Creative Discovery Museum will create an indoor/outdoor, natural science gallery designed for children ages 2 to 12. Named “Unearthed,” the gallery will include exhibits on fossil layers, dinosaurs and paleontology, volcanos and volcanology, erosion and weathering, entomology, and insects. It will offer hands-on, exploratory experiences in natural science for children and their families. The new science gallery will align with state educational standards, provide more interactive learning experiences, and introduce children to real elements including dirt, water, and sand in an outdoor exhibit that reinforces the concepts presented inside the museum.
The Wyoming State Museum will implement an exhibit plan developed with content experts from across the state to produce a Prehistoric Wyoming exhibit. The exhibit will explore the prehistory of Wyoming, with a special focus on the age of dinosaurs, and will serve the needs of the museum’s three main visitor groups—local families, out-of-state tourists, and students on field trips—as determined through formative surveys and visitor feedback. Visitors will learn about the geological forces that shaped the Wyoming landscape visible today, examine the different plants and animals that have called Wyoming home through the ages, and discover the history of fossil hunters in Wyoming.
The Westmoreland Sanctuary Nature Center and Museum will develop an interactive educational museum exhibition to teach visitors about pond ecology, watershed health, and sustainable resource management and encourage them to become more involved in environmental conservation. The museum will use its pond ecology curriculum, which comports with Next Generation Science Standards, to educate approximately 10,000 visitors annually. The interactive exhibition will include a touchable model of a pond’s edge; a roll-out specimen drawer with additional taxidermy such as a green heron, frog, spotted salamander, or freshwater clam; and a microscope with slides of rainwater so students can see the “life” in a drop of water. Multi-level, take-home reading materials aimed at elementary, middle/high school, and adult learners will further promote science literacy and provide concrete ways individuals can get involved in their communities to support sustainable aquatic ecosystems.
The Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE) will create a mobile science exhibit to support improved academic outcomes in science and math for students from pre-school to eighth grade. With the collaboration of science experts, teachers, students, and cultural practitioners, the project team will identify and design three core exhibits using a culture-based educational approach. The project will link indigenous knowledge and practices with scientific theory, providing hands-on experiences designed to engage youth in STEM learning. The 'Ike Hawai'i Science Center Exhibit will visit rural Native Hawaiian communities on O'ahu and at least one other island. It will be available to public audiences of all ages.
RK&A conducted prototype testing for the Game Changers exhibition with three audiences: adults, female youth 10-17 years old, and male youth 13-14 years old. The Game Changers exhibition is being developed by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History.
The Montana Natural History Center, in collaboration with the University of Montana, will develop an exhibit to showcase a selection of the university's extensive fossil collection. This new exhibit will help create inclusive, inquiry-based, educational opportunities for preschoolers through adults. University faculty will guide specimen interpretation and story development. The exhibit will explore modern research into evolution in a time of climate change, sharing ongoing university research and highlighting STEM careers and citizen science work. The project is based on interests identified through surveys, museum visitor recommendations, and a member focus group.
The Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo will create the California Dinosaur Garden exhibition, an inclusive environment for children ages 3 to 11 that promotes science learning. The museum will employ sensory-rich storytelling and interactive experiences to engage children and their caregivers. Project activities will include the completion of initial concept designs and evaluation to inform exhibit development; design development, prototyping, and formative evaluation; and engaging external contractors to fabricate and install the exhibit. The exhibition will include prehistoric plants within a seasonal marsh landscape, interactive interpretive exhibits, a fossil dig, and life-size dinosaur sculptures. The project will also address the need for science learning experiences for children with disabilities by applying universal design principals such as wheelchair access to the garden experience, braille labels, and tactile, sensory-rich elements.
The Cincinnati Museum Center will develop a permanent exhibition to showcase its invertebrate paleontology collection and develop related educational programming that builds on a strong commitment to gender equity. Using focus groups, prototypes, surveys, and feedback from existing programs, the museum will incorporate community input from key audiences into the design of the 4,800 square-foot immersive gallery, which will blend science, history, and technology. The museum will engage external designers to create schematic and final exhibit designs. The museum will develop and test related educational programs for families and students, with a special focus on engaging girls ages 7 to 14 in STEM activities.
Through the T523: Formative Evaluation for Educational Product Development course, our team conducted a semester-long formative evaluation for the Museum of Science, Boston (MoS) Gaia Exhibit. The Gaia Exhibit (Gaia) is a new, temporary art installation located in the MoS’s Blue Wing exhibition hall. Gaia that strives to inspire appreciation for the earth and climate change awareness. The exhibit displays imagery of the Earth’s surface on a twenty feet diameter, three-dimensional globe. Additional exhibit elements include projected questions on the floor to prompt reflection and exhibit-
The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden will leverage its partnership with NASA Kennedy Space Center to design, equip, and operate an inclusive and interactive scientific research workspace. The new makerspace will provide visitors of all ages an opportunity to contribute to identifying solutions to food production issues. Preparation of the Growing Beyond Earth Innovation Studio will involve equipping the space with state-of-the-art tools and materials for designing and monitoring growing experiments, installing plant growing equipment, and furnishing the space to maximize experimentation, collaboration, and learning. The garden will invite K-12 students, families and casual visitors to collaborate on plant science experiments, allowing them to address questions relevant to current NASA research on food production aboard spacecraft, and within habitats on the surface of Mars.
Sciencenter will develop a touring exhibition, Engineer.Design.Build, to spark interest and build confidence in STEM by providing learning opportunities about the broad impact engineers have on the environment and society. The museum will partner with Cornell University's College of Engineering to develop scientific content which will be reviewed by an advisory board of representatives from the academic, business, and informal science education sectors. Partners from informal learning institutions will provide expertise on the educational content to ensure that it is accessible and engaging for the target audience of 5-11 year olds. Through a combination of focus groups, youth/guest feedback during exhibition development, and experts in girls' engagement in STEM on the advisory board, the museum will ensure that the exhibition and programming are designed to appeal to girls, and accessible to all learners. The project will include front-end, formative, and summative evaluation through observations and mediated interviews, collecting data from youth, families, and school groups.
The Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts is one of the world’s largest science centers and the most visited cultural institution in New England. Located in Science Park, a piece of land that spans the Charles River, the museum is conveniently situated close to Boston and Cambridge. The museum has more than 700 interactive exhibits and a number of live presentations offered daily. One of these daily shows include live animal presentations, where museum visitors can learn more about some of the many animals that the museum cares for in its live animal center. An evaluation of these live
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sarah RosenthalKristina OhlSadia Sehrish IslamMaría José Brito Páez