Space Science Institute (SSI) is conducting an International Polar Year project in partnership with the Marine Advanced Technology Center (NSF-funded MATE, Monterey, CA) and the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado (CLCC) to produce and disseminate an online simulation of scientific explorations by the latest generation of Antarctic underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV). The explorations are based on the ROV work of Dr. Stacey Kim of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and of Dr. Robert Pappalardo and Dr. Arthur Lane at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Products include the simulation, supporting materials and guides, a web site, and a CD Master. Targeted audiences include: (a) middle-school to college-aged students who participate in national annual underwater ROV competitions, (b) Challenger Learning Centers in Colorado and around the country, and (c) the "science attentive" public who will access the simulation via links to SSI and other web sites. Simulations will follow a game structure and feature Antarctic polar science. Estimated annual usage levels are: for MATE, 2000; for Challenger Centers, 300,000; for the general public, 100,000. The project is positioned to continue well beyond the official end of the International Polar Year
In partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, The Franklin Institute Science Museum will develop, test, and pilot an exportable and replicable cyberlearning exhibit using two cutting edge technologies: Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). The exhibit's conceptualization is anchored in the learning research vision of the NSF-funded workshop Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future (Computing Research Association, 2005). The incorporation of VR and AR technologies into the Franklin Institute's electricity and Earth science exhibits is an innovation of traditional approaches to hands-on learning and will improve the quality of the learning experience for the primary audience of families with children and elementary school groups. The project has implications for future exhibit development and more broadly, will provide new research on learning on how to incorporate cyberlearning efforts into traditional exhibits. Fifteen participating exhibit developers across the ISE field will assist in the evaluation of the new exhibit; receive training on the design and development of VR and AR exhibits for their institutions; and receive full access to the exhibit's new software for implementation at their informal learning sites. The technology applications will be developed by Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center--leaders in the field in Virtual Reality design and development. Front-end and formative evaluation will be overseen internally by the Franklin Institute. The Institute for Learning Innovation will conduct the summative evaluation. Research will be conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education on the effects of AR and VR technologies on exhibit learning.
Researchers at the U.C. Davis will carry out observations of museum visitors to plan for a study of how visualizations affect visitors of an Earth Sciences exhibit using 3D technology. The researchers will be able to conduct an experimental study about how much participants in an education center learn from the model of earthquakes and of a model of the Lake Tahoe basin. The researchers will conduct a quasi-experiment of a sample of 100 visitors to the center at Lake Tahoe to study their experience with visualization and learning of science. The funding for this phase of the project will include the development of audience surveys, conducting focus groups to develop types of feedback, train staff to conduct data collection, and to conduct a literature review of technology visualization.
The "Salmon Research Team: A Native American Technology, Research and Science Career Exposure Program" is a three-year, youth-based ITEST project submitted by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The project seeks to provide advanced information technology and natural science career exposure and training to 180 middle level and high school students. Mostly first-generation college-bound students, the target audience represents the Native American community and those with Native American affiliations in reservation, rural and urban areas. Students will investigate computer modeling of complex ecological, hydrological and geological problems associated with salmon recovery efforts. Field experiences will be provided in three states: Oregon, Washington and northern California. The participation of elders and tribal researchers will serve as a bridge between advanced scientific technology and traditional ecological knowledge to explore sustainable land management strategies. Students will work closely with Native American and other scientists and resource managers throughout the Northwest who use advanced technologies in salmon recovery efforts. Student participation in IT-dependent science enrichment and research activities involving natural science fields of investigation will occur year round. Middle school students are expected to receive at least 330 contact hours including a one-week summer research experience, a one-week spring break program, and seven weekends of residential programs during the school year. The high school component consists of 460 contact hours reflecting one additional week for the summer research experience. In addition to watershed and salmon recovery related research, students will be involved in other ancillary research projects. A vast array of partners are positioned to support the field research experience including, for example, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Redwood National State Park, College of Natural Resources and Sciences at Humboldt State University, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, University of Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Washington Columbia Basin Research project, the Northwest Center for Sustainable Resources at Chemeketa Community College and the Integrated Natural Resource Technology program at Mt. Hood Community College. The project is intended to serve as a model for IT-based youth science programs that address national and state education standards and are relevant to the cultural experience of Native American students. Two mentors will provide continued support to students: an academic mentor at the student's schools and a professional mentor from a local university or natural resource agency. Incentives will be provided for student participation including stipends and internships. Career exposure and work-related skills are integrated throughout the project activities and every program component. Creative strategies are used to encourage family involvement including, for example, salmon bakes and museum discounts.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Travis Southworth-NeumeyerDaniel Calvert
