Dorand Shannon New Orleans' Audubon Zoological Garden will design and construct a 3,000 square foot exhibition "Pathways to the Past" that will utilize interactive exhibits to highlight the ancestral link between birds and reptiles and to explore the ensuing development of each species. The permanent exhibition, occupying a prominent place in the newly remodeled Odenheimer building, will be used both by 125,000 school children visiting the zoo each year and for the more than one million regular visitors. More than a third of the residents of New Orleans are minority group members. Zoos are increasingly emphasizing their science communication and science education mission in the context of zoological research and species preservation. They have a substantial need for improved educational resources to better meet the needs of the large and broad cross section of their visitors. The Audubon Zoo's specific plans for interactive exhibits are well thought out, with many connections back to the living collection of the zoo. They have assembled an advisory committee and consulting team that includes scientists, zoologists, educators and science education specialists. They plan a variety of educational materials in support of the exhibition, and will communicate the results of the project to other zoos through reports, publications and presentations. More than $213,000 in direct matching support will be provided by private sources. An FY87 award of $185,915 to the Audubon Zoological Garden is recommended.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dale StastnyKevin BowlerPeter ShannonSteven Dorand
The evolution of language, perhaps two hundred thousand years ago, led to our ability to think abstractly, invent logic, store and exchange ideas and to create culture. What language is, how it works and how it distinguishes us from others is the subject of a four part public television series produced by Equinox Films, Inc., New York, N.Y. To examine language, the series will be filmed in laboratories and universities throughout the United States and on the streetcorners to capture the everyday life and language of Americans. Additionally, parts of the film will be shot in Japan, a sophisticated culture with a completely different language type from ours and in North Central Australia and Papua, New Guinea, where two exotic languages of special interest are spoken. Language is so taken for granted that most of us do not question its nature. Most educated people are unaware even of the revolution that took place in the study of language about 30 years ago. The intriguing interplay between language as a grammatical system and, conversely, as a living changing part of human expression is a complicated and fascinating journey. Exploring the development of language is a challenging project and one that has been imaginatively conceived and developed. The P.I. is highly respected with a number of credits and awards in television production. The co-P.I. is a noted linguist and scholar. The list of linguistic experts who are advisors to the project represents some of the top scholars in the field. All reviewers were extremely enthusiastic about the series and recommended funding. An award of $400,000 with $200,000 in FY'87 and $200,000 in FY'88 is recommended.
The Franklin Institute Science Museum will design, test, fabricate, and circulate to eight museums an exhibit, "The Science of Music: Sound Waves and Sound Forms" that will introduce visitors to the physical laws that govern sound waves. By using music as an attractive and concrete subject to engage broad public interest, the exhibit will illustrate such topics as sound wave amplitude, phase, frequency, reflection and interference. Primary support for the project comes from the eight member Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, consisting of: the Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Discovery Place, Charlotte, NC; the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Fort Worth, TX; the California Museum of Science and Industry, Los Angeles, CA; the Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN; the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL; the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), Columbus, OH; and the Museum of Science, Boston, MA. Each has contributed $50,000 and the costs of exhibit shipping and maintenance. Direct matching fund support totals more than $381,000. The exhibit will spend three months in each location, and the total audience will exceed 1.5-million visitors over its eight museum tour. This project will extend the work of a group of museums that are already helping each other in a collaborative effort. The exhibit concept has high public appeal among groups that science finds it hard to reach, including teenagers and minorities. An FY87 award of $145,000 is recommended.
