WGBH/Boston in association with the Chedd-Angier Production plan the production of a series of five one hour public television programs on the environmental history of North America, "A Continent Transformed". Each of the programs will emphasize a key process which has shaped American environmental history: biological invasion, drawing boundaries, linking transportation and market systems, projecting ideals onto the landscape, and increasing the pace and complexity of systematic change. The principal author of the series and its on camera host will be William Cronin, a leading ecological historian. The series will be assisted by a prestigious Advisory Board, educational materials will be developed for series classrom use, and 8 million viewers should see each episode when the series airs in the Fall of 1992. NSF support will represent approximately 10% of the project total.
Lisboa Associates, Inc. designing, producing, and evaluating a pilot unit for a thirteen-part, $3.5 to $4 million television series for pre-adolescent youth. What's On Your Mind? - The adventures of the Brain Gang will center on the adventures of three youth 'neuro-nauts' who, through special effects combined with animation, will use their skills of observation and detection to solve each "mystery" from inside the brain itself. Each episode will start with a question, e.g. What does the brain have to do with how people see, smell, taste, feel, and hear? Does what you eat affect your brain? Are girls' brains different from boys' brains? How does drug use affect the brain?. The Brain Gang, once they are inside the brain will encounter obstacles and experience conflicts that can only be overcome or solved by relying on scientific methods. The Brain Gang also will encounter animated characters, such as Neuro the Neuron and Endorpah the Endorphin, who will teach and explain important aspects of the brain to the young team of neuro-nauts. The television series would be supported by ancillary material including a student/teacher guide, a newsletter for youth, and a teach newsletter. The PI for the project will be Steven Kostant, an independent television producer and Creative Director for Broadcast and New Media at Lisboa Associates, Inc. The Executive Producer for the project will be Eileen Michaels, Senior Vice President at Lisboa Associates, Inc. responsible for the organizations outreach programs in areas such as neuroscience and environmental topics. The head writers will be Rich Albrecht and Casey Keller, formerly head writers for Beakman's World. There will be three principal neuroscience advisors: David Friedman, Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology and Assistant Dean for Basic Sciences and Research Development, the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University; Rochelle Schwarts, Associate Professor in the departments of Pharmacolo gy and Neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center; and Harold Goldman, Clinical Research Director, Neurology Unit of Harvard Community Health Plan and Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School.
Cornell University will develop "Citizens' Science Online." This project will use the Internet to develop ways of allowing citizens, at any level of prior sophistication, to participate in science by gathering data that will contribute to an understanding of the population biology of birds and for managing the natural ecosystems these birds inhabit. The program has five components: (1) software, user interfaces and background resources on an Internet-based program that is accessible to any North American participant; (2) nine existing citizen-science projects will be modified to make online data entry more accurate, to make participation more user-friendly and to facilitate feedback of results to the participants and public; (3) an extensive library of online support materials and tutorials, including photos, audioclips of vocalizations, maps and other information; (4) integration of all of these Internet-based projects and information via a comprehensive Web portal, Citizen Science Online; and (5) testing and modifying of the interactive database tools through partnerships with other organizations.
The University of Florida, in collaboration with the Florida Museum of Natural History and Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension, National 4-H, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, and the Institute for Learning Innovation will implement Call the Wild, a proof-of-concept project to investigate the educational outcomes of promoting understanding of the nature of science (NOS) through visitor engagement in outdoor exhibits that incorporate mobile technology to further focus attention and deliver unique content. The project will explore: (1) zoo visitor ownership of cell phones, use of the different cell phone features, and likelihood to access interactive content and activities through their phone; (2) the potential of wildlife viewing experiences and technology applications for engaging visitors in learning about NOS; and (3) the potential to measure visitor understanding of NOS related to zoo experiences. This project seeks to advance our understanding of the educational impacts of mobile telephony in informal learning environments such as zoos.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will create "Virtual Stowaway," a website designed to be a segment of the WHOI web series "Dive and Discover." Based upon NSF OCE-0002540, a research project investigating two species of fragile gelatinous zooplankton (salps), the web site will communicate this research to public audiences by allowing learners of all ages to become stowaways on a research vessel studying the biology of these filter-feeding herbivores living in the upper layers of the ocean. The site will use innovative virtual reality panoramas (VR) of research vessel labs and submersibles with hot links as portals to layered levels of learning about ocean exploration, scientific work on a research vessel, the role that animals like salps play in the ocean and the diversity of jelly animals as successful adaptations to ocean life.
