The authors provide an analysis of pairs of children interacting with a multi-touch tabletop exhibit designed to help museum visitors learn about evolution and the tree of life. The exhibit’s aim is to inspire visitors with a sense of wonder at life’s diversity while providing insight into key evolutionary concepts such as common descent. The authors find that children negotiate their interaction with the exhibit in a variety of ways including reactive, articulated, and contemplated exploration. These strategies in turn influence the ways in which children make meaning through their
This research addresses the importance and benefits of informal science learning which complement formal science learning in school. Informal science learning is not fully developed and is a relatively new idea in Malaysia. Most of the researches in the field of science teaching and learning are focused on the formal learning environment in school hours. However, this research has an added value for the field of science teaching since the focus is on informal science learning environment. Informal science learning is not yet explored by any other local universities in Malaysia, thus, this research will lead to the existence of Informal Science Learning Centre in long term mission. Although the existence of the National Science Centre and Petroscience KLCC provide informal environment for science learning, nevertheless, it is argued that those two places has a weak foundation in integrating educational learning theories into the informal science activities offered in these two places. This research will provide a strong theoretical foundation of designing the informal science learning because the informal science learning in this study will be developed by using rigorous research methodology which comprise of action research method and case study design in order to translate the Multiple Intelligence Theory as informal science learning practices.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mohd Ali SamsudinZurida IsmailAnna Christina AbdullahNooraida YakobSalmiza SalehMaznah Ali
The Museum is partnering with San Francisco State University's Department of Biology to learn more about the zombie fly, Apocephalus borealis, and how this parasitoid (like a parasite, except they always kill their host) affects honey bees, Apis mellifera. You can join this investigation by becoming a ZomBee Hunter! ZomBees are honey bees that have been parasitized by zombie flies. We know that zombie flies have been affecting honey bees in California and South Dakota. The big mysteries that need to be solved are: Where exactly are honey bees being affected? How big of a threat are zombie flies to honey bees? Have zombie flies spread to honey bees across North America? By collecting honey bees in L.A. that look like they have been affected by the zombie fly, you can be a detective for this exciting case.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyJohn Hafernick
The Museum is partnering with Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) to share data and learn more about L.A. butterflies and moths. Help us find and photograph them in Los Angeles. Why Butterflies? Unlike some of the other Citizen Science projects here at the Museum, the L.A. Butterfly Survey (LABS) isn't looking for lost butterflies. We already know the species we are likely to find in L.A., all 236 of them. What we need to find out is which butterflies and moths we're likely to find when we plant the new Pollinator Garden in the Museum's upcoming outdoor exhibit, the North Campus. When you submit images of L.A. butterflies and moths, we'll map the species closest to the Museum and determine which one's might show up when we start planting butterfly attracting plants.
With the Museum's increasing interest in urban biodiversity, we have started looking at all types of wildlife in our highly modified industrial, suburban, and urban habitats. One thing that quickly struck us was that in our own backyard, Exposition Park, nobody had documented any lizards since 1988. This seemed strange, as lizards are common in other parts of Los Angeles, and it led to the question, "Why are there no lizards here?" We hope to answer this question with the LLOLA (pronouced "lola") project. LLOLA aims to do two things: 1) Confirm the presence or absence of lizards in Exposition park. (After all, nobody has looked extensively for them! 2) Find out where lizards DO occur in the Los Angeles Basin, and start to hypothesize why they can survive there.
In spite of their importance and abundance, we do not know much about the spiders in Los Angeles. There are no truly large collections of urban spiders from this area, as most collectors concentrate on studying natural areas. As an important international port, new species of spiders from various parts of the world are always being accidentally introduced into the Los Angeles area, and some of these have established breeding populations. We need to know how widespread these introduced species have become, and how they have interacted with the native spiders. Also, we want to know how urbanization and the loss of natural habitat has affected populations and distributions of naturally occurring spiders.
