Sage is a robot that has been installed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as a full-time autonomous member of the staff. Its goal is to provide educational content to museum visitors in order to augment their museum experience. This paper discusses all aspects of the related research and development. The functional obstacle avoidance system, which departs from the conventional occupancy grid-based approaches, is described. Sage's topological navigation system, using only color vision and odometric information, is also described. Long-term statistics provide a quantitative measure of
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Illah NourbakhshJudith BobenageSebastien GrangeRon LutzRoland MeyerAlvaro Soto
This article focuses on the setting factors associated with live animal exhibit design from the visitor perspective. Setting includes the physical features and events occurring in both the animal enclosure and the visitor areas.
The Milwaukee Public Museum will develop Adventures in Science: An Interactive Exhibit Gallery. This will be a 7250 sq. ft. interactive exhibit with associated public programs and materials that link the exhibit with formal education. The goal of Adventures in Science is to promote understanding of biological diversity, the forces that have change it over time, and how scientists study and affect change. The exhibit will consist of three areas. "Our Ever-Changing World" will feature "dual scene" habitat dioramas that will convey at-a-glance how environments change over time. "The Natural History Museum" will be a reconstruction of a museum laboratory and collections area to protray behind-the-scenes scientific and curatorial activities that further the study of biological diversity, ecology and systematics. An "Exploration Center: will bridge these two areas and will be designed to accommodate live presentations, group activities and additional multimedia stations for Internet and intranet access. Using interactive devices, visitors will be encouraged to make hypothesis, examine evidence, compare specimens, construction histories of biological and geological changes, and develop conclusions about the science behind biodiversity and extinction issues. Visitors should also come away with an increased understanding of the role of systematic collections in understanding biological diversity. Information on MPM research programs will be highlighted in "The Natural History Museum" section and will be updated frequently. Annual Teacher Training Institutes for pre-service and in-service teachers will present strategies for using the gallery's multimedia stations, lab areas, and Web site links. Special attention will be given to reaching new audiences including those in the inner city and people with disabilities.
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Allen YoungJames KellyPeter SheehanSusan-Sullivan BorkinRolf JohnsonMary Korenic
Great Lakes Worm Watch is a project that requires a half day training session that teaches you about the ecology, extraction, identification, and preservation of earthworms. Samples of worms are collected three times during late summer and early fall at different sites using the liquid mustard extraction method. By working in cooperation with Great Lakes Worm Watch out of Duluth, MN and uploading the data collected to the NatureMapping website, you provide valuable knowledge about the locations of established populations of earthworms in Wisconsin forests.
Calflora is a web site you can use to learn about about plants that grow in the wild in California: both native plants and weeds. You can enter the common or scientific name of a plant to view an illustrated table of plants that match the name you entered. Click one of the plants in the table to learn a lot of detail about that plant, in particular, where it's been observed in California. You can also enter a place and get an illustrated list of the plants that grow "here". You define "here" by zip code, place name, or any of a number of other ways. Then click "Search for Plants" to get an illustrated list of plants.
This report presents the findings from a study conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM), Washington, DC. The study was designed to investigate how visitors respond to the display of the Museum's human remains collection. Specifically, the research objectives were to: determine visitors' motivation for visiting the Museum and their expectations of the Museum identify reactions to a range of specimens, including models, illustrations, wet specimens, skeletal specimens, fetuses, and plastinated specimens ascertain what aspects of the
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.National Museum of Health and Medicine
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), in association with Baker & Simon Associates, The National Association of Biology Teachers, and Oregon Public Broadcasting is developing a comprehension educational project to inform the public about the microbial world and the pivotal roles that microorganism play in the life of the planet. The project components will consist of: Four One Hour Prime Time Television Programs Curriculum Guide Community Microbial Activity Guides Community Dissemination Library Exhibition Companion Trade Book World Wide Web Home Page The Principal Investigator will be Cynthia A. Needham, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Tufts University School of Medicine. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology. The Executive Producer for the television series is Peter Baker who recently headed production of The Astronomers and has produced numerous television series for PBS and for the BBC. Barry Marrs of Recombinant BioCatallysis, Inc., and former Director of Life Sciences for Central Research and Development of the E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company will be the Science Advisory Team Leader and will be the liaison between the Science Advisory Panel and the production staff. The advisory committee will consist of: Rita Colwell, President, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute Yolonda George, Deputy director, Education and Human Resources Programs, AAAS Alice Huang, Dean for Science and Professor of Biology at New York University Holger Jannasch, Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Mary Lindstrom, Professor, University of Washington David Pramer, Assoc. Vice President for Research at Rutgers Moselio Schaechter, Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University Steve Morse, Assistant Professor of Biology at Rockefeller University Henry William s, Vice President for Research, University of Maryland Graduate School, Baltimore Ralph Wolfe, Professor of Microbiology, University of Illinois Bonnie Van Dorn, Executive Director, Association of Science-Technology Centers.
