The Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) CP4SMP program, Methods of Increasing Awareness of Comparative Planetology and Climate Science with Science On a Sphere in Museum Settings, intended to educate our audiences about planetary exploration missions, illuminate climate science through comparative planetology, and produce new educational materials, interpretation techniques, and knowledge that facilitate more effective informal education on these themes nationally. DMNS was the lead organization on this program, but collaborated closely with other institutions involved in the Science on a Sphere® (SOS) user community. This program achieved its intentions to: (1) boost literacy in climate science, (2) build awareness of NASA’s space science missions and the relevance of NASA Earth observing satellites to contemporary issues of global change, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of different modes of employing the SOS system with diverse audiences. We capitalized on our unique combination of scientific expertise in planetary science and spacecraft exploration, our considerable experience in digital media development, informal science education, exhibit design, educational research, and museum evaluation. Over the duration of the project we: (1) developed visually exciting and compelling SOS programming on comparative planetology and climate science using NASA mission data; (2) tested different modes of presentation of SOS to determine how this technology can be best utilized in informal science contexts; (3) investigated how visitors perceive and understand scientific data presented on SOS; and (4) created teacher professional development workshops to reach K-12 formal educators both locally and nationally. The DMNS CP4SMP NASA grant created opportunities to positively impact climate literacy for millions of DMNS visitors over the five-year period.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott SampsonSteve LeeKa Chun YuEddie GoldsteinAndrea Giron
Journey into Space (JIS) is designed to improve student, educator, and general public understanding of earth/space science and its relationship to NASA goals and objectives through the use of a traveling GeoDome (inflatable planetarium) and engaging supporting programming at The Journey Museum. The Museum collaborates with area colleges, school districts, K-12 educators, youth serving organizations, astronomical affiliations, and others. The overall goal of JIS is to improve student, educator, and general public understanding of STEM and its relationship to NASA goals and objectives. JIS objectives are: 1) To increase student and public interest and awareness in STEM areas; 2) To increase student interest in pursuing STEM careers; 3) To improve teacher knowledge of NASA related science; 4) To increase teacher comfort level and confidence in teaching NASA related science in their classrooms; 5) To increase collaboration between informal and formal science educators; 6) To increase student and public understanding of Plains Indians ethno astronomy; and 7) To increase museum visitors’ interest and understanding of NASA related science. The Museum produced 2 films (“Cradle of Life”, “Looney Moons”) that are offered daily, 4 recurring monthly programs (Final Frontier Friday, Amazing Science, SciGirls that became Science Explorer’s Club, and Black Hills Astronomical Society meetings), summer robotics classes and teachers’ workshops, annual Earth Science Day, in addition to the GeoDome programming that has toured the region including presentations in the three poorest counties in the United States. The ethno-astronomy is underway in partnership with Oglala Lakota College and South Dakota Space Grant Consortium.
Future Space is an educational but fun pair of planetarium programs, targeted at middle school students and then general public, to show that NASA is still in the space business! The lead institution is the Louisiana Art and Science Museum with lead production at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and science and program review through Rice University. The program has produced one excellent planetarium show "We Choose Space!" which covers the history of the space program including building the International Space Station (ISS), and actual images from our fisheye lens inside the ISS. It has been licensed to over a dozen theaters around the world and is also available for free viewing through YouTube, with a free downloadable Educator Guide. It has been translated into Spanish, Hindi, and Teluga and is being translated into Turkish. A second show "The Gravity Factor", which discusses how humans might in the future visit and exploit the planets, is being completed now. It uses surface gravity as a common theme. A dome cover was created to represent the ISS Cupola from the outside.
