Sea Studios Foundation will extend the Strange Days on Planet Earth multimedia initiative to raise public science literacy on pressing environmental issues. Based on pioneering Earth System Science research, Phase Two will be a media and outreach project focused on the ocean and water issues. The goal of the project is to increase public awareness and understanding of the scope and scale of key issues affecting the ocean. At the core of the project is a four part television documentary series for PBS primetime entitled Strange Days, Ocean. The programs will concentrate on four content areas: overexploitation of ocean resources, pollution, coastal development, climate change and the role of the ocean in Earth's system. Each episode is structured around a compelling scientific questions designed to engage the audience in a search for answers based on the most current research from the varied Earth System Science disciplines. The series focuses on explaining how scientists come to know what they know. The series will be complemented by activity-based learning supported by a national consortium of informal learning institutions, a citizen science program, training sessions for informal educators, and a project website. Collaborators include the National Geographic and three new major partners: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Program to expand citizen science programs around invasive species; Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), dedicated to organizing college campus educational events; The Ocean Project (TOP), a network of 600 organizations; plus the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and eight other informal science institutions. Knight Williams Research Communications, and Public Knowledge and Cultural Logic will assess the impact of the series. The project will contribute to the field of informal science education by providing widely applicable communication lessons on ocean and water issues and a model methodology for creating science education media that is credible, informative, and relevant. The results of two unique adult learning case studies will be shared with the field through presentations at national meetings and workshops, and posted online.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark ShelleyDavid EliscoTierney Thys
Brown University, a founding member of the 72-member New England Science Center Collaborative (NESCC), is leading Seasons of Change, a traveling exhibit development project involving members of NESCC as well as the 31-member North Carolina Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative. The key concept of the exhibit is how regional iconic "harbingers" are related to climate change - for example, the impacts of a changing climate on the maple syrup industry in New England and shifts in bird migration patterns in North Carolina. Two customizable and modularized versions of an approximately 900 square foot exhibit on local impacts of climate change are being produced for small and medium-sized venues. The project expects to serve approximately 1.5 million visitors in the two regions and is positioned as an innovative model for other regions of the country. A citizen science program will be developed by staff at TERC for those participating centers with outdoor venues. The exhibit is being designed by Jeff Kennedy Associates and MegaFun simulation software designers. NESCC is also developing a project Web site. Goodman Research Associates is conducting both formative and summative evaluation processes on visitor learning and on the project's collaborative process. The Association of Science-Technology Centers will manage the two tours.
Auditory forms of nonpersonal communication have rarely been evaluated in informal settings like parks and museums. This study evaluated the effect of an interpretive audio tour on visitor knowledge and social behavior at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. A cross-sectional pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design compared the responses of audio tour users (n = 123) and nonusers (n = 131) on several knowledge questions. Observations (n = 700) conducted at seven sites within the caverns documented sign reading, time spent listening to the audio, within group conversation, and other social
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
The National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED) is a Science and Technology Center focused on understanding the processes that shape the Earth's surface, and on communicating that understanding with a broad range of stakeholders. NCED's work will support a larger, community-based effort to develop a suite of quantitative models of the Earth's surface: a Community Sediment Model (CSM). Results of the NCED-CSM collaboration will be used for both short-term prediction of surface response to natural and anthropogenic change and long-term interpretation of how past conditions are recorded in landscapes and sedimentary strata. This will in turn help solve pressing societal problems such as estimation and mitigation of landscape-related risk; responsible management of landscape resources including forests, agricultural, and recreational areas; forecasting landscape response to possible climatic and other changes; and wise development of resources like groundwater and hydrocarbons that are hosted in buried sediments. NCED education and knowledge transfer programs include exhibits and educational programs at the Science Museum of Minnesota, internships and programs for students from tribal colleges and other underrepresented populations, and research opportunities for participants from outside core NCED institutions. The Earth's surface is the dynamic interface among the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. It is intimately interwoven with the life that inhabits it. Surface processes span environments ranging from high mountains to the deep ocean and time scales from fractions of a second to millions of years. Because of this range in forms, processes, and scales, the study of surface dynamics has involved many disciplines and approaches. A major goal of NCED is to foster the development of a unified, quantitative science of Earth-surface dynamics that combines efforts in geomorphology, civil engineering, biology, sedimentary geology, oceanography, and geophysics. Our research program has four major themes: (1) landscape evolution, (2) basin evolution, (3) biological sediment dynamics, and (4) integration of morphodynamic processes across environments and scales. Each theme area provides opportunities for exchange of information and ideas with a wide range of stakeholders, including teachers and learners at all levels; researchers, managers, and policy makers in both the commercial and public sectors; and the general public.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Efi Foufoula-GeorgiouChristopher PaolaGary Parker