The Ramapo College of New Jersey requests funding to develop the "Senior Environmental Experiences (SEE)" project. The project will produce a series of interactive science experiences using Internet videoconferencing to connect seniors at community centers and extended care facilities with environmental experts at the Meadowlands Environment Center as the principal context for discussions of environmental concepts and issues. The goal of the program is to increase the interest of seniors by linking science to history and politics. "SEE" will create experiential modules related to the natural history, ecosystem structure and future of the Meadowlands. Discussion from the field using live images and feedback from the seniors would support exploration of details relevant to the specific topic at hand. The videoconferences will be recorded and made available to seniors in other locations throughout New Jersey and the US. Follow up materials will encourage further activities by the seniors. "SEE" will reach approximately 4,500 seniors in 32 centers during the three-year project.
The Cornell Theory Center (CTC), the university's high performance computing center, will use a Small Grant for Exploratory Research to develop a prototype online exhibit entitled "Jumping Genes." The goal is to use interactive technologies to design a 3D virtual world that engages young audiences (ages 11 & up) and encourages further exploration. The content of the online exhibit will focus on transposons, small sequences of nucleic acids associated with the rice genome. The rice transposons are thought to play a part in evolution and are currently being studied for potential use in genetic engineering. By experimenting with a variety of open-ended and discrete activities, the CTC will design a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) that is comparable to exhibits found in science museums in terms of both quality and effectiveness. This final product will be disseminated via SciCentr.org, CTC's virtual science museum, as well as on Activeworlds, an online educational universe for middle and high school students that employs a virtual reality interface.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Margaret CorbitSusan McCouchWilliam Winn
WGBH Educational Foundation is requesting $1,709,863 to produce 20 new shows and new outreach and Web activities for ZOOM. ZOOM is a daily half-hour PBS series targeted to kids ages 8 to 11. Uniquely by and for kids, ZOOM gives its viewers a chance to explore, experiment and share their creativity. The series, along with its far-reaching outreach, offers its audience an innovative curriculum that promotes the acquisition of basic math and science knowledge and the development of problem solving skills called "Habits of Mind." The goals for Season VII are to: (1) develop three new content areas-"Survivor Science," "Sleuth Science," and "Conservation Science"; (2) launch "ZOOM Into Action and Conserve," a new campaign designed to give kids conservation activities to fuel their volunteerism and help them understand the science behind their efforts; (3) create new science training materials for afterschool program leaders; and, (4) conduct summative evaluation to continue to gauge ZOOM's effectiveness at teaching math and science to targeted audiences. Outreach for the project will include print materials for kids, families and educators. ZOOM-related activities at community-based organizations include 1,450 ClubZOOM science afterschool programs and 23 ZOOMzone science museum exhibits. ZOOM currently is carried by 261 public broadcasting stations and is viewed by close to 5 million children per week. The 2,400-page interactive web site is updated weekly and attracts almost 43,000 visitors per day.
KCTS, the public broadcasting station in Seattle, WA, is producing and distributing15 new half-hour episodes for the children's television series, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Topics being considered for these programs include: Caves Jungles Animal Behavior Entropy Home Demo Lakes and Ponds Felines Convection Smell and Taste Life Cycles Minerals Adhesives Atoms and Molecules Organs Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors The project also will include outreach to viewers, teachers, and parents by providing the following materials: A teachers kit to be distributed to 150,000 fourth-grade teachers nationwide Fifty thousand free copies of a printed parents' guide and 15-minuted video distributed through an off-air off and community partner groups Meet a Way Cool Scientist national print contest in which children will be invited to write and illustrate a profile of a scientist in their community Nye Labs Online, a Web site with series information, science topics, hands-on experiments, and an e-mail connection to Bill Nye and the production team Conference Presentations and workshops about the project's approach to science education for PBS stations, teacher groups, and the three partnering organizations, Girls Incorporated, the National Urban League, and the National Conference of La Raza Rockman Et Al will conduct a summative evaluation to extend the understanding of the show's impact on children's attitudes toward and understanding of science. It also will examine the size and composition of the in-school audience, and will assess the use and value of the outreach materials.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth BrockJames McKennaErren GottliebWilliam Nye
