Volunteer "Species Stewards" adopt one or more species of native prairie or savanna plants. On semi-monthly or more frequent visits, stewards log locations, bloom dates, and seed ripening dates, and collect seed to be used to restore additional prairie on old field sites. Additional opportunities for individual or group seed collection and sowing are provided. Buckthorn-busting is also available.
A three-year project, Science Experiences and Resources for Informal Education Settings (SERIES), involves collaboration between the 4-H Youth Development Program, practicing scientists, science education centers, and community service agencies to provide community-based science experiences for youth. Goals for national dissemination of the SERIES project are: 1) Increase the quality and quantity of science experiences for youth as leaders and as learners; 2) For youth to actively experience how science concepts and processes relate to their everyday lives; 3) Provide opportunities for youth to take positive leadership roles in their homes and communities; and 4) Provide opportunities for youth to investigate educational and career possibilities in science and technology through a scientist mentor relationship. SERIES builds upon the materials, and instructional/coaching model successfully developed and tested during the Califronia SERIES Project. National dissemination by 4-H assures SERIES availability to the 5,100,000 youth currently enrolled in 4-H. Expected outcomes of SERIES are: 1) Refine and produce final versions in English and Spanish of four SERIES community service science units; 2) Develop two new units; 3) Development of an "inquiry coaching" module for adult volunteers; 4) Develop and asses apprentice-like mentoring experiences for SERIES teens to work directly with scientists; and 5) Establish four SERIES regional dissemination centers, working collaboratively with 4-H, science centers and other youth serving agencies to provide national dissemination of the SERIES program model to 28 states.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard PonzioLaurel DeanHerbert Thier
A three-year project, Science And Youth (SAY), integrates the existing curriculum, instructional design, and training capacity of the 4-H Science Experiences and Resources for Informal Educational Settings (SERIES) project with high school students exploring careers in teaching at eleven existing "teaching magnet" high schools across the country. The SAY project expands the quantity and quality of informal science education experiences by accomplishing the following objectives: 1) prepare one thousand teenage teachers/leaders to present SAY activities to forty thousand elementary school age youth: 2) involve participating youth in a total of five hundred community service projects; 3) involve five hundred teenage leaders in mentoring relationships with local scientists, and; 4) have seventy-five percent of the participants continue their education in science and/or the teaching profession. SAY uses a teens-as-leaders model to engage younger youth (ages 9-13) in hands-on, inquiry-based science activities that result in science-based community services projects. SAY offers youngsters a vehicle for experiencing how science problem solving strategies are applied to home and community problems. The pedagogy of the SAY project represents the best of current research on science education, and offers an innovative model for the preparation of a new cadre of science teachers.
We propose to develop a series of 12 exhibits on the topic of feedback. We will create an introductory cluster of 4-5 exhibits situated in our "Patterns" section to introduce the basic concepts. We sill situate each of the remaining 708 exhibits in the area of the museum that suits it phenomenologically. A continuity in the theme of feedback will be created through Feedback Pathways (both a field trip Pathway and a general use Pathway) and associated maps which will be available in the introductory cluster> These will guide both visitors and school classes from area to area with feedback as the unifying element. The feedback behavior exemplified in these exhibits will be accessible to both young and older audiences and will be strongly connected with the "Themes of Science" listed in the California State Science Framework for Pre-College Science Education. The exhibits will receive extensive use in our teacher training programs at both the elementary and secondary level. Exhibit evaluation will take place at the level of extensive prototyping by exhibit development and teaching staff and on a more formal level in conjunction with a formative evaluation program. We will disseminate this work in a publication describing inexpensive classroom versions of Exploratorium exhibits. In addition, we will experiment with the dissemination of our work to other museums through the Internet Computer Network.
In the Fall of 1994 The New York Botanical Garden will begin its second 100 years of commitment to science education with the opening of the Children's Adventure Garden and the Children's Adventure Trails. As two components of the Children's Adventure Project , these informal science education facilities will use participatory discovery to engage urban children and their families in learning botanical science, inquiry skills, positive attitudes towards science, and the methods of scientists. In the 1.5 acre Adventure Garden children will interact with living plants and fabricated exhibits to discover fundamental principles of plant biology; and in the one mile of Adventure Trails they will closely observe interdependencies of complex ecosystems using the framework of these fundamental principles. To expand visitor understanding of plant biology and the ways that scientists study it, Investigation Stations, integral components of each facility, will be placed so that visitors will handle, sense, and observe living plants in situ and interact with fabricated exhibits and scientific tools. The Project will be developed by NYBG staff educators and scientists with on-going participation of a broad spectrum of advisors and consultants, including exhibition designers, evaluators, community school teachers, and environmental education specialists.
The purpose of the NSF grant is to support the production of "the Scientist:, an hour-long film in a six-part television series entitled RENAISSANCE. Designed to appeal to non- specialists -- the general public as well as high school and college students -- the film will recreate the ge of the Renaissance by drawing on a mixture of animation; documentary footage of historic sites and art; interviews with contemporary figures who represent the continuing influence of the Renaissance; and actors speaking the words of the period. Viewers will thus hear the words of great figures; see the results of their work; and be treated to re-enactments that evoke their lives. Like al the films in the series, "The Scientist" will trace an important theme of the Renaissance -- in this case, the birth of modern science -- using all aspects of its society and culture to convey both a sense of the past and a perspective on the present. 'thanks to the rich materials of the age, and the lively confrontations it witnessed, a modern audience will come to understand both the origins of the scientific outlook and -- through the interviews with contemporary scientists -- how it continues to shape our world.
