The Anchorage Museum of History and Art, working with the Calista Elders Council, will develop a 5,000 sq ft traveling exhibition presenting 19th-century Yup'ik Eskimo technologies, their contemporary applications, and the underlying scientific processes. Featuring Yup'ik artifacts, it will integrate indigenous knowledge into the teaching of basic science principles as well as demonstrate the role played by science in everyday life. The exhibition will be organized around seasonal activities practiced in the past and retaining modern relevance. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will develop the comparative exhibits on modern science and technology, and the Imaginarium will develop complementary educational programming. Primary audiences will include rural Alaska Natives, both youth and elders, non-Native Alaska residents and visitors, as well as venues outside Alaska. By demonstrating how indigenous knowledge can be related to modern science, this exhibition provides a model for the informal science education field on how to incorporate cultural aspects of their own communities into museum exhibitions and programs. In addition, it demonstrates how artifacts and hands-on science activities can be combined effectively to create engaging educational experiences.
In fall of 1995, the Denver Museum of Natural History (DMNH) will open the Prehistoric Life Exhibits in 17,000 square feet of new exhibition space. The exhibits will be part of an on-going renaissance in paleontology at DMNH that includes research, educational programming, teacher training, and collections management. Visitors will walk through a series of nine life-size, open, prehistoric habitat dioramas -- "enviroramas"-- representing principally regional sites that feature critical events in 3.5 billion-year history of life on Earth. An extension of the Museum's tradition of diorama excellence, the enviroramas will immerse visitors in a multisensory journey, underscoring the message that vast amounts of both time and change have occurred since life began on Earth. Focus area exhibits adjacent to each envirorama will invite visitors to examine fossil evidence and scientific processes. Layered presentations will enable visitors to discover, explore, and study according to their level of interest. Excellent specimens, interpretive exhibitry and hands-on components will allow visitors to gain awareness of past patterns of environmental change and to develop literacy about and appreciation for how science and technology contribute to interpreting the fossil record. A comprehensive evaluation program will ensure that focus area exhibits are effective and provide visitors with "new eyes" for viewing the enviroramas. During exhibit construction, visitors will be able to watch from the viewing area of a state-of-the-art fossil preparation laboratory, completed in l990, as preparators rearticulate the skeletons of Diplodocus, Stegosaurus and other fossils. As part of their Prehistoric Life Exhibits experience, visitors will be able to witness on-going science activities in the laboratory. The National Science Foundation is requested to contribute $1 million over three years toward the $5.3 million Prehistoric Life Exhibits project. The exhibition and associated programming will be a major cultural and educational resource for the Rocky Mountain region , potentially reaching a diverse audience of well over a million Museum visitors and program participants annually.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Brian McLarenRichard StuckyMerry DooleyAlan Espenlaub
WGBH Educational Foundation will explore new ways to accurately depict in a large format film the eruption of a volcano that occurred in 79 AD. One means is to use footage of Montserrat, a similar volcano that currently is erupting. In order to do this, however, they must film the volcano in the immediate future while it is still erupting and the block and ash flow is still clearly visible. Once this is completed, WGBH will conduct various testing to address such questions as the following: * Can original footage shot in large format film be used to dramatize events of the past? * Can original footage of the ash eruptions on Montserrat be used in a composite with live action footage of Vesuvius today? * Can original footage of the plumes be used in a composite with a miniature model of Vesuvius? * Can the original footage be enhanced with computer graphics, or will it need to be "degraded" to create an historical sense?