The Lawrence Hall of Science proposes to develop two 1400 square foot interactive exhibitions based on the latest research findings on the structure and function of the human brain; one for permanent display at the Hall, and one for circulation to 12 science museums over a five year period. The exhibition will use large scale models and equipment from two television programs on the brain. Substantial input from scientists and psychologists will be combined with the educational expertise of curriculum development, museum, and design staff from the Lawrence Hall of Science to create the exhibitions. Visitor and school related curriculum materials will be developed, including a video library and an auditorium show for large group school use. The Lawrence Hall of Science has more than 300,000 visitors per year and is a major science education research and development facility; the twelve host museums will reflect museums in both large and medium sized cities well distributed geographically. More than three million people will view the exhibits over a five year period. The topic is timely, the treatment substantive and educational, and the qualifications of staff and advisors high. The re-use and relationship to a major television series, "The Brain", is an ingenious and effective strategy. The Lawrence Hall of Science is matching the National Science Foundation contribution with comparable private funds. A 24-month FY87 award of $ is recommended.
This project, WALKING ON WATER, chronicals the success of Jaime Escalante's nationally acclaimed mathematics program at Garfield High School in Los Angeles. Overcoming crime, poverty and a 50% drop-out rate, Mr. Escalante transformed Hispanic students with deficient scholastic backgrounds into the top calculus students in the country. As a result of this success, Garfield High School is now a magnet school for math and science in the Los Angeles School District. Mr. Escalante's story will be told in a 90 minute film docudrama which will air nationally on public television's American Playhouse series, the 14th most popular program on PBS reaching 1.2 million homes. The film is designed for general theatrical release, for educational distribution on cable, for videocassette release and will be dubbed into Spanish for airing in Spanish theaters. In addition, Eddie Olmas, the Emmy award winning star of Miami Vice who portrays Mr. Escalanate in the film, will use the film in personal appearances. Reviewers all agree that this story will inspire and motivate students and teachers alike. They also agreed that it is equally important to reach other significant audiences such as parents, school administrators and opinion leaders so that they will understand and support these types of education efforts.
Commercial television is a powerful medium that has rarely succeeded in bringing scientific and technological information to its vast viewing public. For approximately eight years Don Herbert and his series "HOW ABOUT..." has brought science news to millions of viewers across the country. This series is carried on over 150 commercial TV stations in 80% of the major markets. The objectives of the program are to further the public's understanding and appreciation of the importance of science, technology and medical research to our way of life. Research Communications Ltd. will conduct a two-tiered study to determine the impact and effectiveness of these news inserts. A telephone survey will be conducted with station managers and news directors to document the decision-making process. The second step involves a series of focus groups with home viewers to determine the effectiveness of the series. Viewers will be asked a series of questions as well as responding to sample news segments. The research firm and Prinicpal Investigator have extensive experience in the media research area. This project of $27,700 is a modest evaluation investment which could provide clues and insights in mapping further commercial media strategies.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Public Radio (NPR) will provide five years of operation of NPR's Science Unit to provide science and technology news and information on NPR's MORNING EDITION, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, and WEEKEND EDITION shows. Prior NSF support has allowed NPR to create stable, sustained in-depth science coverage on the national network of 335 local public radio stations. More than 9,000,000 people a month, or 2.5% of the U.S. population each week, listen to NPR's news magazines. Science coverage includes 400-500 science stories each year. NPR's News and Information Service is widely acclaimed; awards have included the Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University Journalism Award, and the Science Unit's staff's Westinghouse-AAAS Science Journalism Award and the National Association of Science Writers' Science in Society Award. With this five year award, NPR will consolidate the gains that have been made, continuing to provide the coverage that has earned their reputation, while moving towards financial independence from NSF. A FY87 30 month award of $574,449 and, subject to the availability of funds, following 12 month awards of $240,698 in FY89, $210,939 in FY90, and $180,623 in FY91 are recommended.
The URI Watershed Watch program is the largest scientist-led volunteer water quality monitoring program in Rhode Island. Program staff coordinate more than 350 trained volunteer citizen scientists monitoring the water quality of Rhode Island freshwater lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, salt ponds and coastal watersheds. This award-winning program has more than thirty local sponsors, including one third of RI cities and towns, watershed and lake associations, environmental organizations, scouts, the Narragansett Indian Tribe, RI DEM, individual and corporate sponsors. Comprehensive program components include: recruiting, classroom and field training, and equipping volunteers; in-house laboratory analyses in our state-certified lab, data reporting to volunteers, sponsors and pertinent governmental agencies. Specific programs are tailored to lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, estuaries and salt ponds.
