RISES (Re-energize and Invigorate Student Engagement through Science) is a coordinated suite of resources including 42 interactive English and Spanish STEM videos produced by Children's Museum Houston in coordination with the science curriculum department at Houston ISD. The videos are aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards, and each come with a bilingual Activity Guide and Parent Prompt sheet, which includes guiding questions and other extension activities.
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resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
An adapted three-dimensional model of place attachment is proposed as a theoretical framework from which place-based citizen science experiences and outcomes might be empirically examined in depth.
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Julia ParrishYurong HeBenjamin Haywood
The Earth and Sky radio series proposes to produce, distribute, market and evaluate 72 compelling environmental radio programs on oceanic and atmospheric topics featuring NOAA scientists, data and information. These programs will air at a rate of 24 programs per year over a three-year period as part of Earth and Sky's regularly scheduled programming to its many affiliates. Earth and Sky will feature this new radio programming on our web site. The programs will be available in both text and a variety of audio formats including downloadable mp3 files, streaming m3u files, and will be available for podcast. The web site will also feature additional information that augments and supports the content of the radio programs, including links to relevant information, encouraging web visitors to delve deeper into a topic area and learn more. Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12. PLT will correlate their vast catalogue of existing environmental education curricula to each show. Correlations for each program will be listed next to that show in the dedicated PLT section of Earth and Sky's website.
In this paper, Pedro J. E. Casaleiro of the University of Leicester (UK), Department of Museum Studies, discusses methodology and findings from a comparative analysis of audiences for "The Return of the Living Dinosaurs" exhibition in four separate locations: London, Paris, Spain, and Portugal. The exhibit consisted of robotic dinosaurs (animatronic models).
The overarching purpose of the Climate Literacy Zoo Education Network is to develop and evaluate a new approach to climate change education that connects zoo visitors to polar animals currently endangered by climate change, leveraging the associative and affective pathways known to dominate decision-making. Utilizing a polar theme, the partnership brings together a strong multidisciplinary team that includes the Chicago Zoological Society of Brookfield, IL, leading a geographically distributed consortium of nine partners: Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, OH; Como Zoo & Conservatory, St. Paul, MN; Indianapolis Zoo, IN; Louisville Zoological Garden, KY; Oregon Zoo, Portland, OR; Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, PA; Roger Williams Park Zoo, Providence, RI; Toledo Zoological Gardens, OH, and the organization Polar Bears International. The partnership leadership includes the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University. The partnership is joined by experts in conservation psychology and an external advisory board. The primary stakeholders are the diverse 13 million annual visitors to the nine partner zoos. Additional stakeholders include zoo docents, interpreters and educators, as well as the partnership technical team in the fields of learning innovations, technological tools, research review and education practice. The core goals of the planning phase are to a) develop and extend the strong multidisciplinary partnership, b) conduct research needed to understand the preconceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and learning modes of zoo visitors regarding climate change; and c) identify and prototype innovative learning environments and tools. Internal and external evaluations will be conducted by Facet Innovations of Seattle, WA. Activities to achieve these goals include assessments and stakeholder workshops to inventory potential resources at zoos; surveys of zoo visitors to examine demographic, socioeconomic, and technology access parameters of zoo visitors and their existing opinions; and initial development and testing of participatory, experiential activities and technological tools to facilitate learning about the complex system principles underlying the climate system. The long-term vision centers on the development of a network of U.S. zoos, in partnership with climate change domain scientists, learning scientists, conservation psychologists, and other stakeholders, serving as a sustainable infrastructure to investigate strategies designed to foster changes in public attitudes, understandings, and behavior surrounding climate change.
The Science Museum of Minnesota is developing, producing, and distributing a project on the geography of some of the most dynamic regions of the world. This is a joint venture between the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with additional support from the St. Louis Science Center. The core element of the project is a 40-minute Imax film the examines seven geographically diverse locations on earth: Madagascar Iguazu Falls The Amazon Greenland The Okavango Delta The Namib Desert The Tibetan Plateau Supporting material for the film will include: o Teacher Guide - 36 to 40 pages of hands-on science activities o Family Guide - to help parents share science and geography with children through simple, at-home activities; geography o Geography Museum Trunk - a steamer trunk filled with artifacts, specimens, activities, and resource materials available for rental to school, museums, and other groups o Greatest Places On-Line - A World Wide Web site with activities for youth and adults to explore the interrelationships of earth, air, water, and life in their local region and a "living atlas" as a forum for comparing and sharing observations with others around the world. o Summer Educator Institutes - where formal and informal educators will receive intensive training in utilizing all aspects of the project with multiple audiences. o Accessibility Guide - which outlines programs and options to provide no- or low-cost viewing for underrepresented audiences. The project will be guided by Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards and Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Science. Dr. Mel Marcus, Professor of Geography at Arizona State University, will have primary responsibility for content. He will work closely with an advisory group of geographers, ecologists, and formal and informal educators. The PI and Executive Producer of the film will be Mike Day, Director and Executi ve Producer of the Science Museum of Minnesota Omnitheater and Executive Producer of seven previous Imax films.
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Mike DayNatalie RuskCharlie WatersMelvin MarcusBarbara Flagg
The National Center for Atmospheric Research NNCAR) is developing a traveling interactive exhibit to parallel the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) deployment of Terminal Doppler Weather Radars (TDWR) at 47 airports across the United States. This exhibit, titled "Burstbusters Taming Weather Hazards to Aviation," will describe how the hazardous weather phenomena were identifies, how technology was utilized to create a system to detect and predict them, and how the new system will operate at airports to enhance safety and air traffic efficiency. large groups of the population not routinely exposed to science issues will be presented with this case study as an example of how public science funding can directly affect their lives. The exhibit will capitalize on this linkage to increase public literacy about the science and technology processes and to promote parental advocacy of science education for their children. Two copies of the exhibit will travel to approximately 20 airport terminals and science museums from June 1993 through September 1995.
The Space Science Institute of Boulder, Colorado in partnership with the Franklin Institute Science Museum and the Electric Producers Research Institute will develop a 3000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit entitled Electric Space: Exploring Our Plasma Universe. Visitors to the exhibit will be introduced to the physics of the sun and the polar aurora. They will learn about the effect solar variability has on technology and humans working in space. The exhibit is divided into seven sections: Space is Not Empty; SkyWatchers; Plasma: the Fourth State of Matter; The Dynamic Sun; Planet Earth: a Great Magnet; Reaching Toward the Starts: the Heliosphere; and The Cosmic Connection. Its design is guided by the desire to create a total immersion environment that will allow visitors to explore the many realm of the plasma university from Earth's upper atmosphere to distant galaxies. It is the developers intention to demystify science by concentrating on process rather than facts, to create a stimulating informal learning environment, to reach a diverse audience, to motivate young people to pursue science as an interest and a career, and to have the exhibit serve as an interface between the scientific community and the general public. In addition to the exhibit, supplemental curriculum modules using an inquiry-based approach will be developed in cooperation with the Science Discovery Project at the University of Colorado. These materials will provide teachers, students, and parents the opportunity to explore the concepts presented in the exhibit. An extensive evaluation plan will be carried. The exhibit will open at the Maryland Science Center the summer of 1995. It will then travel to nine major US cities reaching an estimated two million adults and children who represent a great diversity of ages and education an ethnic backgrounds.