The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in collaboration with the Astronomical League and Sky and Telescope Magazine, will survey amateur astronomers to determine which informal audiences they serve and what types of support materials would encourage them to do more and better outreach, and to test a prototype set of outreach support materials. Amateur astronomers, estimated to number 300,000 to 500,000, represent a large and mostly untapped source of expertise and enthusiasm for conducting educational outreach activities in the community and in schools.
This is a planning grant to Timothy Ferris to develop a PBS documentary film about amateur astronomy and stargazing. The film will bring viewers into direct contact with the night sky, introducing them to the constellations and showing how even a small telescope can open a window onto the cosmos. Ferris has previously produced two highly regarded science documentaries, "The Creation of the Universe" and "Life Beyond Earth." The director for the "Seeing In the Dark" program will be Thomas Levenson who most recently served as producer/director/writer for the "Dome" program in Building Big. Andrew Fraknoi, Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College and Educational consultant for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific will be the Science and Outreach Consultant for the project. Activities during the planning stage include: Developing preliminary storyboarding, determining locations and people to appear in the film and working out special effects sequences; Acquiring and digitizing images for use in the film; Planning educational and public outreach efforts; Identifying and consulting with potential creative contributors to the film; Shooting and editing a test night scene at a "star party" to establish which techniques can produce the best results in these conditions.
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is producing "Realm of the Black Hole," a one-hour high definition television program for the PBS science series NOVA and "Black Hole: The Other Side of Infinity," a twenty-minute full motion program for planetarium theaters. Both of these media products will draw upon a large-scale visualization effort conducted by leading scientists in collaboration with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. The shows will examine the broad revolution now taking place in high-energy astrophysics by using scientific simulations and data-based animations to illustrate the life cycle of stars and the birth of galaxies. The two presentations will be supported by a website designed for use by the general public and by outreach materials and resources for teachers and informal educators. The media production will be under the direction of Thomas Lucas, President of Thomas Lucas Productions, Inc., and co-produced by Donna Cox, Professor, School of Art & Design, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Paula Apsell will be the Executive Producer for the NOVA program and Joslyn Schoemer will be Executive Producer for the planetarium show. The Science Advisors include Roger Blandford, Professor, Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology; Laura Danly, Space Science Curator, Denver Museum of Nature and Science; Michael Norman, Professor, Astrophysics, University of California, San Diego; Harvey Tannanbaum, Director, Chandra X-Ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; and David Thompson, Astrophysicist, Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Thomas LucasJoslyn SchoemerAndrew J. HamiltonDonna CoxBarbara Flagg
Twin Cities Public Broadcasting is developing a two-hour prime time PBS television special on complementary advances in particle physics and cosmology. The program will present the dramatic recent history of the two disciplines, striking discoveries in both fields, and the cutting-edge research under way today. The format of the programs will be modeled on Michael Riordan's book, "The Hunting of the Quark," which presented a rich, personal story of working scientists with their struggles and their successes. The following activities are among those that will be conducted during the planning phase: 1. Develop strategic partnerships among the principal research institutions and organizations involved in physics/astronomy education 2. Develop detailed treatments of the television programs 3. Research sources for program graphics with universities, national laboratories, and other research institutions 4. Meet with the advisory board 5. Produce a video sampler from taped interviews of selected scientists Key staff with include: Richard Hudson, Director of Science Production at KTCA-TV; Les Guthman, Executive Producer and Vice President of Outside Television for S2 Media; and Michael Riordan, physicist, science historian, and author. Advisors for the project are: Donna Cox, National Center for Supercomputing Applications and School of Art and Design, University of Illinois; Peter Galison, Department of History of Science, Harvard University; Leon Lederman, Director Emeritus, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; Dennis Overbye, science writer; Randal Ruchti, Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame; George Smoot, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley; and Michael Turner, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago.
The Space Science Institute (SSI) will design, develop and travel a 3,500 square foot exhibition about the outer planets of the solar system and their satellites, whose presence contributes to making Earth habitable. Designed around the theme "Living With Giants," the exhibition will feature hands-on interactive visitor experiences that describe the Solar System, engage visitors in learning about planetary exploration, focus on the planetary science of Saturn and its moons and provide access to current information from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. Special attention will be given to designing "Space for Kids," an exhibit area targeted specifically for young learners and their families and caregivers. SSI will collaborate with leading scientists and educators as well as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create education programs and a virtual exhibit website to extend the science learning of the exhibition.
The Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, CA is forming and leading a national collaboration producing Maya Skies, a full-dome digital planetarium theater project with several deliverables: a 25-minute Maya Skies show, a model for collaborative production in the full-dome field, research on full-dome immersion experiences and learning, the establishment of a national consortium of seven full-dome theaters and professional development workshops for the field. The research, conducted by the Institute for Learning Innovation, will test the degree to which personal relevance influences free-choice learning experiences. New technologies for digital, high resolution image data-capturing of archaeological sites will be employed. The project's goal is to advance the digital planetarium field with innovations in show production and research and with increased impact on public audiences and the practice of planetarium professionals.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alexander ZwisslerAlexandra BarnettMartin StorksdieckDavid Beining
SCITECH will develop and deliver ten sets of twelve portable interactive exhibits and educational programs on space exploration to 220 venues in five states. The project is based on a collaborative of ten small science museums: Imaginarium (Anchorage, AK); Bluedorn Imaginarium (Waterloo, IA); Science Station (Cedar Rapids, IA); Discovery Center (Rockford, IL); Lakeview Museum (Peoria, IL); SCITECH (Aurora, IL); Evansville Museum of Arts and Science (Evansville, IN); Science Central (Fort Wayne, IN); Children's Science Museum (Terre Haute, IN); Science Works (Ashland, OR). The Exploratorium will build the exhibits and conduct a residency program of professional development for staff from the participating museums. The exhibits and programs are intended to reach some 330,000 people in rural and lower-economic areas at 220 nontraditional destinations (fairs, festivals, libraries, scouts and youth clubs). These activities are designed to increase interest in and knowledge of astronomy and space exploration. In addition, this project will provide capacity building and professional development for the small museums, as well as a model that can be used by others not participating directly in this project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David JamesRonen MirShawn CarlsonKua PattenSheldon SchaferSarah WolfMitch LumanAnn Fumarolo
WGBH Educational Foundation is requesting a planning grant to support the development of "The Fabric of the Cosmos," a four-hour NOVA series to be broadcast in the fall of 2009, and an accompanying Web site educational outreach campaign, and project evaluations. Based on the book of the same name, "The Fabric of the Cosmos" will build on the collaboration that resulted in the acclaimed NOVA miniseries "The Elegant Universe," leveraging author and physicist's Brian Greene's ability to get people excited about physics. The goals of the projects are to: 1) enhance public awareness and appreciation of the ongoing quest to understand the fundamental laws of nature, through the evolution of two key concepts: space and time; 2) find innovative ways of using television, the Web and other public forums to bring exciting ideas in science to people who are unlikely to encounter them elsewhere; 3) forge effective collaborative partnerships with the physics community to maximize the educational impact of the project; and 4) encourage individuals to explore scientific concepts and remain engaged with developments in science throughout their lives. The proposed planning phase will include planning meetings with partner organizations, including the American Physical Society, work with project advisors, and writing a detailed treatment for one hour. Multimedia Research will conduct third-party evaluation of the treatment during the planning phase, which will inform the development of the entire series as well as the Web and outreach activities.
This project reached the underserved Hispanic audience with 200 ninety-second Earth and Sky programs in Spanish for broadcast on commercial and public radio stations, and longer programs (8-15 min.) with interviews with Hispanic scientists, teachers and writers who serve as role models for Hispanic young people. Programs were on the cieloytierra.org web site ith Spanish language science blogs, daily sky charts and links to other relevant Spanish and scientific web sites. Project partners included The Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
WGBH plans to produce a special NOVA series, The Fabric of the Cosmos, based on the best selling book of the same name by physicist Brian Greene. The four 60-minute television programs will be the center piece of a multimedia project that employs multiple platforms including national primetime PBS broadcast, the PBS Web site, podcasts, and an educational outreach campaign that features "Cosmic Cafes." Project goals are to: 1) enhance the public's appreciation of physics by exploring the unfinished story of space and time; 2) find innovative ways of using animation and graphics for television, the Web and on the new media platforms to explain these concepts; 3) bring challenging and exciting ideas in science to people unlikely to encounter them elsewhere by holding public events in communities across the country; and 4) forge effective collaborative partnerships with the American Institute of Physics (AIP), American Physical Society (APS), National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), American Library Association (ALA) and others to maximize impact of the project. Multimedia Research will conduct formative evaluation and Inverness Research Associates will conduct summative evaluation.
This Communicating Research to Public Audiences proposal is based on current NSF-funded research, AST 0607505, "Asteroid Satellites and Spins." Finding NEO (near-Earth Objects) proposes an 18-month-long project to develop on-line and museum traveling exhibit-module deliverables that provide users with both video vignettes of amateur astronomers engaged in NEO asteroid studies and at least three interactive game-like experiences on the science content and processes, specifically the analysis of "lightcurves," i.e., changes in light reflectivity off of spinning asteroids. The staff of the Space Science Institute will create these products in partnership with four small science museums around the country (2 in CO, NY, WI). The on-line material will be user-accessed via current astronomy web sites that already are popular, for example, www.spaceweathercenter.org. The videos and software will be made freely available for download. All materials will be both in English and Spanish.
400 Years of the Telescope was an interactive, multimedia project enabling the public to participate in real and virtual telescope experiences, understand the far reaching advances that the telescope has made possible, and discover how technology, science, and society are interconnected. Partners included PBS (Southern Oregon Public Television - SOPTV), Interstellar Studios, Leading astronomers and science writers, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), Carnegie Science Center (Buhl Planetarium) and 'Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai'i. A two-hour, high-definition documentary, aired twice on PBS in 2009, kicking off the International Year of Astronomy.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kris KoenigJames ManningRose TsengMark StanislawskiShawn Laatsch