The Peninsula Nature and Science Center (PNSC) in Newport News, Virginia, has been serving the informal science education needs of the Virginia Peninsula region for the past 17 years. As a "living museum" it is a combination of a natural history museum, zoological and botanical garden, nature center, aquaria and science center. By means of living plants and animals, the PNSC plans to develop a series of comprehensive indoor and outdoor exhibitions explaining, interpreting and providing participatory experiences for visitors about the Atlantic Coastal Plain area. The Commonwealth of Virginia has allocated a million dollars toward construction of the proposed facility expansion and the PNSC has raised an additional $502,560 for facilities and exhibits. The National Science Foundation grant will provide funds for the indoor exhibits which include: "A Walk in the Past," covering the geology of the area, a time line wall with touch specimens, the earth's formation and the Dismal Swamp; "How Life Survives," covering food gathering, protection, shelter and living space and propagation along with a microscope station; and the "World of Darkness," where activities of nocturnal animals can be observed. The PNSC has an extensive teaching program with the elementary schools in the region. They plan to expand these activities and, additionally, expect to have a statewide impact since they will be a prime informal science education resource in the state. They also have the potential of becoming a model for the 1600 nature and science centers in the U.S.
The WGBH Educational Foundation and the NOVA production team will produce an hour-long special program in the NOVA series on the remarkable scientific response to Supernova 1987A, the most significant supernova to be observed since 1604. Responding rapidly to this unique opportunity, they will capture the spirit of science in formation, through video and audio interviews with many of the involved research scientists in their laboratories and observatories around the world during the critical time period when there are as many questions as answers about the event. They will continue to cover the scientific response into the summer and early fall, including scientific meetings that are expected to provide clarification and explanation of the supernova's behavior. They are responding with insight and speed to a rare opportunity, and will match National Science Foundation funds with $300,000 of their own production funds to produce this program. NSF support will be used to insure that the coverage land treatment of the event will be substantive and accurate, and rich enough in detail to illustrate the processes of scientific discovery, research cooperation, and debate and dialogue that leads to understanding. The resulting program will be seen by the more than 12 million viewers of the NOVA series, as well as by tens of thousands of classrooms in high schools and colleges. Educational materials will be produced to accompany the program. An award of $50,000 for FY87 is recommended.
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History in Albuquerque will design and construct a 6,250 square foot permanent exhibit on the geology and biology of the intracontinental Cretaceous Period seacoast environment of New Mexico. Using more than 20 interactive exhibits as well as modern and extinct plant and animal species, visitors will experience and explore this ancient, yet familiar world and develop a sense of the relationships between past and present, living and dead, extinction and survival as well as the continuity of natural processes. The Museum will also construct related traveling exhibits for statewide display and install semi-permanent satellite exhibits in four communities that have relevant geologic and paleontologic resources. Exhibition designs will be based on formal and informal studies of exhibit effectiveness, systematic study of learning styles of visitors to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, and interaction with schools throughout New Mexico. This new natural history museum has an impressive staff, a record of institutional development and of state-wide community service, and a clear plan for carrying out informal science education with regional themes that serve the varied populations of New Mexico. The museum presently receives about 375,000 visits a year, of which 70,000 are in organized school groups with 45% Hispanic and/or Native American children. There is a substantial outreach program and extensive relationships with teachers and schools throughout the region. This $1.6-million exhibit project is supported by $840,000 of state funds and $500,000 in private contributions. A National Science Foundation award of $298,886 for FY87 is recommended.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael JuddCaren WaltJeffrey GottfriedDavid Gillette