This National Science Foundation grant was designed to expand NACME's existing information program to reach more teachers, counselors and parents of minority students at the junior and senior high school levels and, ultimately, to provide more and better information to the students themselves. Materials produced under the grant to convey the message that minority students can find rewarding, attainable careers in mathematics and science-based fields, that financial aid is available to help students prepare for such careers, that there are specific academic prerequisites for students interested in studying engineering at the college-level, and that there is a growing network of programs to encourage the study of engineering and related technical fields among under represented minority students. Specifically, this funding was used to develop, produce and distribute: "Engineering, Your Key to the 21st Century" 30,000 brochures with companion posters targeting junior high school students, parents and teachers. "Financial Aid Unscrambled: A Guide for Minority Engineering Students" 30,000 books targeting high school seniors, teachers, guidance counselors and parents. "Students Guide to Engineering Schools" 30,000 books targeting high school students, teachers, guidance counselors and parents. "MEPs/USA: The Directory of Precollege and University Minority Engineering Programs" 5,000 directories for guidance counselors, teachers, program directors and other participants in the field.
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.
Ornithology is one of the few scientific disciplines to which amateurs can still make significant contributions. Whether they observe birds at a feeder, count birds for a national census, or conduct a simple experiment, their activities contribute greatly to our knowledge of birds. Furthermore, participants in bird study programs not only learn about birds, they also become more aware of environmental problems. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology exists to facilitate such amateur involvement and education. This proposal is aimed at strengthening our education programs and expanding them to include under-served audiences in the inner city. We propose to evaluate the extent to which our radio program, magazine, and Project FeederWatch appeal to various audiences and how effective these programs are at communicating information about birds and in stimulating involvement. Based on this evaluation, we will modify our programs, then evaluate them again. We are also proposing a brand-new volunteer-assisted data gathering program, which we call the National Science Experiment. In cooperation with other organizations, volunteers will look at the biology of pigeons in our cities, food preferences of winter birds across the United States, and the habitat requirements of neotropical migrant tanagers. The results of these studies will be of interest to both ornithologists and birders; furthermore, participants in the project will gain first-hand involvement with the process of science.
Science-By-Mail is a mentorship program between scientists and youth whereby youth have a subscription for three scientific challenge packets each year, create solutions, and receive responses from a personal scientist. Science-By-Mail brings the excitement of science discovery into classrooms and homes of children around the country and provides them with positive, approachable role models of professional scientists. A grant of $622,088 over three years will allow us to strengthen and expand this program nationally, focusing especially on increasing participation by minority youth and scientists. Specifically, support is requested for the design and development of 12 new challenge packets; to increase participation to 47,900 youth, 4,500 scientists, and 26 regional chapters; promote increased corporate and other private-sector involvement in the program; and to conduct an annual evaluation. The AAAS will aid in the recruitment of volunteer scientists. In addition, we will work together with the National 4-H Council to pilot the program within that organization (with a membership of 5.4 million), focusing particularly on minority youth. Anticipated income form the expansion of Science-By-Mail will make the program self-sufficient at the end of the grant period.//
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History in Texas will develop a 4,000 square-foot traveling science exhibit on FORENSICS: The Science of Criminal Investigation for circulation to eight major U.S. Cities through the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (SMEC). FORENSICS will examine the scientific methods and technologies used in today's crime labs. Core science areas are: DNA profiling; Fingerprinting; Firearms Identification; Evidence Collection; Composites; Forensic Anthropology; Forensic Entomology; Forensic Geology; Odontology; Pathology; Serology; toxicology; Trace Evidence. The development of FORENSICS will draw from the expertise of a distinguished panel of forensic scientists, law enforcement officers, and science educators. FORENSICS will foster science process skills, problem-solving, and deductive reasoning by challenging visitors to solve a crime mystery. A Teacher's Resource Guide to the exhibit will promote indepth classroom investigations of forensics for middle grade (5-9) science lessons. The exhibit will open in Fort Worth in May of 1993, and then tour nationally to eight major U.S. cities, serving over 2.5 million American citizens during its SMEC travel itinerary.
This one-hour documentary film profile of world famous mathematician Paul Erdos is being made for eventual broadcast on the NOVA series. At age 76, the world's most prolific mathematician (1,100 papers and over 200 co-authors) still spends all of his time moving from country to country, meeting with other mathematicians to work on problems. The film will show how a prodigious mathematician, with a career of over 50 years, lives and works, how he interacts with his colleagues, and how the international community of mathematicians functions. It aims to explore the human side of a discipline in which God, Beauty and Numbers are the subjects of daily speculation. But what do mathematicians actually do? Because of his peripatetic nature and eternal curiosity, Erdos provides an ideal window on a field that has often been perceived by the public as remote and intimidating. The film will show Erdos and his colleagues at work and play. Interviews and archival materials will establish his contributions in combinatorics and in Number theory. Some more accessible problems will be illustrated with animation and computer graphics. The interplay of a warm human story with intriguing philosophical speculations and mathematical problems will show important results are arrived at in mathematics. This is expected to stimulate interest in mathematics among television viewers and students. The film is in production and only partial funding is being requested from NSF.