The Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden aim to cooperatively and cost-effectively develop, evaluate, and produce three permanent exhibits (2600 sf at BCM, 1200 sf at BBG, and a 3600 sf outdoor Discovery Garden at BBG) and two copies of an 800 sf traveling exhibit in a project called Breaking Ground: Plants and People. When complete in 1996, these exhibits will teach 1.5 million annual public visitors about basics in botany, ethnobotany, and urban to ecology, promote an understanding of plants' importance to human life, and foster positive environmental ethics among children 6-12 years old. This project is important because collaboration with professional botanists will teach a leading children's museum how to effectively present in-depth science content, and allow a major public garden to experiment with interactive exhibits in a natural setting. Joint promotions using NSF-funded program materials will encourage children in culturally and economically diverse areas around New York City to return again and again to two important community resources for informal science education. This strategy will reinforce learning and promote lifelong appreciation for experiential exhibits in botanical gardens and for a meaningful depth of science in children's museums.
9355625 Cassady The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is developing a new permanent 12,000 square-foot gallery, "The Wet, Wild, Wonderful World of Science: A Science Gallery That Connects Kids to Their World." Water is the catalyst for the exploration and discovery of science concepts throughout the gallery. Within the gallery are three hub context areas (Pipes and Pumps, Streams and Ponds,Tubes and Flasks) that are closely linked, both conceptually and physically. The message is that the concepts introduced in one hub also apply to the others, thus erasing artificial distinctions between natural and physical sciences. The goals of the project are: To create a gallery that will make science accessible to the museum's current and underserved visitors. To create hands-on opportunities for young people to practice scientific thinking so they may better understand the physical and natural world. To create a science education experience that promotes linkages for visitors between the learning of science in the gallery and formal and informal learning outside of the museum. To research the application of constructivist theory in the design of hands-on exhibits.
The California Academy of Science will develop "Chinook: A National Traveling Exhibit on Salmon." The main components will be a 3500 sq. ft. and a 5000 sq. ft. version of an exhibit about salmon ecology and biology, genetic diversity, and the science of species preservation. Futher, components of the exhibit will be reproduced for a 500 sq. ft. exhibit for the new public visitors center at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. The exhibit will focus on the Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon. Several themes from the California Science Frameworks and Benchmarks for Science Literacy serve as the foundation for the interpretation. Benchmarks theme of evolution and the Framework theme of patterns of change are woven throughout the exhibit and are illustrated by salmon life cycles, genetic diversity, and physical adaptations. Benchmarks theme of systems and interactions as well as the Frameworks theme of scale and structure are also incorporated in the interpretive material. The exhibit will be developed by the ichthyologists, educators, and exhibit designers of the California Academy of Science and genetic researcher from the Bodega Marine Laboratory of the University of California at Davis. Thirteen individuals have been selected as project advisors. They bring a diversity of perspectives including expert knowledge of the science concerns (salmon and habitats issues, anthropology) to the educational interests (both formal and informal). The various evaluation studies will be carried by CAS staff member Lisa Mackinney. The complementary materials linking the exhibit with formal education that will be developed are a Teachers Resource Kit and a Chinook Curriculum Guide. The Teachers Resource Kit, available to each host site, will include a slide show, a video tracing the story of salmon fisheries, a special issue of the CAS educator newsletter, sample of fish scales and otoliths, a compilation of resources from government agencies and env ironmental organizations, and a bibliography produced by the CAS Biodiversity Resource Center. The Curriculum Guide will include sixteen hands-on activities using readily available materials to reinforce the educational objectives. A Chinook Family Activity Guide targeted at families with children between the ages of five and ten, will provide parents with specific steps to facilitate discussion what at the exhibit and to suggest follow-up activities to do at home.
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is requesting $370,728 to create a traveling exhibit entitled "How Things Work, which will familiarize students and the general public with the science and engineering behind 15-20 "gadgets" which play vital roles in their everyday lives. A number of the exhibit elements will be based on the work of Dr. Richard Crane. Ancillary materials will be developed for classroom teachers as part of school outreach. An Exhibition Resource Guide will be developed for use by other museum venues, as well as teachers, students and others.