In this Communicating Research to Public Audiences project, the University of Colorado at Boulder -- in partnership with the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, and the CU-Boulder Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement -- is building on the work they have done via their NSF research award, A Meta-Design Framework for Participative Software Systems, in which they have been developing participative software systems (PPS) and applications of the framework. Community of Soundscapes will employ newly developed mobile computing and collaborative mapping technology in programs that help users gain greater insights and stake into the shared environment in which they live and visit. Sound Camera, a digital recording device outfitted with GPS mapping software, allows users to collect audio clips of their sonic experiences as they explore their cities, parks and other environments and upload them online onto a digital map through a Web 2.0 application. They can then compose, annotate, and share soundscapes of the places where the sounds were recorded. A Web site will be developed to expand the project's reach to audiences not in the Boulder programs. Professional development training will be provided for collaborators and through the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. The educational goals are to promote literacy of PSS and engage the public in personally meaningful activities that benefit environmental education (cognitive goal) and expand environmental awareness (affective goal). The project work and its evaluation processes (by Wells Resources, Inc.) are intended to advance the field of informal science education with respect to PSS and to study how these new technologies might affect shifts in the kinds of experiences various audiences prefer to have.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gerhard FischerElisa GiaccardiGerhard Fischer
TERC and the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts are partnering to create an energy monitoring and conservation afterschool program for approximately 5,500 girls ages 8-11 in eastern Massachusetts. The goals of the Girls Energy Conservation Corps (GECCo) project are to involve girls in learning and applying science, using technology, developing leadership and communication skills, educating peers, saving energy, and addressing the global issue of climate change. The project is (1) developing activity-based Guides to help girls understand, monitor, and reduce energy use, (2) understand the connection between their own energy consumption and climate change, and (3) setting goals to cumulatively reduce their energy consumption.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gillian PuttickJoan ReillyBrian DraytonKatherine LeLacheur
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) will develop "Water Planet," a 5,000 square foot traveling exhibit, web site, and associated programs focusing on the new and evolving field of Earth system science. It will apply the dynamic technologies of "Science-on-a-Sphere," " Digital River Basin," and "GEO-Wall II" to engage museum visitors in the processes by which water mediates many interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryoshpere, biosphere and geosphere. Through these techniques, it will explore the potential of using large satellite and ground-based datasets, computermodeling, simulations and visualizations to increase public understanding of Earth system research. Scientific collaborators include the National Center for Earth System Dynamics (Universiy of Minnesota, Twin Cities); Center for Advanced Materials for Purifiction of Water with Systems (University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana); and Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (University of Arizona, Tucson). BROADER IMPACTS: "Water Planet" will reach some three million people, with a focus on local water conservation and pollution issues and the way the entire planet functions. In addition, through collaboration with the University of Connecticut Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officers (NEMO) program, the exhibition will help educate local government officials at exhibition venues. SMM also will partner with the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Headwaters Science Center for educational outreach programs. These applications of scientific visualization technology and lessons from this project will be shared with the science museum at large through a web site created for this purpose and other forms of professional dissemination.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Patrick HamiltonRoberta CooksDouglas JohnstonGary WoodardPaul Morin
This comprehensive ITEST project would provide sixty middle and high school teachers with an introduction to Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies. The project, which brings together a leadership team of educators, science researchers and experts in resource management, is based at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory, a research facility that studies stream and forest ecosystems. The program will focus on environmental applications in which teachers use probes to investigate the properties of local forest and stream ecosystems. Teachers will apply their technology experiences to creating standards based lessons aligned with local curricula. The teacher participants will be recruited from rural, underserved Appalachian communities in western Maryland and northern West Virginia. Local students will be recruited to participate in a four-day summer session that includes field-testing the proposed lessons and learning about career opportunities in information technology.