The Maryland Science Center is developing a large format film project on the inner workings of the human body. The film, to be produced in collaboration with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), SDA of Canada, and the Science Museum of London, will focus on the daily activities of the human body -- the simple yet astonishing things that happen throughout one's body on a single day. Emphasis will be placed on such everyday events as hearing, sneezing, eating, healing, crawling and seeing. It will be complemented by a range of ancillary educational materials including teachers' guides, a web site, and a small exhibit for placement in theater lobbies. The co-Executive Producers for the project are James O'Leary and Greg Andorfer, both from the Maryland Science Center; Richard Dale from the British Broadcasting System; Alison Roden from the Science Museum of London; and Andre Picard of SDA Productions. Michael Ackerman, Assistant Director for High Performance Computing and Communications at the National Library of Medicine of the NIH, and Lord Robert Winston, Professor of Reproductive Medicine at London's Imperial College, will be the project's principal advisors. Other advisors include: Harry Chugani, Neurochemistry, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit; Susan Greenfield, Neuropharmacology, Oxford University, London; Chris Firth, Wellcome Institute of Cognitive Neurology, London; Michael Preece, Institute of Child Health, University College, London; John B. West, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego; and Scott Frazer, Head of Biological Imaging, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
SoundVision Productions is producing new programs for "The DNA Files." This highly regarded and very successful radio series is designed to further public understanding of genetic science as well as the ethical, legal and social issues emanating from genetics and biotechnology. These five, new, one-hour programs and feature segments will be on topics that have emerged in recent years as significant developments in the realm of genetic research such as pollution prevention and reduction and the patenting of gene sequences and related genetic information. Specific topics tentatively planned for the new programs include: "The Ecology of Genetic Engineering," "The Genetics of Memory and Aging," "The Genetics of X and the Genetics of WHY," and "Genetic Diseases of the Brain." The programs and features will also introduce those products and processes that, while currently viewed as only future fantasies of the biotech industry, are likely to become real in one or another within the lifetimes of the current generation of public radio listeners. The major outreach component of the project will be via a World Wide Web site. This is a particularly appropriate medium for outreach for this project since demographic studies indicate that most members of the public radio audience have computers and are able to access the web. SoundVision will upgrade the present "The DNA Files" web site to become a more active and integrated part of the project. Every program will have a dedicated section on the web site that will provide expended information and resources beyond those included in the broadcast. The web will provide a forum for public interaction with the issues by engaging the scientists, related experts, policy makers and the public. The project also will make cassette tapes and transcripts of the programs available on request. The PI is Bari Scott, who is the Executive Producer for the series; Jude Thilman will serve as Project Director. The programs are hosted by NBC Dateline reporter John Hockenberry and distributed by National Public Radio. Project advisors in the field of genetics include Elbert Branscomb, Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Troy Duster, Charles Epstein, Ted Friedman, Henry Greely, Leroy Hood, Ruth Hubbard, Sheila Jasanoff, Arthur Kaplan, Daniel Kevles, Mary Clair King, Phillip Kitcher, Julie Korenberg, Michael Malinowski, Desmond Mascarenhas, Pilar Ossario, Gerald Rubin, Lee Silver, and Sylvia Spengler.
Blue Mountain film Associates Inc., a production company formed by the producers of the large format film, Cosmic Voyage, is requesting a planning grant of $50,000, of a total budget of $130,000 to conduct preliminary work on Biodiversity: Life in the Balance. A 40-minute large-format film will be the centerpiece of this multi-component science education project. The film will be based on what appears to be a critical paradox: while we humans, like all living things, have always been dependent upon natural systems for our survival, our unique cultural development and technological prowess have convinced us that we are somehow "above" nature. The following a among major tasks will be accomplished during the five month planning period: * The project principals, a researcher, and advisors will create a comprehensive project plan to include a large format film; complementary print materials for informal and formal settings; a website; a CD-ROM; a video presentation for museums, schools, and home markets; and a related traveling exhibit. * Work with advisors and other scholars to develop detailed project content. * Write and review a treatment for the film. * Develop the museum exhibit component * Write a detailed script for the film. * Develop draft of outreach plan for advisor review. * Develop promotion plan. The principals in the project will include: Bayley Silleck who will be PI, Director, Co-Producer, and Writer; Jeffrey Marvin, Co-PI and Producer; and Thomas Eisner, who will be a Co-PI and will serve as primary content specialist and chair of the advisory committee. The advisory committee includes: Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History; Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State University; Peter Raven, Missouri botanical Garden; and Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bayley SilleckJeffrey MarvinThomas Eisner