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted summative evaluation of the Journey to Planet Earth: The State of the Ocean's Animals project. GRG has served as external evaluator for Journey to Planet Earth since 1999. Journey to Planet Earth is a PBS series that explores the fragile relationship between people and the world they inhabit. The most recent evaluation included two components: 1) a viewer study of the Ocean's Animals episode in the series (hosted and narrated by Matt Damon), and 2) an evaluation of the outreach initiative that complemented the series. The broad goal of the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marianne McPhersonElizabeth BachrachIrene F GoodmanScreenscope, Inc.American Association for the Advancement of Science
The Coalition for Watershed Education, consisting of the Land Access Information Association, Great Lakes Children's Museum, Interlochen Public Radio and Northwestern Michigan College Great Lakes Studies Institute will implement a comprehensive science education project for youth and adults. The major components include: Watershed Discovery field experiences, Soundscapes radio broadcasts, Waterscapes exhibits, a project website, and the expanded Great Lakes Coalition for Watershed Education. Watershed Discovery is a field-based experience for youth ages 11-17. Teams of 6-10 youth will work with mentors who specialize in GPS, GIS, geology and geography to research and collect data on the Great Lakes watershed. These students will also use their new knowledge to produce radio segments as part of the Soundscapes component. Youth teams will be trained to interview sources, gather information and write scripts for use on the local National Public Radio affiliate. The Great Lakes Children's Museum will design a permanent, interactive watershed of 1,500 square feet, as well as a traveling exhibit of 500 square feet for visitors ages 7-12. Other deliverables include "A Community Guide to Watershed-based Science Education" (available in print and CD-ROM), a one-day regional dissemination conference, and an interactive website. Strategic impact will be realized through the development of a novel model for watershed education, its subsequent replication and summative evaluation outcomes. It is estimated that over 40,000 children will be reached by this community-wide initiative.
Hopa Mountain, in collaboration with Blackfeet Community College, One Step Further, and Ogala Lakota College, will develop "Native Science Field Centers (NSFC)" to provide year-round informal science education for youth ages 8-18 and adults. Informal science education professionals are also served through the publications and materials designed to support programs targeting Native communities. The "NSFCs" will be located on the Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, and Pine Ridge reservations. The centers will develop "TribalWatch" environmental science programs that will be disseminated to six other tribes in the Missouri River Watershed. The "Tribalwatch" programs create a STEM career ladder for youth and adults to develop scientific expertise, knowledge of monitoring and an understanding of management of local lands. New technologies will be created for the evaluation of Native science programs that incorporate indigenous evaluation methodologies. Key partners include the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the Field Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum of Minnesota. Deliverables include "Native Science Field Centers, ""TribalWatch" programs and a "TribalWatch" toolkit and training plan. Strategic impact will be realized through capacity building within Native communities, research and documentation of programming practices and dissemination of the toolkit and publications to informal science education professionals, 32 tribal colleges and other educational organizations that serve Native communities. It is anticipated that this project will reach 100,000 Native and non-Native youth, adults and informal science education practitioners in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bonnie Sachatello-SawyerHelen AugareMichael Fredenberg
Cosmic Serpent - Bridging Native and Western Science Learning in Informal Settings is a four-year collaboration between the Indigenous Education Institute and the University of California-Berkeley targeting informal science education professionals. This project is designed to explore the commonalities between western science and native science in the context of informal science education. The intended impacts are to provide informal science education professionals with the skills and tools to gain an understanding of the commonalities between native and western worldviews; create regional networks that bridge native and museum communities; develop science education programs in which learners cross cultural borders between western science and indigenous peoples; and meet the needs of diverse audiences using culturally-responsive approaches to science learning. Participants are introduced to topics in physical, earth, space, and life science, using an interdisciplinary approach. Deliverables include professional development workshops, peer mentoring, museum programs for public audiences, a project website, and media products for use in programs and exhibits. Additionally, regional partnerships between museums and native communities, a legacy document, and a culminating conference jointly hosted by the National Museum of the American Indian and the Association of Science and Technology Centers will promote future sustainability. Strategic impact is realized through participants' increased understanding of native and western science paradigms, museum programs that reflect commonalities in the two approaches, partnerships between museums and native communities, and increased institutional capacity to engage native audiences in science. This project directly impacts 270 informal educators at 96 science centers and tribal/cultural museums nationally while the resulting programs will reach an estimated 200,000 museum visitors.
