Each summer, a team of RHA staff members and volunteers collect samples of benthic macro-invertebrates, small critters whose presence indicate a stream’s health, at over fifty sites on streams and rivers in Hunterdon, Morris and Somerset Counties. Through our stream monitoring program, we gather valuable, usable data about surface water quality and the overall health of our watersheds.
AMC's Mountain Watch is a citizen scientist monitoring program whereby hikers monitor and report the timing of alpine and mountain forest flowers bud break and flowering and document air quality from mountain vistas. Mountain Watch plant observations will aid researchers in understanding how and by what magnitude the biota on the mountains are responding to observed statistical changes in climate variables like temperature and snowmelt.
The Great World Wide Starcount is a Windows to the Universe international citizen-science event that encourages everyone, astronomers and non-astronomers alike, to measure their local light pollution and report their observations online. The Great World Wide Star Count, part of the Dark Skies Awareness cornerstone project for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, raises awareness about light pollution as well as encourages learning in astronomy. No prior experience is necessary and the downloadable activity guide is available in eight different languages on the Web site.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
University Corporation for Atmospheric ResearchSandra Henderson
This planning grant is designed to engage urban and rural families in science learning while piloting curriculum development and implementation that incorporates both Native and Western epistemologies. Physical, earth, and space science content is juxtaposed with indigenous culture, stories, language and epistemology in after-school programs and teacher training. Project partners include the Dakota Science Center, Fort Berthold Community College, and Sitting Bull College. The Native American tribes represented in this initiative involve partnerships between the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara. The primary project deliverables include a culturally responsive Beyond Earth Moon Module, teacher training workshops, and a project website. The curriculum module introduces students to the moon's appearance, phases, and positions in the sky using the Night Sky Planetarium Experience Station during programs at the Boys and Girls Club (Ft. Berthold Community College), Night Lights Afterschool program (Sitting Bull Community College), and Valley Middle School (UND and Dakota Science Center). Students also explore core concepts underlying the moon's phases and eclipses using the interactive Nature Experience Station before engaging in the culminating Mission Challenge activity in which they apply their knowledge to problem solving situations and projects. Fifteen pre-service and in-service teachers participate in professional development workshops, while approximately 300 urban and rural Native youth and family members participate in community programs. A mixed-methods evaluation examines the impact of Western and Native science on the learning of youth and families and their understanding of core concepts of science in a culturally responsive environment. The formative evaluation addresses collaboration, development, and implementation of the project using surveys and interviews to document participant progress and obtain input. The summative evaluation examines learning outcomes and partnerships through interviews and observations. Presentations at national conferences, journal publications, and outreach to teachers in the North Dakota Public School System are elements of the project's comprehensive dissemination plan. The project findings may reveal impacts on participants' interest and understanding of connections between Native and Western science, while also assessing the potential for model replication in similar locales around the country.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This education project is a time sensitive opportunity related to the March 9, 2016 Total Solar Eclipse occurring in a remote part of the world located in Waleia in the Federated States of Micronesia, a U.S. affiliated Pacific Island nation. The path of totality is only 100 miles wide and passes through only a few Pacific Island nations ending in Hawaii. This project uses this unique phenomenon to educate a large US and international audience about solar science using multi-platforms with integrated video, social media, and public programs. Project deliverables include the production of a broadcast of the eclipse live from Waleia in the Federated States of Micronesia on March 9, 2016 making it accessible to hundreds of countries and millions of people around the world via satellite and live streaming on the Internet. Additional deliverables include on-site educational programs at science centers and planetariums as well as media resources for long-term use. These resources will enhance the interest and preparedness for additional public engagement when the 2017 eclipse occurs in the U.S. Making new research understandable and accessible to the public is an important activity of the U.S. research enterprise. NSF is making a substantial investment in solar physics research by funding the construction of the world's largest solar telescope, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope which is slated to begin operations in late 2019 and operated by the National Solar Observatory. This new facility will revolutionize researchers' capability to study the Sun and its magnetic fields. This education project leverages that investment with a major public engagement opportunity that has the potential for reaching millions of students, teachers, and the public both in the U.S. and worldwide through the Internet.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
ExploratoriumRobert SemperNicole MinorRobyn Higdon
EdVenture Children's Museum, a hands-on, children's museum in Columbia, S.C., in close collaboration with NIH-funded researchers at the University of South Carolina, proposes a five-year, SEPA project titled "Unlocking the Mysteries of Chronic Diseases: BioInvestigations for Family, School and Youth Audiences." The program will develop teaching laboratories and experiments to educate youth ages 5-14, teens and adults about biomedical science topics in a fun, investigatory way. From these laboratory experiences, EdVenture will also develop educational programs designed to engage disadvantaged audiences in schools and communities to help expose them to the world of science and the benefits of community-based translational research. The laboratories and educational programs will utilize scientific content drawn from NIH-sponsored biomedical research, and will translate the research process and public impact into meaningful experiences for the public. These programs will reach a large population, both urban and rural, in socio-economically depressed areas of the state, promoting students' interest in topics that they may not otherwise be exposed to and encouraging a lifelong familiarity and facility with scientific thought and practice. Throughout the life expectancy of this project, a projected 2.5 million children and adults will experience the laboratories and related educational programs. Long-term goals are to encourage future biomedical science career choices, and most importantly, empower a child to take control over his/her own health decisions and to develop the necessary skills to navigate the flood of health information inherent in the quickly changing landscape that is health today.