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Cynthia NeedhamWayne CarleyBarbara Flagg
Carnegie Mellon University is developing an interactive, multimedia planetarium presentation about the human brain. The interdisciplinary project team will build upon and refine the experience gained from its recently completed planetarium show, Journey Into the Living Cell. The context for this work is the need for increased public understanding of the human brain - an organ central to the very concept of humanity. The understanding of the human brain is located at the lively crossroads of research in many disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, computer science and biology. The proposed medium to address this important issue is a 45-minute planetarium show. A broad audience ranging from pre-adolescent to adult will be targeted. Sophisticated and entertaining imaging technologies, including animation and virtual reality, will be used throughout the work. Narration and sound will be tightly integrated into the work. The hemispherical display surface of the planetarium will be fully utilized both visually and sonically. Recent advances in the brain sciences as well as long held understandings about the brain will be presented. Basic brain biology and principles of brain function including cooperativity in brain region activity and brain region specialization will be introduced.
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James McClellandPaul OlesBryan Rogers
The Austin Children's Museum will develop Sixteen Candles: Growing Up from 0 - 16. a 1500 sq. ft. interactive traveling exhibition the topic of human development. Visitors will be given the opportunity to learn about the physical, intellectual, and social/emotional changes that are connected with human growth and the branches of science that study human development. Guided by the museum's maxim of exhibit and program development that experience should "build on the familiar and be personally meaningful to varied audiences" this exhibit will have components and activities that highlight similarities and differences between families and children of different cultural and economic backgrounds and family life styles. The exhibit text material will be bilingual, Spanish and English. Complementary educational material will include teacher orientation materials, educator's guide book with pre-and post-visit activities, and various parent -child activities. Museum staff will cooperate with a PBS affiliate and various other community organizations in the development of this exhibit. The exhibit will travel to an additional eight to twelve sites around the country during a three-year period. It will open at the Austin Children's Museum in the spring of 1999.
The NOVA Large-format Film unit of the WGBH Educational Foundation, in conjunction with the New England Aquarium, is producing a large format film about Cocos Island, a small, uninhabited island off the coast of Costa Rica that has not yet been affected by human activity. The waters around Cocos Island contain an extraordinary abundance of sharks, rays, tuna, marlins, swordfish, and other pelagic fishes, thanks to nearby upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich water that create a rich food source. The film will focus on the physical oceanography and behavioral marine ecology of Cocos Island, highlighting the animal behavior and interactions of the wide diversity of marine life. Executive Producer will be Paula Apsell, head of the WGBH science unit and Executive Producer of NOVA. Susanne Simpson, executive producer for NOVA Large-format Films will as a senior producer. Howard Hall Productions will produce and direct the film. Howard Hall will be director/producer, and Michele Hall will serve as producer. The Halls are experts in the field of marine natural history filmmaking and are world-renowned for their television programs on such series as National Geographic and Nature. They worked in the large format medium as producer/directors of Into the Deep. Joseph Levine, a marine biologist who has written both science textbooks and television scripts, will be the writer. William Spitzer, Associate Director for Education at the New England Aquarium, will be responsible for the educational outreach materials.
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Paula ApsellSusanne SimpsonJerry SchubelKenneth MalloryBarbara Flagg
The World Wildlife Fund will develop Windows on the Wild - Exploring Biodiversity. The components of this project include two editions of a 2000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit, mini-exhibition kits designed to reach small and medium-sized institutions, and complementary educational materials designed to reach the general public and families including traditionally underserved audiences, students, and educators. With this project WWF intends to raise awareness and interest in biodiversity - its importance and its decline; raise awareness of the nature and role of scientific research in investigating and protecting biodiversity; raise awareness of, interest in, and understanding of the impacts of personal choices on biodiversity; and motivate and empower individuals to get involved in biodiversity issues. The exhibits will include a centerpiece theater introduction surrounded by five sections presenting activities and information related to the themes: What is Biodiversity? How Do We Find Out? Why is it Important? Why Is It at Risk? and How Can We Get Involved? Ancillary materials form the general public will include A Family Biodiversity Discovery Notebook, a take-home booklet, a brochure format for host institutions to use highlighting local events, among others. Complementary materials linking the exhibit to formal education activities include Educator's Info, and Windows on the Wild Biodiversity Educational Materials, as well as information about workshop and institutes.
The Exploratorium will develop a 6000 sq. f.t exhibit Seeing: The Interaction of Physiology, Culture, and Technology . As the first exhibit and program development project of their multiyear initiative "Refocusing on the Floor," this permanent exhibit will consist of approximately 60 new and redesigned exhibits organized into six sections: Seeing Central, Light and Images, Process of Seeing, Seeing Things Differently, Extending Our Vision, and Deconstructing What We See. Visitors will develop their skills at seeing, noticing, and visual thinking, will become more conscious of visual information in daily life, be exposed to current research on vision and visual cognition, be given opportunities to investigate the social and cultural influences on seeing, and be lead to the realization that seeing, interpreting, and understanding visual information are basic to the conduct of science. New partnerships will be developed with community-based organizations that will promote new audiences for the Exploratorium as well as enhance the viewpoints of the participating staff members. The activities will address the National Science Standards in terms of the process skills that are identified and will reintroduce visual thinking skills into the activities linking the exhibit with the formal education's curriculum. Additional workshops and professional dissemination activities will be included in the overall project.