Science Learning, Inc. will plan and carryout a two day conference that will bring together researchers, practitioners and policy makers in an effort to seek to better understand the workings of the informal science education infrastructure. Being promoted as a seminal event for defining and understanding the role of informal science education infrastructure in facilitating public understanding of science, conference participants will better define and delineate the informal science education infrastructure, hear about studies examining the nature and function of the informal science education infrastructure, learn about research models in other fields that are related to this question, and look toward the future by proposing studies and approaches to understanding this infrastructure even better. This is an outgrowth of a projected ten-year research study conducted for LA's California Science Center looking at the impact of a major urban science center on its community. This conference will be held in association with the May, 1998 annual meting of the American Association of Museums. Participants will apply to attend; it is anticipated that approximately 100 individuals will be selected. The conference proceedings will be published and broadly dissemination after the conference. It will include the nine formal papers presented at the conference along with summaries of the small groups' sessions and conclusion. The James Irvine Foundation and the California Science Center will provide additional support for this conference.
WGBH is producing a two-hour NOVA special that will examine the scientific undertaking to decipher all three billion letters of the human genetic code. The program will take viewers inside the labs where this effort is going on and will examine the difficult decisions that are arising from our growing understanding of the human genome. The central narrative thread in "The Human Blueprint" is the extraordinary race now going on between two teams striving to be the first to read, or "sequence," the human genome. On one side is the official Human Genome Project, funded by the federal government and coordinated by the National Human Genome Research Institute; on the other side is private industry, in the form of a well-financed company run by a biologist with a long track record of finding quicker, cheaper ways to plumb the secrets of the genetic code. To support the extended use of the series, "The Human Blueprint" will be featured in the NOVA teachers guide and will be the subject of an enhanced Web sit at NOVA Online. The Executive Producer for the programs will be Paula Apsell, Executive Producer for NOVA, and the series will be produced by Elizabeth Arledge who has produced science programming for WGBH, WNET and CBS News. Dr. Joseph Levine will serve as science consultant to "The Human Blueprint" and will work with the producer to plan program research, suggest sequence possibilities, review program treatments and critique the film at early stages. Dr. Levine has a Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University and served as the science editor for the WGBH series "The Secret of Life." Advisors to the series include: W. French Anderson, Professor of Biochemistry and Pediatrics and the Director of Gene Therapy Laboratories at the University of Southern California School of Medicine; David Baltimore, President of the California Institute of Technology and Chairman of the NIH AIDS Vaccine Research Committee; Paul Berg, Director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Research at Stanford University; Robin Blatt, Founder of the Genetic Resource at the Massachusetts Health Research Institute; David Blumenthal, Director of the Institute for Health Policy and Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Robert Cook-Deegan, Director of the National Cancer Policy Board, Institute of Medicine and the Commission on Life Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences; Ronald G. Crystal, Director of the Gene Therapy Core facility at Cornell University Medical College; Georgia M. Dunston, Professor of Microbiology and Acting Director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University; Philip R. Reilly, Executive Director of the Shriver Center for Mental Retardation; Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Vice President of Research and Professor of Neurology at Northwestern University.
The Self Reliance Foundation in association with the Hispanic Radio Network over a five year period will produce and distribute a variety of daily Spanish-language radio programs on science education topics and follow-up outreach services to network listeners on science education and career opportunities. The applicants will add two science related episodes each week to Buscando La Belleza, the four-minute daily radio series for families that focuses on social issues, work issues, women's rights, and educational and career opportunities. It is carried on 100 stations with a weekly cumulative audience of 2,567,000 listeners. The new episodes will include: 52 role model interviews with Hispanic men and women who have careers in science, mathematics, and technology from technical positions not requiring a college degree to Ph.D.'s engaged in cutting edge research; 26 family involvement episodes with suggestions for parents to build their confidence in helping their children with homework, doing simple science activities with their children at home, encouraging their older children in their studies, and working with schools and community organizations; and 26 academic and career resource/success stories highlighting Hispanic students who have been successful in their pursuit of careers in science, mathematics, and technology. The second series included under the grant is Salvemos Nuestro Planeta, a two-and-a-half minute series that focuses on environmental issues. It currently is carried on 89 radio stations twice a week with a total weekly cumulative audience of 2,494,300. The producers will expand the series to seven original episodes per week with five episodes focusing on science, mathematics, and technology themes: general science literacy, environmental management and technology, computers and information technology, environmental activities for youth, and SMET career opportunities. Outreach will consist of a national Spanish language toll free phone number that will refer listeners to resources related to opportunities for scholarships in science and engineering, activities and resources for parents and children in science education, etc., and in some cases, connect callers to the subject of that days interview. The PI will be Roberto Salazar who has been chief assistant to Vicente Llamas at the Comprehensive Regional Center for Minorities. He has been involved in numerous science education project for Hispanics and has a background in radio. The Executive Producer will be Jeff Kline. Major science consultants will be Vicente Llamas, Director of the Comprehensive Regional Center for Minorities, and Estrella Triana, Hispanic Science Education Director for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Roberto SalazarGilbert SanchezRobert Russell
