This report summarizes a summative evaluation of Amazing Feats of Aging, an exhibition developed by staff at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, Oregon. Patricia McNamara, an independent evaluator, designed this study to document the exhibition's impact on visitors at two locations: its permanent installation at OMSI itself and at the installation of the exhibit's traveling version at the Lafayette Museum of Natural History (LMNH) in Lafayette, Louisiana. Data collection strategies included visitor interviews, self-administered questionnaires and unobtrusive
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Patricia McNamaraOregon Museum of Science and Industry
The University of Pennsylvania Museum has received a grant from the Philadelphia History Exhibitions Initiative (PHEI) to plan an exhibit on human evolution. The exhibit and associated educational programs will be produced and exhibited in Philadelphia and then travel to other venues across the United States. The working title for the exhibition is Being Human: A Design in Process. The University Museum contracted with Minda Borun, Museum Solutions, to conduct and interpret a series of focus groups with significant audience segments to assess their knowledge, preferences, and feelings about
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Minda BorunUniversity of Pennsylvania Museum
The Maryland Science Center has received a SEPA grant to develop an exhibition, intern program and web site focusing on cell biology and stem cell research. The working title of the exhibition is Cellular Universe. The exhibit is intended to serve the following audiences: Families with children age nine and older; School groups (grades four and up); Adults; 9th grade underserved high school students in three local schools and/or community centers. Topics the exhibit will treat include: Structure and function of cells; Stem cells and their potential, the controversy surrounding stem cell
The Indiana State Museum is planning a new, comprehensive exhibition about the history and uses of corn, from 8000 years ago to the present. The environmental, economic, and cultural impacts of the development of corn breeding will be explored. A front-end evaluation was conducted to see what visitors know about the biology and uses of this plant.
This front-end evaluation assisted in design and development of the Wild About Otters special exhibition at the Monterey Bay Auqarium, which opened in 2007. The evaluation included structured interviews, both a short and a long form. This report includes short interview and long interview forms in the appendix.
The California Academy of Sciences will produce "Water is Life," a 30,383 square-foot permanent exhibit with educational programming. The exhibit is designed to engage the public with the living world of water, to foster environmental stewardship and increase science literacy. Three habitat components -- Philippine Coral Reef, California Coast and Global Rainforests -- are conceptually and experientially linked through "Water Planet," which explores water's physical properties and how they impact living organisms and lead to aquatic diversity. Each component also reinforces the importance of conserving aquatic resources. Educational programming takes "Water is Life" to local schools and community events and onto the World Wide Web, as well as provides venues for formative evaluation of exhibit design elements. The development of lending kits, plus supporting manuals and workshops, will extend the reach of "Water is Life" regionally and nationally. Similarly, instruction manuals and workshops for creating desktop, living reefs will have national impact. The compelling draw of live organisms, hands-on activities, and exhibit enrichment through educational programming provide accessibility to a large, diverse audience. The exhibit will reach over one million annual visitors, and a larger audience will experience distributed educational programs.
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Margaret BurkeLinda KulikChristopher AndrewsTerrence GoslinerRobert Jenkins
The Ocean Institute will design, develop, evaluate and install "Sea Floor Science," a 5,200 sq. ft. site-wide exhibition designed in partnership with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University. "Sea Floor Science" will provide opportunities for families, students and the general public to use authentic oceanographic equipment, tools and technology to recreate a world of ocean research and discovery. Visitors will experience how oceanographers are exploring the largely unknown sea floor to permit better understanding of the origin of sediments and rocks, paleoclimate reconstruction as evidenced by marine microfossils, and the dynamics of oceanic lithospheres and margins. The project is a new approach to museum exhibits. It will test innovative convertibility solutions that enable public areas to serve as both teaching stations and effective exhibits. It will also implement cost-effective update strategies to keep visitors at the forefront of scientific research. "Sea Floor Science" will reach 4,000,000 people in 22 states including on-site and on-line visitors, multi-state teacher networks, videoconferencing participants, science professionals, and replication sites at science centers and aquaria nationally.
