This is a 90-minute feature documentary film about falconry from award winning filmmakers Elisabeth Haviland James, Revere La Noue and Robert Nixon. The project will create a documentary experience that connects the past to the present and weaves together distant lands and cultures though a character-driven exploration of the art of falconry.
The purpose of the summative evaluation is to two-fold: 1) provide documentation to NSF about the extent to which the project met its goals and objectives, and 2) give the Lab of Ornithology information about how well the Web application and the ecosystem within which it resides is engaging the intended audiences. The main evaluation questions the study needed to answer related to who is participating in YardMap, how much participation affects participants’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors around birding, gardening, and citizen science.
A true experimental design was used, where
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. Amazon Adventure 3D tells the compelling story of the discovery of biological mimicry by Englishman Henry Walter Bates in the Amazon rainforest more than 150 years ago.
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. This project engages members of racially and economically diverse communities in identifying and carrying out environmental projects that are meaningful to their lives, and adapts technology known as NatureNet to assist them. NatureNet, encompassing a cell phone app, a multi-user, touch-based tabletop display and a web-based community, was developed with prior NSF support.
In 2011 the Bishop Museum and two collaborating organizations, University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UH) and the Pacific Voyaging Society (PVS), were awarded a multi-year grant from the Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP) to develop classroom and dockside curricula, an online resource center for educators, teacher workshops, a planetarium show, and a field-trip program for middle school students. The overall goal of these educational products and programs is to make STEM content accessible to Native Hawaiian students by presenting it through the lens of ancient Hawaiian navigational systems.
What do images communicate about humans’ place in nature? Medin and Bang posit that the artifacts used to communicate science—including words, photographs, and illustrations—commonly reflect the cultural orientations of their creators. The authors argue that Native Americans traditionally see themselves as part of nature and focus on ecological relationships, while European Americans perceive themselves as outside of nature and think in terms of taxonomic relationships.
WCS launched its electronic field trip program, Distance Learning Expeditions, in 2001 when there
was tremendous interest in the educational community in the potential of videoconferencing
technology for program delivery, as well as money available for the purchase of related broadcast
equipment. The program grew rapidly and was successful through 2009 -- serving 9,600 students
in 2006-07, its largest year. From 2010 to 2014, with school budget cuts, high equipment
maintenance costs, and shifts in staffing, participation in the program declined. In 2010, WCS
secured a grant from IMLS for
Lincoln Park Zoo will upgrade and make freely available ZooMonitor, a scientific data collection tool, which currently exists in a pilot version, for monitoring the behavior of animals in zoos and aquariums, . ZooMonitor will contain modules for tracking animal behavior and body condition and for conducting data analysis. The zoo will also integrate a platform for securely storing an institution's data. With these modifications, ZooMonitor will be rigorously tested by industry partners, translated for both Apple and Android devices, and made available for free public download. ZooMonitor will enable any zoo or aquarium, regardless of collection size, budget, or number of staff, to develop a routine monitoring program—improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals across the country and around the world.
Massachusetts Audubon Society will create a manual intended to be used by other organizations to create educational, reflective, self-guided nature trail experiences designed for individuals who require accessibility accommodations. To promote the new manual, the Society's statewide education projects manager will create guidelines, produce a media presentation, plan and deliver live presentations, and publish articles in relevant professional publications. In addition, the manual will be made available at no charge in print and online formats, so that organizations will have access to guidelines and the most appropriate strategies for creating inclusive interpretive nature trails that provide an independent, outdoor experience for all users.
The New England Wild Flower Society will develop an engaging, easily accessible curriculum of introductory online courses in botany, plant ecology, and native plant horticulture, which will be made available to conservation and educational organizations throughout the Northeastern U.S. via a new digital portal. These comprehensive classes in plant science will be available online for diverse lifelong learners and will incorporate classroom, online, and field participation by students; foster connections among students and mentors; and create a rich suite of learning opportunities.
The L.C. Bates Museum will provide 1,700 rural fourth grade students and their families museum-based STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) educational programming including integrated naturalist, astronomy, and art activities that explore Maine's environment and its solar and lunar interactions. The project will include a series of eight classroom programs, family field trips, TV programs, family and classroom self-guided educational materials, and exhibitions of project activities including student work. By bringing programs to schools and offering family activities and field trips, the museum will be able to engage an underserved, mostly low-income population that would otherwise not be able to visit the museum. The museum's programming will address teachers' needs for museum objects and interactive explorations that enhance student learning and new Common Core science curriculum objectives, while offering students engaging learning experiences and the opportunity to develop 21st century leadership skills.
The Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens will link and integrate its digital geographic information system (GIS) to its plant collections database, making possible the creation of GIS-derived applications that will ultimately impact all areas of the museum's operations. Following the system integration, the institution will develop applications and train staff members on how to develop GIS-derived applications tailored to enhance the learning experiences of visitors and program participants. The integrated database will serve as a resource that will positively impact learning experiences for the gardeners who maintain the plant collections, visitors to the garden, participants in education programs, and people accessing information online. The project will also help demonstrate the potential of spatial data to benefit collections-management activities and public programming.