The Meadowlands Environmental Center, reaching 60,000 members of the public annually, will develop test and implement the "Marsh Access" program." This project will identify and test appropriate assistive technologies and programmatic approaches engaging 5,000 adults from specific disability groups in outdoor field-based experiences in order to better support their engagement, to foster their interest in science and to improve their scientific literacy. One hundred professionals will participate in conferences and professional development around the implementation of these programmatic approaches and will create plans to implement similar programming in outdoor settings across the nation. Utilizing an accessible outdoor garden and trail in the marshes of the New Jersey Meadowlands, Ramapo College in partnership with the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, Spectrum for Living and the Adler Aphasia Center will identify and prototype kiosks and educational programming. Evaluation and program development will focus on identifying specific tools and approaches for engaging people with visual, hearing, mobility, mental/cognitive and age related disabilities. Data will be collected through observations, surveys and focus groups during a field testing process with groups of individuals from partner agencies over the three years of the program. Deliverables include two programmatic modules focusing on the science, natural history and ecology of the meadowlands, two multi media kiosks at points along the outdoor trail, a set of assistive technologies for use by public audiences in both facilitated and non facilitated experiences, and a set of program materials available to the public outlining the process and findings of the program.
The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center will implement a three-year, research-based community program entitled "Archeology Pathways for Native Learners." This comprehensive program consists of four components or pathways that are designed to increase participation of Native Americans in science. Pathway #1 invites students and teachers from New Haven Public Schools to participate in archaeology field research, which expands to include youth throughout the northeastern US. Students will be involved with site excavation, documentation and analysis of findings in an archaeology laboratory, working with scientists to interpret findings, and communicating the results of research to their peers and through the project Web site. Concurrently, in the first year of the project, Pathway #2 will focus on the expansion of museum programs for youth and community members in addition to the creation of related professional development programs for educators. Pathway #3 calls for replication of the research model at Navajo sites in New Mexico and Arizona during year three, while Pathway #4 emphasizes leadership training workshops for Native Americans from over 50 tribal communities. Workshops will focus on the creation of research-based youth programs in native communities across the country, using a train-the-trainer model to disseminate the model. It is anticipated that this project will reach more than 60,000 youth and community members, in addition to over 450,000 individuals via the Archeology Pathways website.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kevin McBrideMarc BlosverenElizabeth TheobaldGeoffrey BrownTrudie Lamb-Richmond
Understanding the Science Connected to Technology (USCT) targets information technology (IT) experiences in a comprehensive training program and professional support system for students and teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Participants have opportunities to assume leadership roles as citizen volunteers within the context of science and technology in an international watershed basin. Training includes collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of scientific data. BROADER IMPACTS: Building on a student volunteer monitoring program called River Watch, the USCT project enables student scientists to conduct surface water quality monitoring activities, analyze data and disseminate results to enhance local decision-making capacity. The project incorporates state and national education standards and has the potential to reach 173 school jurisdictions and 270,000 students. USCT will directly impact 81 teachers, 758 students and 18 citizen volunteers. The USCT project provides direct scientist mentor linkages for each participating school. This linkage provides a lasting process for life-long learning and an understanding of how IT and STEM subject matter is applied by resource professionals. Broader impacts include accredited coursework for teachers and students, specialized training congruent with the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," and building partnerships with Native American schools. INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The USCT project is designed to refocus thinking from static content inside a textbook to a process of learning that includes IT and STEM content. The USCT engages students (the next generation of decision makers) in discovery of science and technology and expands education beyond current paradigms and political jurisdictions.