In 2011, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) a Museums for America – Engaging Communities grant to explore the development of a new family exhibit at the Bronx Zoo, "Safari Adventure." Our aim with this exhibit is to provide better connections to nature for families in our community and foster a life-long sense of environmental stewardship. The exhibit concept was born of the issue that, today, there exists a greater need to connect people to nature than ever before, a topic especially relevant for our community—part of the largest urban population in the United States. The IMLS grant allowed us to take a multi-faceted approach to inform our current thoughts about useful nature exhibit practices and what resonates with our audiences. Through evaluation, prototyping, visits to other institutions, workshops, and community focus groups, we explored themes of child nature play, intergenerational learning, community engagement, and barriers to access. We are disseminating the various reports and products from this process to publicize our findings to the larger professional community. The Wildlife Conservation Society, founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society, saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. We are the world’s most comprehensive conservation organization, currently managing about 500 conservation projects in more than 60 countries and educating millions of visitors each year at our five living institutions in New York City: the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo. Our conservation programs work directly with animals such as gorillas, elephants, condors, and penguins, and we manage more than 200 million acres of protected lands around the world.
This report presents and analyzes the findings from a front-end evaluation conducted by Randi Korn & Associates (RK&A) regarding the concept for "Safari Adventure," an exhibition being developed at the Bronx Zoo by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Bronx, NY. The aim of Safari Adventure will be to provide better connections to nature for families in our community and foster a life-long sense of environmental stewardship. The exhibit concept was born of the issue that, today, there exists a greater need to connect people to nature than ever before, a topic especially relevant for our
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Conservation Education Committee (CEC) supports the appropriate use of living animals in zoos and aquariums as an important and powerful educational tool to advance a conservation agenda. EC leaders and scholars see the need for a zoo and aquarium social science research framework to help those in the education and conservation communications field understand how they can contribute to a greater body of knowledge. This report represents the CEC’s determination to view zoo and aquarium social science research as a collective endeavor that values and
NOVA Labs (pbs.org/nova/labs) is a free digital platform that engages teens and lifelong learners in activities and games that foster authentic scientific exploration. From building RNA molecules and designing renewable energy systems to tracking cloud movements and learning cybersecurity strategies, NOVA Labs participants can take part in real-world investigations by visualizing, analyzing, and playing with the same data that scientists use. Each Lab focuses on a different area of active research. But all of them illustrate key concepts with engaging and informative videos, and guide participants as they answer scientific questions or design solutions to current problems. Supporting pages on each Lab site explain the purpose and functions of the Lab, help teachers incorporate it into their classrooms, foster collaboration between users, and help users make connections to the broader world of STEM. Users are encouraged to explore potential career paths through “Meet the Scientists” profiles, and to obtain information about local and national STEM resources.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting. It describes a project that creates experiences in herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians) for rural underrepresented groups.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. The project created a bilingual exhibit and surrounding activities to explore the concept of sustainability.
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Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryMarilyn Johnson
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes a citizen science project that developed a question-driven online bird identification tool called "Merlin".
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes a professional development collaborative research project to explore commonalities between native and western science, infusing an indigenous voice into programs and exhibits focused on environmental change. Native Universe builds on the Cosmic Serpent project.
Project STEAM aims to inspire art-interested girls to enter STEM careers through a series of activities, including summer academies that explore the biology and physics of color, science café-style presentations that feature the overlap between art and science, and the development of “kits” that can be used in informal and formal venues (Girl Scouts, science centers, and K-12 classrooms). Project research explores two questions: 1) How does an art-focused approach (STEAM) to teaching science support engagement in scientific practices such as experimentation, observation, and communication of
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University of Alaska, FairbanksLaura Conner
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. The Lost Ladybug Project (LLP) is a Cornell University citizen science project that connects science to education by using ladybugs to teach non-scientists concepts of biodiversity, invasive species, and conservation.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes a project that creates citizen science projects in the Rio Grande de Manati watershed, taking participants through the participatory, collaborative, and co-creative phases of informal science education.
The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico is creating citizen science projects in five research areas (insect monitoring; coastal/river system management; bird communities; bat assemblages; and cultural resources) that allow 140 Hispanic residents of Puerto Rico (age 14 and older) to move along a continuum of research involvement from contributor to collaborator to co-creator. As citizen scientists engage in scientific research that measures the effects of urban development on the Manati River watershed in northern Puerto Rico, the project team is evaluating the degree to which participants show changes in science knowledge, skills, attitudes, communication, and behavior. The proposed project is accelerating the development of citizen science activities in Puerto Rico. New scientific knowledge generated by citizen scientists will have practical importance within and beyond the Manati watershed because Puerto Rico is undergoing rapid urban development, resulting in the loss of biodiversity and emergence of environmental problems such as lower water quality. Environmental data collected by citizen scientists will form an environmental database that permits long-term watershed monitoring and informs land use decision making.