The Wildlife Conservation Society will use this one year award to move forward their planning for the "Rain Forest Trail and the Living Treasures of the Congo Gallery." This is the first phase of an ambitious $29M, 6 acre outdoor exhibit area focusing on the Congo Rain Forest and an indoor Environmental Education Complex. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) conducts extensive field research in a number of central African sites and has an important living collection of tropical African wildlife in the New York facility. The Congo Rain Forest/Environmental Education Center will include three major interpretive areas and an educational resource area. NSF is being asked to support two components of the Congo Rain Forest complex which are the Rain Forest Trail and Living Treasures of the Congo Gallery. The Rain Forest Trail, with both indoor and outdoor elements, will be a total immersion exhibit where visitors will be surrounded by a replication of an African rain forest and will have the opportunity to encounter a variety of its living inhabitants, and experience how its ecosystem functions. They will have the experience of making scientific observations thus gaining insight into how scientists work. The goal of this design technique "is to move beyond the limited scope of traditional zoo exhibits (which simply portray the 'animal as object')", toward a presentation of animal and plant communities as they interact within an ecosystem. The Living Treasures Gallery will be a 4000 sq. ft. space which is dedicated to the introduction of the diversity of rain forest inhabitants, their environmental adaptations, and complex interrelationships. The gallery will be divided into four areas: Adaptations for Survival, The Forest of the Megavertebrates, The Interconnected Forest, and Seeing the Unseen. Numerous interactive devices will be developed to engage the visitor in hands-on activities and materials will be developed that link the themes of the exhibit with the agenda of formal education for both teacher and students.
The Museum of Science and Industry will develop "Genetics: Decoding Life," a 4325 sq. ft. permanent exhibit about the basic principles of genetics, the Human Genome Project, new tools and technology to study life, and the biomedical and biotech applications resulting from genetic information. As a result of interacting with this exhibit, visitors will understand the basic principles of genetics, they will become familiar with the role of genes in the development of life, they will learn something about how and why scientists used genetic tools, and visitors will become aware of applications of these principles and the potential social, ethical, medical and economic outcomes. In addition to the exhibit there will be a number of complementary outreach programs. An electronic web site will be created, software used in the exhibit will be modified into a format suitable for use in schools, computers loaded with genetic programs will be loaned to Chicago public school groups, churches and other community agencies, and the content of the exhibit will be used to enhance special Lamaze and prenatal classes held at the museum. Special consideration will be given to developing the relationship between the project personnel and the staff of the Chicago Systemic Initiative. They will work together to produce a school program about genetics that will be suitable for grades 5 to 8. School materials will include a teacher's guide for the exhibit, a program of classroom activities, and materials to be used before and after a trip to the museum to see the exhibit.
The Sound to Mountains exhibit showcases contemporary and emerging watershed issues which affect the Pacific Northwest region. This exhibit addresses the need to focus awareness on non-point pollution for the general public and among Washington State teachers and school children (K-12). This represents one of the major pollution problems affecting the greater Puget Sound region. A school curriculum and visitation program will be developed, along with a Watershed Wonders kit. The components of the Sound to Mountains exhibit include: a freshwater self-discovery laboratory; a lowland waters replication; a life-like conservation trail; an upland mountain stream habitat; and a carved and painted mural depicting the First People story of salmon.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH) will develop "Cats! Wild to Mild" a traveling exhibit on endangered wild and domestic cats. This will be a 5000 sq. ft. exhibit intended to engage families, school groups, and adults in the history, biology, and evolution of the family Felidae. The primary objectives of the exhibit are to awaken interest in scientific study in children, to provide parents and children with a stimulating interactive environment, to increase public knowledge about the status and conservation of wild cats, and to promote responsible pet care. The exhibit will include a large number of mounted cat specimens and various interactive activities in addition to label panels. A broad menu of complementary programming is planned, both for use at LACMNH and by museums hosting the exhibit. Items and activities include: teacher enhancement activities, curriculum guide, and other materials, pre-and post-visit materials for students, family take-home materials, kits for teachers and families, a CD-ROM and a place on the museum's WWW page with an extensive amount of information about cats and activities for the user, among other things. The formal education materials will be designed to integrate the study of cats into state-mandated areas of the curriculum such as reading, mathematics, and social studies. An audience that is specially targeted is the traditionally underserved group. The exhibit will have a five year tour at fifteen venues and will open at LACMNH early spring, 1997.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