NACME will produce a three year public service advertising campaign designed to shape the educational choices children make in junior high and high school with respect to mathematics and science. The ads, featuring actor/director Spike Lee, will aim to increase the number of children in grades three through eight who understand the relevance and value of mathematics and science to life in the adult world. The campaign also will be directed towards parents with the goal of helping them recognize the importance of learning mathematics and science to their children's future. The components of the project will be: For each of the three years of the project, development and distribution of one 60, one 30, and one 10 second television spot; For each of the three years of the project, development and distribution of three 60, three 30, and three 10 second radio spots; Annual development of print ads and marketing materials to be delivered to selected consumer magazines, educator's publications, in-school magazines, newspaper "kid pages," comic book companies, and bus shelter and transit card carriers; Annual development and distribution of 100,000 full-color student brochures to reinforce the concepts outlined in the campaign; Annual development and distribution of 100,000 brochures for parents to engage them in their children's science and mathematics education; Establishment of a toll-free 800 number for students to call to request information. Each caller will be sent both the student and the parent brochure; Development of promotional materials including buttons, games, science experiments, math puzzles, T-shirts, etc.; Annual public relations campaigns including press conferences, media tours, in-school demonstrations, and personal appearances; Annual evaluation of the project including monthly reports of fulfillment of requests received via the 800 number. Development, production, and distribution of the campaign will be the responsibility of a task force consisting of: Ronni Denes, NACME's vice president for communications and public affairs; George Campbell Jr., President of NACME; Lea E. Williams, executive vice President of NACME and formerly served as vice president, educational services, of the United Negro College Fund; Catherine Morrison, director of research; and Ismael Diaz, director of precollege programs. The ad agency for the NACME/Ad Council campaign is Tracy-Locke. Rob Britton, manager of Advertising and Direct Marketing for American Airlines will serve as campaign director.
Lichtenstein Creative Media is producing a national public radio series that examines recent advances at the frontiers of brain research and explores the scientific, behavioral, medical and social/ethical implications of those advances. "The Infinite Mind" is a weekly, one-hour program hosted by Dr. Frederick K. Goodwin, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health and head of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration. He is an internationally recognized authority on the brain and behavior. While each program will focus on one specific topic (e.g., "How Children Learn"), the series covers a full spectrum of issues involving the human brain. The format for the programs includes documentary segments, interviews and discussions with research scientists, listener call-ins, guest essays and special reports.
Reading Rainbow is a long running, highly acclaimed children's television series designed to engage children in reading. Over the years, the series has incorporated both a science strand and a mathematics strand. Nebraskans for Public Television is now producing two additional math-focused programs and one integrated math/science program. These programs will further integrate math-oriented books into the series, will heighten the visibility of quality children's math-oriented books, and will model how children can understand and enjoy mathematics and science in the world around them. Outreach will be coordinated with libraries and museums nationwide. The project also will expand the "Math for Families Workshops," which were previously developed, from 50 public broadcasting stations to 100 stations. The workshops also will be integrated into the PBS "Ready To Learn" endeavor.
Living On Earth is a weekly, impartial news journal devoted exclusively to coverage of ecology that is carried on 274 NPR stations in the United States. It has had previous support from the Informal Science Education Program for initial series production and to help expand the series from a half hour formation to an hour-long show. This grant will enable the World Media Foundation to deepen and strengthen the reporting of the science and technology of environmental change by employing a staff science reporter and a staff researcher with a Ph.D. in biology. The science reporter will enable the project to respond more quickly to emerging issues, as well as providing more consistent and better prepared science coverage. The research will help the producers better interpret new developments and studies, help identify new topics, and improve accuracy and balance. The series also will add the topic of marine environments to their major areas of concern. There currently is little media coverage of the rapid loss of healthy coral reefs, the collapse of commercial fisheries, and the changing ocean chemistry. The project will continue to covers such major topics as biological diversity, climate change, environmental toxicology, and agricultural science. Steve Curwood, the Executive producer and host of Living on Earth, will continue as the PI for the project. The science producer/editor will be Dan Grossman. He has a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in political science and has taught science journalism at Boston University. The project advisory committee consists of Arjun Makhijani, Greg Watson, Theo Colborn, Catherine Vandermoer, William Moomaw, George Woodwell, Michael McElroy, Jane Lubechenco, Carl Safina, Sylvia Earle, and Jerry Schubel. The series is produced by the World Media Foundation in cooperation with WBUR, National Public Radio, and Harvard University.