This proposal will develop and disseminate locally developed STEM-rich audio programs for the traveling public, in particular vacationing families, using emerging traveler information technologies, traveling festival kits, and an interactive website. The project is linked to the 220-mile Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway that traverses a dramatic landscape, rich in natural resources and unique contributions to scientific research. Collaborators include the Eastern Sierra Institute for Collaborative Education and the University of California at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael CollopyBarbara AndoJacque Ewing-TaylorSusan Szewczak Clark
TERC will develop Earth Window, a visualization system for generating photo-realistic Earth images and fly-overs that offer a new method for earth science visualization designed for non-scientific audiences. Based on front-end research to determine a baseline of visitor knowledge and misconceptions, the project team will create the Earth Window Research Lab using the GeoFusion visualization engine and WorldSat "digital earth" remote sensing database. This prototype will undergo formative evaluation with visitors to explore a variety of interfaces, navigation systems, levels of interactivity and presentation formats, along with researching the roles of metaphor, user control, false color, authenticity and changes over time to determine how best to employ this technology in ways that maximize visitor learning. BROADER IMPACTS: Based on the outcomes of the formative research, TERC will refine the visualization technology and integrate it into different types of existing exhibits at four museums: Museum of Science (MA); Montshire Museum (VT); National Air and Space Museum (DC); St. Louis Science Center (MO). "Windows on Earth" will enable some 1.8 million people to benefit from remote Earth sensing datasets, allowing them to explore the planet in ways not otherwise possible and thereby improve understanding of key issues in Earth science and their connections to daily life. In addition, the project will develop, test and refine a new visualization tool that then can be replaced and applied by the science museum community at large.
KQED is requesting funds to produce weekly radio science news reports, a weekly television magazine program, a dynamic online website that supports and extends the broadcast material and to create and maintain an active consortium of 13 participating STEM organizations. The project's working title is "Quest: Exploring Our Natural World." Quest's goals are to raise the profile of STEM issues that affect or occur throughout the Northern California region and activate citizens to discuss and investigate STEM issues. STEM content will include research fields that include Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Earth Sciences. Most of the stories will include content about the technology and engineering used to support scientific endeavors. The KQED Educational Network EdNet will administer the community and educational outreach initiatives, including creating viewer/listener guides, developing and delivering workshops, and providing information built around Quest media. The project design involves innovative use of multiple platforms and collaborative partnerships with local informal educational institutions. The project's collaborators include the Bay Institute, California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Space and Science Center, East Bay Regional Park District, Exploratorium, Girl Scouts, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Hall of Science, Oakland Zoo and The Tech Museum of Innovation. Rockman Et Al will conduct the evaluation of the Quest initiative.
Voyage of Discovery is a comprehensive and innovative project designed to provide K-12 youth in Baltimore City with an introduction to mathematics, engineering, technology, environmental science, and computer and information science, as it relates to the maritime and aerospace industries. The Sankofa Institute, in partnership with the Living Classrooms Foundation and a host of marine, informal science, community, and educational organizations, collaborate to make science relevant for inner-city youth by infusing science across the curriculum and by addressing aspects of history and culture. Youth are introduced to historical, current, and future innovations in shipbuilding as a means to learn the science, mathematics, and history associated with navigation, transportation, environmental science, and shipping. Activities will take place at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum where students participate in intensive afterschool, Saturday, and summer sessions. Families are invited for pre-session orientation meetings and again at the end of each session to observe student progress. This project will provide over 3,900 K-12 youth with the opportunity to learn mathematics (algebra, geometry, and trigonometry), physics (gravity, density, mechanics), design, and estuarine biology while participating in hands-on sessions. Project deliverables include a 26-foot wooden boat, a working model of a dirigible, a submarine model, and pilot control panel models, all constructed by students and subsequently incorporated into exhibits at the USS Constellation Museum. The project also results in the production of two curricula--one each on celestial navigation and propulsion. Voyage of Discovery informs the literature on inquiry-based informal science education programs and strategies to engage minority and low-income youth in learning science and technology.