Earth from Space highlights state-of-the-art NASA technology, in particular, the suite of Earth observing satellites orbiting our planet, the data they collect, and how people are using these data for research and applications. Participants learn how NASA EOS data is collected through remote sensing systems, recognize the connection between this data and the area in which they live, and recognize the relevance and value of NASA data for understanding changes in the Earth related to where they live. The project informs K–12 students and lifelong learners of our increasingly advanced technological society and prepare students to enter the STEM-related workforce with content in oceanography, geology, climatology, glaciology, geography, and meteorology. Content is presented through hands-on exhibits and dynamic demonstrations using spherical display systems at OMSI’s main museum location and through a travelling program at rural libraries, schools, and other outreach venues throughout Oregon.
Curious Scientific Investigators (CSI): Flight Adventures immerses children and families in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. Launched in February 2012, the project supports NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), focusing on “innovative ideas to convey the fundamentals of flight, flight technology, and NASA’s role in aeronautics.” The project’s audience includes youth ages 6-18 and the Museum’s more than 1 million annual visitors of all ages. The project’s lead agency, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (Museum), developed and implemented the project in Indianapolis in partnership with the Academy of Model Aeronautics and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The project’s goals focus on inspiring children and families to develop an interest in STEM concepts and learn about NASA’s role in science and aeronautics research and the evolution of flight, and on engaging and educating them through inquiry-based programs that facilitate understanding of STEM concepts and knowledge and NASA’s contributions to flight. Centered on an original Multimedia Planetarium Show on flight, Flight Adventures, the Museum designed several components, all of which complement the show and the messages it conveys. Among these components are an exhibit area composed of a movable wind tunnel, a display of models, low- and high-tech interactives; a Unit of Study; a TV show, Wings Over Indiana; a website; and a variety of educational and family programs.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jennifer Pace-RobinsonGordon Schimmel
CREATE (Creating Relevant Education in Astronomy Through Experience) will immerse and teach astronomy to underserved high school students in Milwaukee who will then become planetarium producers and astronomy mentors to younger students. The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) is the lead this effort in conjunction with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM). MPM will also work with NASA and local astronomy institutions (Adler Planetarium & Yerkes Observatory) for educational materials and speakers. CREATE’s goal is to increase participation of high school youth from central-city neighborhoods in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The objectives are to: Engage these students who have shown an interest in STEM and leverage NASA resources to produce relevant astronomy education. Have the students become mentors for peers and younger students—thus inspiring themselves as well as their mentees to continue their educational paths in science. Build interest in NASA programs and in STEM careers with the creation of their planetarium shows and educational programs for their mentees. Expand CREATE’s impact by making these programs available nationwide and distribution of the planetarium show. The CREATE project will span three years. The first year will be spent on further development and planning of the program. During years two and three, CREATE staff will work with the students in an intensive 40-week program. Twenty students will be chosen to participate in CREATE each year.
The goal of this project is to advance STEM education in Hawaii by creating a series of educational products, based on NASA Earth Systems Science, for students (grades 3-5) and general public. Bishop Museum (Honolulu HI) is the lead institution. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is the primary NASA center involved in the project. Partners include Hawaii Department of Education and a volunteer advisory board. The evaluation team includes Doris Ash Associates (UC Santa Cruz) and Wendy Meluch of Visitor Studies Inc. Key to this project: the NASA STEM Cohort, a team of six current classroom teachers whom the Museum will hire. The cohort will not only develop curricula on NASA earth science systems but also provide guidance to Bishop Museum on creating museum educational programming that best meets the needs of teachers and students. The overall goal of Celestial Islands is to advance STEM education in Hawaii through the use of NASA Earth Science Systems content. Products include: 1) combined digital planetarium/Science on a Sphere® program; 2) traveling version of that program, using a digital planetarium and Magic Planet; 3) curricula; 4) new exhibit at Bishop Museum on NASA ESS; 5) 24 teacher workshops to distribute curricula; 6) 12 community science events. The project's target audience is teachers and students in grades 3-5. Secondary audiences include families and other members of the general public. A total of 545,000 people will be served, including at least 44,000 students.
The Maryland Science Center (MSC) Astrobiology project includes an interactive exhibit and Davis Planetarium program for school and public museum visitors, exploring the search for life in our Solar System, the search for exoplanets and an understanding of extreme forms of Earthly life. Four day-long Educator Workshops have taken place during the project with a total of 179 teachers participating.