The American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA) is requesting support for the upcoming World Congress to be held in Ashville, NC, June 25-30, 2000. They intend to develop a theme, "Reaching Out: Informal Learning in Botanical Gardens," in order to enhance informal learning in botanical gardens across the nation. The theme will be addressed through plenary addresses, conference sessions, workshops and tours. A conference publication and a web site will extend the impact of this theme beyond the conference.
The award winning, computer animated, broadcast quality videotapes on a number of mathematics topics developed at California Institute of Technology under two previous NSF grants are the basis of this project that produces interactive multimedia lessons distributed on CD-ROM. The videotapes use live action footage to relate mathematics to the real world and the interactive, multimedia version moves these materials more firmly into the hands of students.
The large format film unit at NOVA/WGBH Boston, in association with the Liberty Science Center, is producing a 40-minute large format film about the science of volcanology. Volcano: Lost City of Pompeii will tell the story of a diverse group of scientists working together, each in his or her specific field, to understand better how Vesuvius can reasonably be expected to behave - today and in the years to come. Following the scientific teams, the film will impart a basic understanding of magma flow and plate tectonics, the geological building blocks out of which volcanoes emerge. The film will blend geology with archaeology to tell an ongoing detective story - a present-day scientific investigation that integrates state of the art techniques and technology with ancient evidence derived from buildings, victims' remains, and vivid eyewitness accounts that go back nearly 2,000 years to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The range of scientific disciplines involved in the film includes: geochemistry, geology, geophysics, remote sensing, plate tectonics, seismology, archaeology, and volcanology. The film will be available with both captioning for the hearing impaired and visual description for visually impaired members of the audience. The film will be supported by an extensive educational outreach plan that includes: Pompeii Earth Science Exploration, a program targeting underserved and disadvantaged youth at 100 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide; Pompeii Museum Toolkit, a blueprint enabling museums to integrate existing exhibitry with use of the film and including models for outreach initiatives built around the film; Pompeii Activity Guide, an activity guide for us with upper elementary and middle school youth in both informal and form science education settings, and; Pompeii Idea Handbook, a booklet for museums that shares successful outreach programs implemented by museums showing the film during the first year. Paula Apsell, Executive Producer of N OVA and Director of the WGBH Science Unit, will be the PI. The Co-Executive Producer will be Susanne Simpson who previously produced such large format films as Storm Chasers and To the Limit. The Key Scientific Advisor will be Richard Fisher of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Others on the advisory committee include Lucia Civetta, Director of Osservatorio Vesuvio; Diane Favro, Assoc. Prof. in the School of Arts and Architecture at UCLA; Grant Heiken, President of the Earth and Environmental Science Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory and President of the International Society of volcanology; Dan Miller, Chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's Disaster Assistance Program; Haraldur Sigurdsson, Professor in the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island; and Barbara Tewksbury, Professor of Geology at Hamilton College and past president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. Emyln Koster, President and CEO of the Liberty Science Center, will act as key education advisor.
Volcanic Ocean Films, Inc. is testing the viability of shooting large-format film of volcanic vents on the deep ocean floor. The tests will be carried out during the course of the currently scheduled November, 1999, dives involving the deep sea submersible, Alvin, at the 9 Degree North site on the East Pacific Rise. the expedition plans to shoot approximately 20,000 feet of 15 perforation, 70-mm film resulting in approximately 10 to 20 minutes of footage. The objectives of this research are: o To confirm the feasibility of lighting and filming the deep sea volcanic vents in the large film format from Alvin and o To develop and optimize the deep water, large-format filming capabilities of Alvin. The research effort is proposed on behalf of a consortium of US-based organizations now forming for the production of a 40-minute, large-format film, "Volcanoes of the Abyss." Key production personnel involved in this research will be: Stephen Low, Director/Producer; Pietro L. Serapiglia, Producer; William W. Reeve, Camera Specialist; and Alexander Low, Project Manager. Scientists working with the proudction crew in this phase are: Richard A. Lutz, biologist from Rutgers University; Fred Grassle, Director, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University; Dave Gallo, Director, Special Projects, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and Emory Kristof, Deep Sea Imaging Specialist, National Geographic Society.
Lawrence Berkeley Labs developed a CD containing educational materials, staff training and the software necessary for informal science education centers to offer to middle school students one- hour sessions, multiple-day workshops, and ongoing participation in a drop-in computer lab. Hands-On Universe (HOU) is an active science education program that provides participants access to observing time on professional telescopes through the use of a personal computer and the Internet. The CD contains: exploration experiences and challenge games; resource material including images from other national labs, descriptions and animations of related topics, and astronomical catalogs; image processing software; a telecommunications package to interface with HOU telescopes and support network, the Internet, and World Wide Web; staff training material. The target audiences are youth in grades three through high school, and adults.