The San Diego Society of Natural History (SDSNH) will design, fabricate and install a 9,000 square foot permanent exhibition exploring the fundamental scientific concepts of paleontology, geology, biology and ecology as they pertain to prehistoric southern California and the peninsula of Baja California. Playing the role of paleontologist, visitors will be invited to ponder a mystery, explore the setting, examine the evidence, and use scientific tools to discover answers. Carefully crafted settings will support exploration that engages learners of all ages at levels for both novice and experienced learners. Visitors will discover how natural patterns reveal natural processes, and examine the relationship between past, present and future. Focused activities will enable visitors to exercise their skills of observation and critical thinking, with exhibits that promote learning in a family context. The exhibits and activities focus on the Museum's collections and research, and are grounded in comprehensive visitor research supporting exhibit development. The exhibition and related science education materials will demonstrate how these fundamental concepts can be investigated in a regional setting. Visitors will extend their learning experience beyond the museum through a content-rich interactive website, a popular book on regional geology and paleontology, and related public programs and fossil displays at regional nature centers near the actual discovery sites. Exhibition planning, program evaluation and visitor research will be widely disseminated as contributions to the literature on best practices for interpretation of prehistoric life and landscapes.
COSI Columbus will develop "Speed," a traveling exhibition. "Speed" is a 6,000-square-foot, interactive traveling exhibition introducing visitors to the science of speed. Visitors experience extreme and slow speeds through a variety of interactives. The exhibition emphasizes the role of speed -- that is, the physical phenomenon of changing motion over time -- in governing biological, geological and electronic processes as well as the central role of mathematics as the language of physical science.
The Yellowstone Park Foundation created exhibits and integrated educational programs for a state-of-the-art visitor education center at Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park. The exhibits and programs focus ong eysers and hot springs on Earth and the unique microbial life forms that live in these thermal waters; current and emerging research critical to understanding issues and solving environmental problems facing society today.
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Linda YoungMolly PickallLisa DiekmannLinda YoungDiane Chalfant
This Communicating Research to Public Audiences proposal is based on Cindy Van Dover's NSF-funded research, OCE 0350554, Biogeography and community structure in mussel beds at Pacific hydrothermal vents. The primary deliverable is a traveling science and art exhibit that focuses on the PI's deep sea research of hydrothermal vents and the organisms living in those environments. On several of these expeditions, the PI was accompanied by nature watercolorist/scientific illustrator, Karen Jacobsen. Jacobsen's work, along with animated sculptures of tubeworms by sculptor, Chuck Pell, and displays of dive artifacts will form the body of the exhibition, which will travel to both marine and art museums. Major partners are the North Carolina Maritime Museum and the Muscarelle Museum of the College of William & Mary. Muscarelle will manage the tour. Additional learning products will include an exhibition catalog with essays by Van Dover and others, a naturalist's guide to the exhibition, educational materials for children, video podcasts, docent training materials, and website content
The Peninsula Nature and Science Center (PNSC) in Newport News, Virginia, has been serving the informal science education needs of the Virginia Peninsula region for the past 17 years. As a "living museum" it is a combination of a natural history museum, zoological and botanical garden, nature center, aquaria and science center. By means of living plants and animals, the PNSC plans to develop a series of comprehensive indoor and outdoor exhibitions explaining, interpreting and providing participatory experiences for visitors about the Atlantic Coastal Plain area. The Commonwealth of Virginia has allocated a million dollars toward construction of the proposed facility expansion and the PNSC has raised an additional $502,560 for facilities and exhibits. The National Science Foundation grant will provide funds for the indoor exhibits which include: "A Walk in the Past," covering the geology of the area, a time line wall with touch specimens, the earth's formation and the Dismal Swamp; "How Life Survives," covering food gathering, protection, shelter and living space and propagation along with a microscope station; and the "World of Darkness," where activities of nocturnal animals can be observed. The PNSC has an extensive teaching program with the elementary schools in the region. They plan to expand these activities and, additionally, expect to have a statewide impact since they will be a prime informal science education resource in the state. They also have the potential of becoming a model for the 1600 nature and science centers in the U.S.