SoundVision Productions is developing and distributing a series of ten, hour-long public radio documentaries that will explore the turbulent boundary between science and the humanities, capturing the present moment of tremendous scientific and scholarly ferment with the unique and intimate power of radio. By introducing the radio audience to the thoughts and voices of some of the world\'s most accomplished scientists, in conversations with the counterparts in the humanities, the series will look at recent developments in science including physics, molecular and cell biology, environmental science, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and the multiple disciplines of the life sciences reflecting the increasingly subtle and widespread application of evolutionary theory. In each program, a careful account of new scientific ideas and discoveries will be placed within the context of historical and contemporary thought about the human and natural worlds. Barinetta Scott, the Executive Producer, has most recently been the Executive Producer for the highly regarded NSF funded NPR series, "The DNA Files." In developing this project, she will work closely with an advisory committee that includes: John Avise, Research Professor, Dept. of Genetics, University of Georgia Samuel Barondes, Professor and Director of the University of California San Francisco\'s Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry Terrence Deacon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Boston University Anne Foerst, Professor of Computer Science and Theology, St. Bonaventure University Ursula Goodenough, Dept. of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis William Irons, Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University Gordon Kane, Professor of Physics, University of Michigan Jim Miller, Senior Program Associate for the AAAS Program of Dialogue Between Science and Religion W. Mark Richardson, Episcopal Priest, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, General Theological Seminary Holmes Rolston, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University Michael Ruse, Professor of the Philosophy of Biology and Ethics, at Florida State University Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion at Bucknell University Dorothy Wertz, Senior Scientist; Social Science, Ethics, and the Law; The Shriver Center.
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) will develop Window on Catalhoyuk: An Archaeological Work in Progress. The project will include a 4,500 sq. ft. exhibit, a World Wide Web site, an exhibit cookbook for archaeology interactives developed for the exhibit, and a suite of related classroom activities. Catalhoyuk is currently the most important archaeological site in Turkey and among the most significant cultural heritage monuments in the world. It consists of two mounds located on either side of an ancient river channel. The larger mound has Early Neolithic age occupation levels (9000 and 7500 years ago) and represents one of the largest known Neolithic settlements, holding links to the beginnings of agriculture, animal domestication, and the rise of urban complexity. The smaller mound consists of more recent occupations (7500 to 5000 years ago). Together they may record nearly 10,000 years of human occupation. SMM has been a partner, along with the Turkish team, in the Catalhoyuk Research Project since its inception in 1993 and has the responsibility of developing public programs and for bringing the research findings before a worldwide audience. Unlike a traditional approach where the results of archaeological research appear years after the excavations, this project will focus on the process of archaeology giving visitors the opportunity of learning about the workings of contemporary archaeology and the nature of scientific inquiry, along with the important insight into the beginning of Mediterranean civilization. The exhibit will be updated annually for two years to reflect new results of ongoing fieldwork. The project addresses the National Science Education Standards, particularly those related to science as inquiry and to the history and nature of science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Donald PohlmanNatalie RuskOrrin Shane
The Exploratorium will design, build and travel an exhibition on human memory called "Memory: A Traveling Exhibition." This 3,000-square-foot exhibition will approach human memory from biological, cognitive, personal and cultural perspectives. "Memory: A Traveling Exhibition" will be a smaller, moveable version of a successful exhibition at the Exploratorium in 1998. A recent boom in scientific research dealing with memory has generated a corresponding need for science centers to inform the public about the nature and significance of findings. This exhibition will be designed to increase the public's awareness of the extent, importance and nature of their memories, as well as their understanding of how cognitive scientists study the mind. The exhibition will travel to science centers across the nation.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael PearceKathleen McLeanJoe Hastings
The Education Development Center, Incorporated, requests $2,081,018 to create informal learning opportunities in science, mathematics, engineering and technology utilizing the study of the ancient African civilization of Nubia as context. Educational activities and resources will be developed based on the extensive ongoing archeological research on historical Nubia. The two main components of the project are a traveling exhibit with related educational materials and a website that will provide the target audience an opportunity to access extensive on-line resources and activities. The project will provide community outreach and professional development for educators in museums, community groups, schools and libraries. The project is designed for thirty-six months' duration. In year one, a network of collaborators in the Boston area will focus on research and development; in year two, project materials will be piloted and evaluated in six cities, and on-line professional development programs will be conducted; and in year three, project materials will be disseminated directly to 60 sites and more broadly via the internet.
