The Please Touch Museum is requesting $684,602 for the development of educational resource materials in science and mathematics for four-year old children, and training for their parents and teachers in Head Start and other daycare programs. This 44 month project will develop, test, and produce six materials-based science and math activity kits, science training workshops for parents and daycare educators, and related family materials and events. It will culminate in a national dissemination program to promote more effective preschool science and math education through materials- based science inquiry and increased professional relations between educators in youth museums and daycare centers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marzy SykesRenee HenryTracey Prendergast
The Exploratorium is developing a model program that demonstrates the vital role science museum exhibits can play in supporting formal science education reform. The development of exhibitions and enhancement activities is based on the Science Framework for California Public Schools and the emerging National Science Education Standards. The project includes: A series of four museum exhibitions (with a total of 60 exhibits) based on the Science Framework themes of Patterns of Change, Stability, Scale and Structure, and Systems and Interactions Publications (Exhibit Guides and Pathways) for each collection A series of workshops and evening events for teachers, families and students A symposium, video and Internet resource for museum and education professionals An important feature is an information desk and resource kiosk to inform teachers, parents and the general public about science education reform efforts. The project aims at 5,000 teachers, 32,000 parents and caregivers, 140,000 students and 1,320,000 members of the general public.
The National council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's principal Hispanic constituency-based organization, seeks funding from the National Science Foundation's Informal Science Education Program for a four-year community-centered demonstration program. Project EXCEL-MAS, the Math and Science component of its EXCEL-MAS is designed to develop and encourage the adoption of supplemental math and science programs for at-risk Hispanic elementary and middle school students and their parents, using thematic, hands-on approaches; and ultimately help to increase the numbers of Hispanic student enrolling and succeeding in paths which lead to advanced study in math and science. Hispanics -- the youngest and fastest-growing major U.S. population, numbering 22.4 million or 9% of the U.S. population according to the 1990 Census -- continue to be most undereducated major U.S. population. Only about half of Hispanics are high school graduates, and fewer than one in ten have completed college; only about one-quarter of high school graduates have followed curricular tracks including the math, science and language arts needed for college attendance; national studies suggest that Hispanic 17-year-olds on average have math and science skills at the level of White 13-year- olds. Contributing to these problems are a lack of culturally appropriate, meaningful parent involvement or family-wide approaches to education, supplemental programs to motivate and support at-risk students, wrap-around social services for low- income students and their families, and efforts to promote more equitable Hispanic access to the full school curriculum.
This project by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) develops a public education program on chemistry. The program: introduces students and the general public to the science of chemistry and processes of chemistry-related research through drop-in lab activities; provides follow-up chemistry activities for use by elementary teachers and parents so that children can further explore the interests they have developed in science and chemistry; provides opportunities for internships for high-school students as lab assistants so that they can develop greater knowledge of "everyday" chemistry, laboratory techniques and safety, develop skills in working with others and in teaching chemistry, and explore potential careers in teaching chemistry; and make available the resources developed by OMSI to other interested science museums.
The Youth Experiences in Science (YES) Project of the 4-H Center at UC, Davis will produce, pilot and evaluate an informal science education curriculum expressly designed for 5-9 year olds in school-age child care (SACC) settings. Seven thematic units will be developed (three in both English and Spanish versions), utilizing the basic design process and instructional model developed in the earlier SERIES Project. Each unit consists of engaging hands-on activities performed with inexpensive materials and incorporating home and neighborhood service applications. During the three years approximately 500 teenage volunteers will deliver the program to approximately 2,500 children through a network of existing SACC sites operated by 4-H and other community groups. Capitalizing on SACC settings, the program will collaborate with schools and reach out to parents through development of "Science Family Backpacks" and "Science Family Activity Nights." Program evaluation includes in-depth monitoring and use of multiple assessment instruments and measures at 25 selected sites. In addition to formative and summative evaluation, data will be available on parent involvement and the amount, nature, and durability of positive influences on participants' school science interest and success.