James OlsonJoan GrastyBlaire Van Valkenburgh
National Public Radio will produce and distribute a weekly, one-hour program entitled, "Weekly Edition: Science, The Environment, and Technology," which consists of a compilation of the best science stories aired during the previous week on "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered," and "Weekly Edition." Each program will be varied, looking back at the week in science and reviewing main stories. The hour format also will enable the producers to go into greater depth than was done in the daily coverage. They will expand the news pieces with additional interviews and/or out-takes reporters were unable to use on the daily programs. As part of the NPR outreach program, the project will develop "Weekly Science" on "Kids Connection (Science Friday)" as part of the World Wide Web. Each week, that week's program as well as additional science information and bibliographies will be entered on the "Science Friday" homepage. The PI and executive producer for the series will be Anne Gudenkauf, Senior Editor at NPR. Richard Harris and Joe Palca will host the series. Harris has been an on-air host for NPR produced summaries of congressional action on health reform and both have substituted for Ira Flatow on NPR'S TALK OF THE NATION: SCIENCE FRIDAY. The program producer will be Jane Greenhalgh.
The New York Hall of Science will develop an interactive exhibit for the general public "The Chemistry of Life". There will be two editions of the exhibit: one 2,500 sq. ft. version will be installed permanently in the New York Hall of Science and another 1500 sq. ft. version will travel nationally. Focusing on the common chemical processes behind all life on earth, the exhibit will help visitors learn four basic chemistry concepts: 1) a shared chemistry underlies all forms of life, 2) the chemistry of energy transformation takes place in all living things, 3) chemical energy is converted to mechanical energy to animate life, and 4) the chemistry of reproduction provides for the continuity of life. The chemistry of the human body will be used whenever possible as an entry point to the concepts. Exhibits will include a hands-on staffed visitor chemistry lab, interactive activities, stimulations, models, demonstrations, and video clips. Complementary materials and workshops will be developed for families, school groups, and teachers. These materials are being developed with the curricular needs of the New York State Systemic Initiative and New York City Urban Systemic Initiative in mind. Teacher and student materials will be keyed to the curriculum guidelines. The long-term exhibit is scheduled to open late in 1998 and the traveling version will be available in spring 1999.
The project conducts action research to learn more about how different groups use technology in meaningful ways, develops approaches that significantly increase access for underrepresented groups, and proposes ways in which technology might be modified or redesigned to engage, address, and represent diverse populations. The project targets children and young people from groups underrepresented with technology, informal and formal educators, community groups and organizations, researchers, policymakers and funders, industry, and the public. Products include: a report on the state of access of underrepresented groups to technology; case studies; guides to increasing community access to technology; guidelines about how to be critical viewers, users, and makers of technology; report on the issues involved in producing diverse and equitable technology design; exemplars and ideas for diversifying technology design; suggestions for software publishers and industry; commissioned papers on issues of access and design for particular underrepresented groups; an agenda for action; and interactive World Wide Web site; and a popular press book that synthesizes the knowledge gained through this project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
ellen wahlYolanda GeorgeEric JollyLaura JeffersAndres Henriquez
The New England Aquarium (NEAq) will develop a traveling exhibit and associated programs to focus on parallel scientific and environmental issues facing Lake Victoria (East Africa) and North American fisheries. The NEAq is working in partnership with the national Museums of Kenya (NMK). This project results from NSF supported research on Lake Victoria biodiversity crises and a workshop that involved 70 scientists, policymakers, and resource managers. A 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit "Lake Victoria: Mukasa's Tear" will be developed that will present both the Lake Victoria and North American fisheries issues in six modules including: Biodiversity Then and Now; Changing Life Styles; Lake Victoria Timelines; Fisheries Technology; Global Markets; and Towards the Future. Complementary educational programs will include on-site interpretation, special programs for K-12 classes, teacher workshops and curriculum materials, special events. The exhibit will open at NEAq in 1998 and will begin its national tour in 1999. A second version of the exhibit (which will be funded separately), will be shown in Kenya.