Baltimore’s MSC is the lead institution, with the project led by PI Van Reiner, MSC President and CEO and Co-PI Jim O’Leary, MSC Senior Scientist, and science advisors consisting of astronomers, biologists, a geologist and educators representing NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Space Telescope Science Institute, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland and Maryland School for the Blind.
The project provides visitors with a sense of the Milky Way Galaxy’s size and composition, the galaxy’s number of stars and potential planets, and the number of other galaxies in the Universe. The exhibit explores Earthly extremophiles, what their survival signifies for life elsewhere in the Solar System, and examines possibilities for life on Mars and moons of the Solar System, explores techniques used to detect exoplanets and NASA’s missions searching for exoplanets and Earth-like worlds. The project looks to provide a sense of the vast number of potential planets that exist, the hardiness of Earthly life, the possibilities for life on nearby planets and moons, and the techniques used to search for exoplanets.
The exhibit and Planetarium program premiered November 2, 2012, and both remain as long-term Science Center offerings. Since opening, MSC has hosted nearly a million visitors, and with the Life Beyond Earth exhibit located in a highly trafficked area near the Davis Planetarium and Science On a Sphere, the great majority of visitors have experienced the exhibit. The We Are Aliens program in the Davis Planetarium has been seen by more than 26,000 visitors since opening.
One of the most recent additions to the range of Immersive Virtual Environments has been the digital fulldome. However, not much empirical research has been conducted to explore its potential and benefits over other types of presentation formats. In this review we provide a framework within which to examine the properties of fulldome environments and compare them to those of other existing immersive digital environments. We review the state-of-the-art of virtual reality technology, and then survey core areas of psychology relevant to experiences in the fulldome, including visual perception
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Simone SchnallCraig HedgeRuth Weaver
Over the last decade, hundreds of planetariums worldwide have adopted digital “fulldome” projection as their primary projection and presentation medium. This trend has far-reaching potential for science centers. Digital planetarium capabilities extend educational and cultural programming far beyond night-sky astronomy. These “digital domes” are, in essence, immersive visualization environments capable of supporting art and live performances and reproducing archeological sites, as well as journeying audiences through the local cluster of galaxies. Their real-time and rapid-update capabilities
In 2007, Chabot Space & Science Center, with partners LodeStar Astronomy Center and the Institute for Learning Innovation, received a National Science Foundation grant (#0610253) to develop, create, distribute, and conduct research on a full-dome planetarium show titled Tales of the Maya Skies. This physically immersive show was designed to transport viewers to ancient Maya civilizations and to push the boundaries of narrative approach in planetariums by presenting the film with a “cultural wrapper” of the Maya people and their achievements in archaeo-astronomy. The research conducted three
The Global Soundscapes! Big Data, Big Screens, Open Ears Project uses the new science of soundscape ecology to design a variety of informal science learning experiences that engage participants through acoustic discovery Soundscape ecology is an interdisciplinary science that studies how humans relate to place through sound and how humans influence the environment through the alteration of natural sound composition. The project includes: (1) an interface to the NSF-funded Global Sustainable Soundscapes Network, which includes 12 universities around the world; (2) sound-based learning experiences targeting middle-school students (grades 5-8), visually impaired and urban students, and the general public; and (3) professional development for informal science educators. Project educational components include: the first interactive, sound-based digital theater experience; hands-on Your Ecosystem Listening Labs (YELLS), a 1-2 day program for school classes and out-of school groups; a soundscape database that will assist researchers in developing a soundscape Big Database; and iListen, a virtual online portal for learning and discovery about soundscape. The project team includes Purdue-based researchers involved in soundscape and other ecological research; Foxfire Interactive, an award-winning educational media company; science museum partners with digital theaters; the National Audubon Society and its national network of field stations; the Perkins School for the Blind; and Multimedia Research (as the external evaluator).