The Climate Change Toolkit includes a suite of resources that address the science behind climate change while encouraging participants to take action to reduce the effects of climate change. Each resource has been designed to be low cost and easy for educators to reproduce. Contents of the Toolkit include: (1) Ten Hands-on Cart Activities - These hands-on, cart-type science activities for families in an informal education setting or for children in an afterschool setting, engage participants with the science of climate change. The activities are divided into two categories, those that address the science behind climate change, and those that address how individual choices affect the rate of climate change. (2) Four Portable Self-Guided Exhibits Kits - These self-guided science kits use four hands-on activities per kit to explore how climate change is affecting the forest, ocean, urban, and atmosphere environments. Each kit can be packaged in a small bag or box and bundled together with an activity map box for check-out by families in an informal education setting. (3) Public Presentation - CO2 and You is a twenty-minute presentation that provides the option of using interactive clickers to introduce the science behind how fossil fuel consumption leads to climate change. The interactive presentation also explores how simple energy choices can have a positive effect on the climate. (4) Museum Field Trip Program - The Power the Future field trip uses an interactive diagram to explain how carbon based fossil fuels such as coal emit carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change. The program then discusses the need to transition away from carbon based energy sources such as fossil fuels to those that do not emit carbon dioxide, such as wind power. The second section of the program guides visitors through a hands-on inquiry activity where they explore their own windmills.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlie TrautmannKatie LevedahlAlberto López
Several years ago, Kansas City leaders decided to boost future economic growth by developing science and engineering skills in the area’s work force. There was a problem though: Kansas City’s workers and students weren’t very interested in science and engineering. So, five organizations, including a library and museum, founded KC Science, INC to improve science literacy in the bi-state Kansas City metropolitan region. Partners included the Johnson County (KS) Library as the lead partner; Science City, the region’s premier science museum; KCPT, the local public television station; Science Pioneers, a group that produces educational materials and activities for teachers and students; and Pathfinder Science, an online collaborative community of teachers and students engaging in scientific research. The group received a 2006 Partnership for a Nation of Learners* grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) because the community partnership’s focus on science-related careers and lifelong learning helped build a foundation for an informed citizenry.
The importance of reporting current science to the general public is more important now than ever before. The best way to ensure enthusiastic support for science is to engage the general public as directly as possible. Unlike schooling, learning in a museum is self-motivated, self-directed, and can be lifelong. The partnership between Columbia University's MRSEC (Materials Research Science and Engineering Center) and the New York Hall of Science will do this in an exciting manner by development of innovative 'rolling exhibits' (Discovery Carts) that are visually attractive, intellectually stimulating and demonstrate current research. This project will unite a dynamic University research faculty, dedicated graduate students, and high school teachers from one of the largest and best known teacher research experience programs in the country. NY Hall of Science, specialists in public science education, have developed exhibitions, over the past 20 years, for school and family group visitors in biology, chemistry and physics. Most recently, the Hall opened an 800-foot biochemistry discovery lab featuring ten experiments that teach visitors about the role of molecules in everyday life. The lab is facilitated by an explainer, and hundreds of families use the lab throughout the year. All exhibits and programs have rigorous science presented in an engaging manner in an educationally non-threatening environment. Columbia University is one of the premier research institutions in the country. Columbia's MRSEC is engaged in multi-faceted educational outreach activities in the New York metropolitan area, including a close working relationship with Columbia's 16 year old RET program. Together these institutions are well situated to involve the research community in public education activities that will inform the public about the current advances in science. Teachers and graduate students who have worked in MRSEC labs will assist in bringing new skills and ideas to the development of museum programming and exhibits. The teachers have experienced both the research projects first-hand and have had the experience in translating the research into meaningful classroom activities for their students. The graduate students have worked alongside the teachers, assisting them in making the research meaningful to high school students. Broader Impact: Highly skilled educators who can improve a young person's chances for success are like gold for the nation's schools, which are under pressure for tough accountability standards. Teachers will influence over a thousand students during the course of their careers. The Hall's Explainers are of high school and college age. These two groups will have positive impacts on our society for years to come. They will benefit from participation, and the tens of thousands of visitors to the museum will learn about cutting edge research.
This report details the findings from an exploratory research study conducted by the Research and Evaluation Department at the Museum of Science, Boston about this exhibition, which came to be known as Provocative Questions (PQ). This investigation was guided by the following questions: 1. Will visitors engage in socio-scientific argumentation in an un-facilitated exhibit space, and are they aware that they are doing so? 2. How do the un-facilitated exhibits impact visitors’ socio-scientific argumentation skills? For the exploratory research study, visitors were cued to use the exhibits and
Free-choice learning, a new paradigm for the learning that youth and their families engage in outside school, can play an important role in the healthy development of youth, their families, and communities.
Genetics was developed by The Tech staff in collaboration with Stanford University and was funded by the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program. The evaluation documents the impact and effectiveness of the exhibition using timing and tracking observations and exit interviews. It also examines the partnership between The Tech and Stanford University through interviews with graduate students, who conduct programs in the exhibition, and their supervisor (results are not included in this summary).
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi KornThe Tech Museum of Innovation