As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is conducting regional STEM workshops, entitled NFB STEM2U, for blind youth [youth], grades 3 – 6. During this first regional workshop in Baltimore, the NFB operated three different programs simultaneously: one program for youth, a second program for their parents/caregivers, and a third program for a group of teachers who work with visually impaired students. A fourth program, for Port Discovery museum staff, was conducted earlier to prepare the museum staff to assist with the youth program
The Marian Koshland Science Museum will produce a 1,500-square-foot exhibit on infectious disease aimed at a teen and adult audience. The exhibit will focus on three concepts: (1) How infectious disease affects individuals, society, and the environment; (2) What actions can be taken to modify the impact of infectious disease; and (3) What benefits and consequences there are to both action and inaction. These concepts will be explained using interactive displays, with emphasis on the use of current science and science-based decision support tools. The Koshland will develop public programs, educational materials aimed at grades 7-12, hands-on science activities, and audio and video guides to support the exhibit. An exhibit on infectious disease is relevant because of the continuing burden and increasing threat of disease worldwide. A greater understanding of recent scientific advances will help the public make decisions about their health and the health of their community.
Working in collaboration with biomedical researchers from universities in the San Francisco area, across the nation, and abroad, the Exploratorium proposes to develop a high-quality microscopic imaging station for use by museum visitors, students, teachers and Internet visitors. This facility will utilize the highest quality optics and state-of-the-art microscopic techniques including biological staining and sophisticated digital recording. A variety of living specimens fundamental to basic biology, human development, the human genome and health-related research will be displayed. The station will be the lively center of the life sciences' area at the Exploratorium, providing educational content, dramatic imagery and regular demonstrations to reach an audience which ranges from the mildly curious to research scientists. In addition, the Exploratorium will be the first public institution, outside of a few research laboratories, to present live microscopic specimens via video and the Internet in real time. (To date, remote microscopes have generally presented inanimate objects or fixed tissue.) In order to increase student accessibility, subject matter for the imaging station will be integrated into the ongoing middle and high school teacher professional development at the museum. Teachers will be able to use the imaging station to conduct their own experiments, develop classroom explorations, take away images, access the website in their classrooms, or share materials with other teachers.
The Self-Reliance Foundation (SRF) Conociendo Tu Cuerpo (Know Your Body) Hispanic Community Health Sciences Education project is an initiative designed to introduce Hispanic students and families to biomedical science and health education resources, and increase their participation levels in these fields. The educational goals of the project are to: (1) Encourage Hispanic undergraduate students to pursue careers in biomedicine and science through a mentoring program at the university level; (2) Inspire an interest in biomedical science among Hispanic elementary-age students and parents through community outreach activities; (3) Inform Hispanic parents about biomedical science education standards and academic requirements for pursuing biomedical and science related careers; and (4) Inform and inspire Hispanic students and their families about the biomedical sciences and related careers through a series of daily nationally broadcast Spanish-language radio capsules, and a nationally syndicated Spanish newspaper column. Conociendo Tu Cuerpo (Know Your Body) includes several key components: A model, Washington, D.C., area coalition of informal science, health, community, education, and media organizations that will publicize and provide hands-on health science activities at community festivals and other community settings; Hispanic undergraduate student health-science fellows to be trained and provided experience in facilitating health science activities; and nationally broadcast Spanish-language radio capsules that will cover topics in areas of biomedicine, research, education, and health-science careers. Parents and students will be able to access additional information about biomedical science opportunities and Hispanic role models in the biomedical sciences through the project's Conociendo Tu Cuerpo website and the bilingual 800 telephone help line promoted by 147 participating radio stations and 102 newspapers nationwide. The project will be supported at the national level through collaboration with the Hispanic Radio Network and the Pacific Science Center. The Washington, D.C., collaborative will include the Capital Children's Museum, local Spanish language radio stations, area universities, and health and community organizations. Development Associates, the largest American education and evaluation consulting corporation, will evaluate the project.
Found in gravesites. Buried in the backyard. Lurking and scaring neighbors at Halloween. The stuff of legendary Hollywood horror films. But, in reality, bones are so much more. They are the living, growing framework of life. Bone Zone, a dynamic traveling exhibit to be developed by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, will let visitors explore the mystery inside the body so long hidden by skin, fur or other outside covering. By capitalizing on the fact that visitors bring a portion of the exhibit into the gallery with them (their own bones), these visitors will learn that they too have bones and that their bones live and grow along with them. A great need for this type of exhibit exists because most people do not identify the skeleton as one of the body's major functioning systems. The cardiovascular and respiratory systems are most commonly cited. However, the skeletal system provides key functions. Visitors will learn the key functions this system fulfills as well as learn that bones are alive - most youth have the misconception that their bones are dead. The exhibit will showcase myriad human and animal bone scenarios in well-developed contexts that will help visitors understand the information presented. Interactive, hands-on activities will be highlighted in Bone Zone. Visitors will see the skeletons of other animals, and play a game where they learn the difference between bone and pseudo-bones, such as scales. In another area, visitors will observe bone cells in a microscope, see a large-scale depiction of a bone, and watch the bone cells at "work." The exciting and innovative 5,000-square-foot exhibit will be showcased at the museum beginning in 2001. The goals of the Bone Zone project are to (1) Develop an interactive, traveling exhibit about bones to promote an understanding of the skeletal system and bone-related diseases among children and the public; (2) Develop curriculum materials and workshops for teachers; and (3) Stimulate interest in health science careers.