Anchorage Museum of History and Art will used this planning award to develop the script, identify artifacts, and do other preliminary planning activities for and exhibit "Lifting the Fog: Exploration of the North Pacific, 1728 - 1867." The exhibit will be a 5000 to 6000 sq. ft. presentation that will give visitors insights into the scientific discoveries made in the North Pacific during the Russian era of dominance of this area. These Russian lead voyages, which included individuals from a number of European countries, made major findings in biology, hydrography, marine science and technology, geography and cartography, and ethnography. With this planning grant, they will bring together a group of museum professionals representing a diversity of approaches including hands-on science museums, scientists, and historian of science, formal educators, native Alaskans, and an evaluator to refine the plans. Project staff will draft the concept design, draft the label text, develop the specifications for the exhibit design, and develop the catalogue, among other activities. At the end of the twelve month planing period they will have refined their exhibit theme, developed their floor plan and concept design, developed plans for the interactive and hands-on activities, developed the interpretative labels and laid plans for the complementary activities including the catalogue, a curriculum plan, and other adjunct activities such as workshops demonstrating how scientific investigation was carried out in the 19th century.
The Museum of the Rockies will plan an exhibit "The Rockies Rise Again." When completed, this exhibit will illustrate evolving Cenozoic landscapes and life forms as understood through research conducted by the museum's staff in the Northern Rocky Mountain region. This exhibit will provide the natural historical context for visitors as they explore the cultural history exhibits that will follow this section. Together, the Museum's exhibits will illustrate the theme "One Place Through All of Time." With this award they will engage in a series of planning activities will include a front-end evaluation study of the public's knowledge and interest in this subject, consultation with expert advisors, review of related Cenozoic exhibits in selected natural history museums, and a two-day symposium which will include a dialogue about the exhibit concepts between the scientists and the public to help complete the plan. They will also hire an educator to develop an educational plan that will link the exhibit with the needs of teachers and will address national and state science standards. Special attention will be given to developing materials and dissemination strategies that will serve educators in this largely rural setting. At the end of the twelve month planing period they will have a completed exhibit and education plan and will be able to move forward with the exhibit.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bonnie Sachatello-SawyerChristopher Hill
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is producing a large format film that examines the sun and the relationship between the earth, its inhabitants, and our mother star. SOLARMAX will present some of the newest discoveries about the sun and will place special emphasis on the defining impact of the sun on human life and culture. The influence of solar cycles on global warming will be explored and new, unprecedented high-definition images of the sun will be included for the first time in a large format film. The film will examine how multiple scientific disciplines interact to build a complete picture of the universe by delving into the history and philosophy of science, astronomy, astrophysics, solar physics, helioseismology, meteorology, spectrography, mathematics, and biology. The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, will serve as Executive Producer and distributor of SOLARMAX. The film will be produced by Robert Eather, an expert in magnetospheric physics and a science filmmaker. The Co-Producer, Writer, and Director will be John Weiley who previously served in these roles for the large format film, Antarctica. Advisors in the fields of space weather, solar physics, and archaeoastronomy include Louis Lanzerotte, Paul Dusenbery, Gaerhardt Haerendell, George Siscoe, and Edwin Krupp.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert EatherJohn WeileyJohn WickstromMuseum of Science and Industry
The Anchorage Museum of History and Art will develop "Lifting the Fog: Russian Exploration in the North Pacific, 1728-1867." This exhibition will reveal the world of the naturalists, oceanographers, astronomers, cartographers, ethnographers and artists who first described the west coast of America and the northern Pacific Ocean to the world. Approximately 200,000 visitors to the museum will view the 5,300-sq. ft. exhibition. Public programs will complement the exhibition, including a family day, lecture series by marine biologists, living history programs, weekend workshops, and an international symposium. An illustrated catalog with interpretive essays and a school curriculum and teachers' guide will accompany the exhibition. The exhibition will travel to three additional venues in the United States.
