest activities designed to expand upon the material covered in the program. The series content and materials will explore everyday events in the lives of young children and will integrate science and mathematics concepts, skills and application into a variety of curricular areas. The companion activities will make use of objects already in the child's world or easily accessible in the home. This project is funded jointly with the Instructional Materials Development Program.
The Willamette Science and Technology Center, a science museum located in the university town of Eugene, Oregon, proposes to design, construct and circulate a 1,000 square foot traveling mathematics and science exhibition, "Kaleidoscopes: Reflections of Science and Art" to 15 science museums over a three year period, reaching more than one million visitors. The exhibition will capitalize on popular interest in this 19th century optical toy to provide engaging and stimulating examples of mathematics and physics principles revealed in the exquisite symmetries and surprising patterns of kaleidoscopic reflection. Interactive exhibit modules will be combined with historic examples and the work of contemporary artists to appeal to a broad rang of ages and interests of visitors. Consultants with extensive experience with mathematics and mathematics education will assist in the design of the exhibit units and in the preparation of educational materials that will accompany the exhibition. The Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service (SITES), will manage the circulation and maintenance of the exhibition during its travels and will publish the related educational materials and make them available to host museums. Project staff and consultant are highly qualified to carry out this project, which matches an increasing national interest in revitalizing mathematics education and a corresponding increased emphasis on mathematics education at the National Science Foundation. An award $71,310 for FY'87 is recommended.
The Franklin Institute Science Museum, a major American Science Center serving more than 700,000 individuals annually, proposes to create a 3,700 square foot permanent exhibition that will promote public interest in and understanding of the concepts and principles of mathematics in concrete, tangible form. The exhibition will consist of five clusters of hands-on devices, interactive computer programs, models, and text on the themes of Geometry; Symmetry; Chance, Probability and Randomness; Series, Sequences and Limits; and "Modern Math"--Fractals, Knots and Braids and Topology. Museum staff will utilize several mathematicians as advisors and design participants and will develop adjunct educational materials for use by teachers, students, and family members. They will disseminate exhibition techniques and content by providing six collaborating museums with selected copies of exhibit devices and hardware for their use in developing temporary or permanent mathematics exhibits. Staff of the six museums will join advisors for a design conference during exhibition planning, and will provide evaluation reports on their use of the exhibit materials. Knowledge of mathematics is not only necessary for everyday life; it is central to public understanding of science and engineering, and a key to continued participation in science and engineering, and a key to continued participation in science education in high school and college. Increasing national interest improvement in the mathematical ability of americans at all levels, pre-college and college, make this proposed exhibition particularly timely.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Daniel Goldwater
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The middle school years are critical in determining a student's success and continued participation in mathematics. This proposal involves the expansion of MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) model to the junior high/middle school population in the State of Washington. The project will focus on updating and revitalizing middle school mathematics curriculum, the goal being to increase minority student enrollment in algebra in the ninth grade. The MESA model also recognizes the need for teacher support and provides teacher seminars on a regular basis. Additionally, the expansion of the statewide Pre- College Center at the University of Washington will include the coordination of a statewide program at the junior high/middle school level. The MESA model is based on a partnership between industry and educators--a cooperative effort involving scientists on loan from industry, educators at the university level and educators at the secondary school levels working together to develop curricula that will stimulate student interest and achievement in mathematics and science. The staff for the project is well qualified with experience in the MESA program and in curriculum development and teacher training. The proposal addresses a clear need for improving minority mathematics education in middle/junior high schools and promises to have an impact throughout the nation for all students by serving as a model academic program. The project goals are consistent with the Instructional Materials guidelines. Therefore, an award is recommended.