The Maryland Science Center, in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, developed and produced BodyLink, a unique health sciences update center. The group did so with support from the National Institutes of Health SEPA (Science Education Partnership Award) Program, BodyLink, which is modeled after the Maryland Science Center's praised SpaceLink space science update center, will make today's medical and health news clear and relevant for visitors, young and old. Science and technology centers have long struggled with ways to acquaint visitors with the latest and greatest discoveries in health and biomedical science, and to interpret the significance of these findings for all ages. Museums can no longer be content with presenting only basic science, and need to expand their role as public communicators of science by presenting cutting-edge research, and by interpreting and explaining this information for visitors. BodyLink is a 1,500-square foot multimedia center where visitors can discover and appreciate the wonders of cutting-edge medical research (basic research, as well as clinical research) through interactive exhibits, stunning imagery, and facilitated demonstrations in a multimedia driven programmable space. BodyLink also includes WetLab, an open-access microbiology laboratory facility that allows visitors to conduct scientific investigations using state-of-the art research technology. Visitors can extract DNA from wheat germ, test common anti-microbial products on live bacteria, and learn Gram staining techniques, among other activities. Bodying will further serve school groups, general museum visitors, and remote-learning participants through the interactive website. BodyLink also incorporates an internship program for graduate students from the Maryland Science Center's collaborating universities. These internships give the graduate students an opportunity to interact with the general public to enhance their scientific communication skills and give them first-hand experience with investigating public understanding of scientific research.
Life on Earth is interactive software installed as a museum touchtable exhibit that uses data about over seventy thousand (70,000) species from several databases to help visitors explore and deepen their understanding of biodiversity, evolution and common ancestry, and the history of life on earth (DeepTree/ FloTree). Some installations also include a smaller exhibit that poses puzzle challenges about evolutionary relationships among species (Build-a-Tree (BAT)). The exhibit was installed at four natural history museums across the U.S. – the Harvard Museum of Natural History (Cambridge, MA)
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Harvard UnivesityJim HammermanAmy SpiegelJonathan Christiansen
Interactive surfaces are increasingly common in museums and other informal learning environments where they are seen as a medium for promoting social engagement. However, despite their increasing prevalence, we know very little about factors that contribute to collaboration and learning around interactive surfaces. In this paper we present analyses of visitor engagement around several multi-touch tabletop science exhibits. Observations of 629 visitors were collected through two widely used techniques: video study and shadowing. We make four contributions: 1) we present an algorithm for
This book offers museum learning researchers and practitioners--educators, explainers, and exhibit developers--a new approach for fostering group inquiry at interactive science exhibits. The Juicy Question game, developed at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, engages group members in a simple process of inquiry that helps them work together interrogate exhibit phenomena more deeply. and widens their both families and student field trip groups. The approach is easy to implement and yields clear results. The results are summarized in a set of practice principles that can be used by other
This report discusses a front-end evaluation that aimed to determine what physical and perceptual barriers affect visitors’ use of the Henry Art Gallery, and how visitors currently interact with museum spaces and staff. These findings will support guest service training and changes in the museum’s physical infrastructure. This study utilized three main questions for exploring the visitor experience at the museum: 1) Are there barriers affecting visitors’ use of the Henry?; 2) What motivates visitors to use certain spaces at the Henry?; and 3) What experiences are visitors having with Henry
Funded by the National Science Foundation, The Handheld Science and Math Dictionaries for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Museum Visitors Research Project (DRL-1008546; Signing Science) is a collaboration between the Museum of Science (MOS) and TERC, which studies how visitors who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) integrate iPod Touch versions of the Signing Science Pictionary, Signing Science Dictionary, and Signing Math Dictionary into their museum visit. Through this project, TERC has studied the integration of these dictionaries into museum visits of both school groups and family groups. To
In the recent exhibition project Animal Secrets, we looked at the impact of three strategies for fostering parent-child interactions in an exhibition for young children: environmental design, types of activities, and labels. Results from our study indicate that all three strategies can support parent-child interactions, but environmental design and activity type were more effective than labels overall in promoting parent-child collaboration. Mixed results for exhibit labels suggest the need for further research into how best to communicate with parents of young children in an exhibition.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Karyn BertschiMarcie BenneAnn Elkins