Screenscope, Inc., is producing three programs in the PBS series, "Journey to Planet Earth." The series has the goal of helping the general public understand and cope with the difficulties of developing a global agenda that addresses the environmental concerns of the next millennium. The series will examine the earth using the latest satellite imagery as well as from providing a more closeup view through the eyes of people who inhabit the many different regions of the world. It will use intimate personal portraits to show how people's every day lives are affected by both local and global environmental pressures. The series will link the sciences with economics, politics, geography, and history. Each episode will feature four to five related stories and case studies selected from different geographic regions and about people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The television series will be supported by an informal, community-based outreach program in science museums and neighborhood centers, activity kits and teaching guides, interactive workshops on the World Wide Web, and strategic partnerships with environmental organizations to raise public awareness of the series and the outreach activities. The Co-PIs and producers of the television series are Marilyn and Hal Weiner. They will work closely with a group of advisors including: Chet Cooper, Battelle/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Edward Frieman, Director Emeritus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Vice Chancellor of the University of California; Nay Htun, United Nations Development Programme; Tom Lovejoy, Counselor to the Secretary for Biodiversity and Environmental Affairs, Smithsonian Institution; Per Pinstrup-Andersen, International Food Policy Research Institute; and Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council and former Secretary-General of the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In addition, each episode will have two research scientists who are experts on specific disciplines being featured. Outreach will be developed in association with the Chicago Academy of Sciences.
The CMN helps communities in British Columbia and Canada map sensitive habitats and species distribution. Information is integrated from many sources to assist landuse planning and is freely available in over fifty user friendly atlases. The atlases have links to local and remote databases, WMS sources and geo-referenced video. The CMN supports Sensitive Habitat Inventory and Mapping (SHIM) projects and provides customized data entry, digitizing and other tools. By providing accurate and up to date information, the CMN and its many partners will help plan sustainable communities.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rob Knight
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Despite strong efforts by many people and institutions and a deep, ongoing commitment from the National Science Foundation, progress remains uneven and slower than desired with respect to broadening participation of people from all parts of society in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The broadening participation challenge will become even more urgent with increasing demographic and socioeconomic changes underway in our nation. Through this conference and workshop grant, the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) will convene a group of diverse thought leaders from across higher education, profit, non-profit, K-12 and informal STEM education sectors for one day of brainstorming and prioritizing possible ideas, strategies, and actions that could be aggressively pursued by broadening participation initiatives. The findings of this workshop could support ongoing, field-wide discussions about the next generation of projects and efforts to address issues of underrepresentation in STEM. This workshop will build upon a foundation of existing NSF programs and funded projects and will draw upon ongoing efforts by ASTC's Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) to address broadening participation challenges in informal STEM learning environments. The project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners that Have Been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) Leadership Workshop will engage up to 55 local and non-local participants from the higher education, profit, non-profit, K-12 and informal STEM education sectors that have been selected for their extensive but varied experiences with efforts to broaden participation in STEM. Before the workshop, participants will prepare for the plenary talks, panel presentations, and breakout session discussions by reading selected literature about effectively scaling innovations, collective impact strategies, catalytic innovations, and other related theory. Specific goals of this one-day workshop are 1) to consider potential scalable high-impact innovations in STEM education to assure success for all people across the nation; and 2) to generate ideas, strategies, and actions that could substantially alter the current landscape and potentially achieve a transformative change for inclusion. ASTC proposes to disseminate the workshop findings to worksop participants, the broader communities to which participants belong, and even the National Science Foundation. A workshop synthesis report and other content generated at the workshop (speaker slides, presentation video, graphic documentation to name a few) will reside at ASTC's informalscience.org website. ASTC proposes an extensive communications media strategy that will draw stakeholder attention to these resources and support field-wide discussion and action around broadening participation.
Today, policy makers, funders, and government agencies alike are grappling with the need to use resources efficiently and effectively in order to make a measurable difference in addressing some of today’s pressing significant social, cultural, and educational challenges. When dealing with such complex and “wicked” problems as global warming, hunger, substance abuse, education and skills development (including competencies in STEM disciplines), it’s not enough for an organization to deliver results that contribute only to its bottom line. Increasingly, civic and philanthropic leaders are
This document provides graphic representations from the NSF INCLUDES Workshop held on June 3, 2015 in Arlington, VA. The purpose of the workshop was to think about the broadening participation ecosystem through the lens of collective impact and catalytic innovation, in order to develop ideas, strategies, and actions that will alter the current landscape and result in scalable solutions for the inclusion of people from all sectors of American society to engage in STEM careers.