NACME will produce a three year public service advertising campaign designed to shape the educational choices children make in junior high and high school with respect to mathematics and science. The ads, featuring actor/director Spike Lee, will aim to increase the number of children in grades three through eight who understand the relevance and value of mathematics and science to life in the adult world. The campaign also will be directed towards parents with the goal of helping them recognize the importance of learning mathematics and science to their children's future. The components of the project will be: For each of the three years of the project, development and distribution of one 60, one 30, and one 10 second television spot; For each of the three years of the project, development and distribution of three 60, three 30, and three 10 second radio spots; Annual development of print ads and marketing materials to be delivered to selected consumer magazines, educator's publications, in-school magazines, newspaper "kid pages," comic book companies, and bus shelter and transit card carriers; Annual development and distribution of 100,000 full-color student brochures to reinforce the concepts outlined in the campaign; Annual development and distribution of 100,000 brochures for parents to engage them in their children's science and mathematics education; Establishment of a toll-free 800 number for students to call to request information. Each caller will be sent both the student and the parent brochure; Development of promotional materials including buttons, games, science experiments, math puzzles, T-shirts, etc.; Annual public relations campaigns including press conferences, media tours, in-school demonstrations, and personal appearances; Annual evaluation of the project including monthly reports of fulfillment of requests received via the 800 number. Development, production, and distribution of the campaign will be the responsibility of a task force consisting of: Ronni Denes, NACME's vice president for communications and public affairs; George Campbell Jr., President of NACME; Lea E. Williams, executive vice President of NACME and formerly served as vice president, educational services, of the United Negro College Fund; Catherine Morrison, director of research; and Ismael Diaz, director of precollege programs. The ad agency for the NACME/Ad Council campaign is Tracy-Locke. Rob Britton, manager of Advertising and Direct Marketing for American Airlines will serve as campaign director.
The Numbers Alive project will model the use of number sense and provide opportunities for its practice through the production of ten half-hour television programs for students, one program for parents and care-givers, and print materials in support of both types of programs. The targeted student audience is fifth and sixth graders. The print materials supplement the televised programs. The series emphasizes number concepts and problem solving strategies in support of the NCTM Standards.
The Vermont Center for the Book in collaboration with the Vermont Council on the Humanities, Montshire Museum, and other Vermont science activity centers propose to develop a national model of a four-part book discussion/science activity program of early science literacy for parents of preschool children. Parents will be trained to gain confidence in their ability to do science activity kit to keep. The project expects to reach 1200 parents and 240 professionals during this three year project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sally AndersonJoan NagyGregory DeFrancis
The Space Science Institute of Boulder, Colorado in partnership with the Franklin Institute Science Museum and the Electric Producers Research Institute will develop a 3000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit entitled Electric Space: Exploring Our Plasma Universe. Visitors to the exhibit will be introduced to the physics of the sun and the polar aurora. They will learn about the effect solar variability has on technology and humans working in space. The exhibit is divided into seven sections: Space is Not Empty; SkyWatchers; Plasma: the Fourth State of Matter; The Dynamic Sun; Planet Earth: a Great Magnet; Reaching Toward the Starts: the Heliosphere; and The Cosmic Connection. Its design is guided by the desire to create a total immersion environment that will allow visitors to explore the many realm of the plasma university from Earth's upper atmosphere to distant galaxies. It is the developers intention to demystify science by concentrating on process rather than facts, to create a stimulating informal learning environment, to reach a diverse audience, to motivate young people to pursue science as an interest and a career, and to have the exhibit serve as an interface between the scientific community and the general public. In addition to the exhibit, supplemental curriculum modules using an inquiry-based approach will be developed in cooperation with the Science Discovery Project at the University of Colorado. These materials will provide teachers, students, and parents the opportunity to explore the concepts presented in the exhibit. An extensive evaluation plan will be carried. The exhibit will open at the Maryland Science Center the summer of 1995. It will then travel to nine major US cities reaching an estimated two million adults and children who represent a great diversity of ages and education an ethnic backgrounds.