University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS), in partnership with the Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland (CHRCO), proposes to design, develop, implement, and evaluate a hospital-based educational program using pedagogically rich mobile learning experiences with age-appropriate K-12 health sciences content. LHS staff will combine educational technology, curriculum, and learning research expertise to create a new, inquiry based health science program delivered through tablet computers or PlayPads. The interactive media, digital stories, and gaming on PlayPads will feature everyday concepts and important foundations in health education based on the science content and learning frameworks from successful science curricula created at LHS. Hospital patients and their families, visitors, staff, and volunteers will encounter PlayPads with finished waiting room exhibit media stations designed and constructed by Exploratorium Exhibit Services, on teaching carts deployed by hospital educators, and through individual check-out units. PlayPads content will also be available outside of the hospital setting through the Internet for extended use on personal mobile devices and computers. The mission of the PlayPads program is to increase exposure of the hospital-going public to topics directly relevant to healthy lives and families through mobile technology. PlayPads will be an inviting experience for youth, framing interactions with driving questions and common misconceptions to inspire the curiosity of participants. Youth ages 8 to 16 will experience wide-ranging interactives including: games that show the hazards of smoking, simulations of blood flow through the heart, brain quizzes to hone memory function, or lively info-graphics about the nutritional shortcomings of junk food. Given the recent strides in the affordability of touch screen technology and the rapid adoption of mobile computing ecosystems, this is an unprecedented time to build a ubiquitous health educational program within a contextually relevant environment like a hospital. PlayPads will be a model for delivering health education content in a unique educational setting leveraging the great strides in consumer mobile technology. By working with a strong, local hospital partner that serves a highly diverse ethnic and socioeconomic population, LHS staff will ensure the portability of the program for future healthcare providers. With the extensive private and public networks of both LHS and CHRCO, PlayPads will potentially have a lasting impact on health education efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
The Nature of Aging project presents the biology of senescence to families and K-12 students through interactive exhibits and museum experiences. Senescence is perhaps the most complex and least understood biological process, yet it is also a universal experience marked by signs we all recognize. Aging has great relevance in the twenty-first century as medical advances and demographic shifts accelerate the growth of our elder population, and scientific research narrows in on the central mysteries of the aging process. In partnership with the Center for Healthy Aging at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and national experts in gerontology research and education, the Nature of Aging project has produced a 2,500-square-foot permanent exhibition, Amazing Feats of Aging, which opened in OMSI-s Life Science Hall in May 2003. A duplicate 2,500 traveling exhibition was also produced and began its national tour in June 2004. The proposed eight-year tour to an average of three venues per year is funded by exhibition rental fees and significantly extends the life and audience of the project. Visitors to the Amazing Feats of Aging exhibition explore comparative aging across the animal kingdom, healthy aging, and the aging of the brain. The exhibition is intended for a family audience, and activities are designed to foster intergenerational interaction. The exhibit experience is enriched by a series of educational materials and programs including a teachers- guide, an interactive website, demonstrations, and activities in OMSI-s Life Science Lab. The Amazing Feats of Aging exhibition was made possible by the contribution of expertise, photographs, video footage, software, prepared slides and specimens from scientists and researchers across the country, including: Aging Concerns, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, OHSU, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Institute on Aging, Oregon Zoo, Portland State University, University ofCalifornia, San Francisco, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Idaho, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Virginia, and Washington State University.
The New York Hall of Science, partnering with biomedical researchers, educators and the Association of Science-Technology Centers, is planning to develop, test, (Phase I) and nationally disseminate (Phase II) a new exhibition titled Molecules and Health. This exhibition will engage middle and high-school students and the general public in inquiry-based learning on the role of molecules in health illness and prevention. The proposed project will be a national model for conveying the molecular basis for health-related sciences, which will be increasing central to research and public understanding in the coming decades. The exhibition will be based upon Marvelous Molecules-the Secret of Life, a permanent exhibition at the Hall of Science, and will include an extensive array of biomedical and health-related exhibits. We will develop pre- and post-visit materials for teachers' use, a family guide through the exhibition, and two Explainer-run demonstrations, as well as a web site to support classroom learning. This exhibition will travel to science centers within the United States through the Association of Science and Technology Centers touring program. We anticipate that 1,000,000 science museum visitors throughout the country will see the Molecules and Health exhibition during the four year dissemination phase. We will share the results of our evaluation and the process of developing this exhibition to the science education field.
KY-H.E.R.O.S. (Health Education Rural Outreach Scientists) is a health science education program that partners the largest science center in Kentucky with Science Heroes-- important regional biomedical research scientists. The Science Heroes, their stories and their studies serve as inspiration to our rural audience. The project objectives are to: (1) Convey the relevance of health science research to people's daily lives and promote awareness of healthy lifestyle choices and wellness; (2) Promote understanding of the fundamental principles of the scientifc process and inspire K-12 teachers to incorporate current research into their teaching of health science; and (3) Encourage students to pursue advanced science education and increase awareness of the wide range of health science related careers. The Science Center, working with the distinguished Science Heroes, their research teams and a group of 15 knowledgeable professional advisors will develop the new KY-H.E.R.O.S. science education program. The program will include new hands-on labs and demonstrations, teacher training workshops, career exploration activities, interactive videoconferencing distance learning links, and innovative public programs. Using museum-based exhibits and a wet lab, traveling exhibit components, telelinking (distance learning), an interactive website and printed and electronic materials, we will present information about the work of the Science Heroes and its relevance to the lives of participants. The focus of the program will change every two years to feature three different scientists and their work. A total of nine scientists will be included during the 5 year period covered by the SEPA grant. As the focus changes every two years to a different three scientists, all the programs and exhibits will be changed accordingly. KY-H.E.R.O.S. will be designed to serve audiences composed of school groups on field trips; teachers in workshops; classes in remote areas of the state participatng through videoconferencing; underserved groups including economically disadvantaged, minorities and young women; and the family audience that makes up about 60% of the Science Center's annual attendance. Formative and summative evaluation will be conducted by an outside firm to ensure effectiveness.
The Massachusetts Linking Experiences and Pathways Follow-on (M-LEAP2) is a three-year longitudinal empirical research study that is examining prospectively how early formal and informal STEM education experiences are related to gender-based differences in STEM achievement-related choices in middle and high school. M-LEAP2 serves as a complement to - and extension of - a prior NSF-funded study, M-LEAP, which was a largely quantitative research study that followed overlapping cohorts of 3rd - 6th grade female and male students for three years. M-LEAP surveyed over 1,600 students, 627 student-parent pairs, and 134 second parents in 8 diverse public schools across Massachusetts. In contrast, M-LEAP2 is a heavily qualitative three-year study using in-depth interviews with a diverse range of 72 of these students and their families to study how formal and informal science experiences shape the students' science-related beliefs, interests, and aspirations as they progress though middle and high school.
This project brings real scientific research into the public domain by establishing a research laboratory in a museum setting where visitors not only enroll in the study, they help shape it through their work as citizen scientists. Findings from the study will increase the public understanding of how genetic research translates into meaningful personal information that can be used to better understand personal health risks and opportunities. In a community-based participatory research laboratory, school-aged children and their families will participate in an authentic research project on the genetics of taste. In a series of simple but highly specific taste tests, participants will learn which gene variations they possess and how these variations influence how they taste foods. Taste function has been increasingly linked to human health, in that variability in taste sensation correlates with, and may in part be causal for, major health problems, including cardiovascular disease and obesity. Interactive exhibit components will inform participants about the scientific process, the principles of genetics, the human genome project and genetic variation. Teaching the public about their genetic profile and its influence on taste may have a positive impact on major health threats such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. The data collected from museum visitors who choose to enroll in the study will be sent to the museum's academic partners for further analysis and inclusion in their ongoing research analysis and publications. This laboratory experience not only engages and educates the public, but also advances the research enterprise and offers a vivid model for how to translate research into the public domain.