The Exploratorium will conduct a four-year project to explore the physical nature of sound, the physiology of hearing and the perception of sound, and the process of attentive listening. "Listening" creates 30 exhibits, three listening spaces, and related visitor experiences to complement the Exploratorium's existing "Sound and Hearing" collection. Listening encourages visitors to explore the scientific, physiological, and cultural content of sound, from the physics of sound waves, to the mechanics of the inner ear, to the information, mood, and emotions sound can convey. Listening will inform the public of the scientific, physiological, and cultural content of sound, as well as the negative impact of ambient sound on their health and environment. Listening integrates public programming, exhibit development and visitor studies, representing a new model of collaboration and communication among educators, scientists, artists and the public. At the conclusion of the Exploratorium venue for "Listening," a traveling exhibition of 30 exhibits will circulate to science museums nationwide, supported by materials and training for education programs. A workshop at the annual meeting of the Association of Science-Technology Centers and additional conference presentations and publications will present science center professionals with Listening strategies.
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
Kikim Media requests $743,316 to produce four half-hour television documentaries and associated outreach programs based on Michael Pollan's best-selling book, The Botany of Desire. The project explores the reciprocal nature of people's relationship with plants. The programs focus on the connections between apples and the human desire for sweetness; tulips and the desire for beauty; marijuana and the desire for intoxication; and corn and our desire for control over nature. The project will increase public understanding of diverse subjects including genetics, evolution, cognition and biochemistry as well as biodiversity, genetic diversity and the consequences of their loss. The project will have a broad impact through a national primetime PBS broadcast, an outreach program targeting adult audiences, and an educational module delivering appropriate content (excluding intoxication) to middle and high school audiences. Knight-Williams Research Communications will conduct the evaluation for The Botany of Desire television broadcast and outreach efforts.
The Miami Museum of Science, in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota, will develop a 5000-sq. ft. interactive, bilingual traveling exhibition titled "Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes and Other Riches." The exhibition will immerse visitors in the Amazon's rich diversity through direct contact with some of its most (ill-deservedly) notorious denizens. Spotlighting the rarely seen research conducted by renowned North- and South American scientists, "Amazon Voyage" will present visitors with the scientists' ongoing work. Visitors will discover that economy and ecology of the Amazon are intertwined, and explore their own connection to this region through the global trade in ornamental fish, arriving at a heightened appreciation of how personal choices can influence environmental outcomes.
Ways of Knowing, Inc. is producing two one-hour film documentarties for public television on the origin, nature and history of writing. "The Writing Project" (working title) is about the study of writing as a technology. The goal of the films is to explain how writing systems work and to make people aware of the importance of writing in societies. The programs will address what reading and writing is, how writing was invented and how it is used in dozens of different systems around the world. The focus is on the diversity, yet sameness, of writing systems and on the grand variety of its uses. The target audience is the PBS television audience, with follow-up educational viedocassette distribution to schools and colleges to be used as an introduction to linguistics "basic text." The program's outreach will be enhanced by a companion website and book.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Suzanne BaumanGene Searchinger
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Tapestry: The Institute for Philosophy and Religion will plan the dissemination of the results of a conference entitled "Stories from the Circle: Science and Native Wisdom." "Stories from the Circle," initiated in May 2002, brought together 32 native and non-native leaders in education in native and western science to discuss the range of ideas and practices that constitute Native Science and to consider how native ways of learning may be applied to informal science education. The proposed planning activity would plan multimedia dissemination of conference outcomes.
Massachusetts General Hospital, representing Partners HealthCare System, Inc., is producing a large format film on the brain that is designed to increase the popular understanding of brain biology and recent advances in neuroscience. Framed within the larger question of the unique abilities of the human mind, the project will take an interdisciplinary look at brain science and raise questions about the nature and biological basis of diverse aspects of human experience including consciousness. By following a rider in the Tour de France, the film will illustrate how the brain functions in both normal and stressful situations. Major sequences will explore vision, memory and emotion. Slightly shorter sequences will delve into imagination and creativity, language, dreams and pain. Brief "interludes" will allow the film to reflect on the brain as it is represented in a range of human capabilities. Finally, the film turns it attention to consciousness, self-awareness and the totality of experiencing life as a human. Outreach components of the project include: A weeklong national symposium for museum educators, teachers, and community organizations from all regions of the country. Follow up regional "Brain Workshops" designed to provide more focused project support. "The Brain: Exploratory Trips Into the Final Frontier" -- An Educator/Student Activity Guide Fun Facts Family Guide to "The Brain" An Educational Lobby Kiosk "Head Trip: A Voyage Through the Young Human Mind" -- An illustrated instructional brochure A Brain Website The film will be directed by Bayley Silleck whose prior large format films include "Cosmic Voyage" and "Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance." The lead scientific advisors are Dr. Dennis Selkow, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Anne Young, Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. There also will be a seven-member advisory committee composed of neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers.
The Garden Mosaics program will develop and test a model in which youth conduct research on community and home gardens in urban settings. Youth ages 11-18 will be recruited to participate in gardening activities in conjunction with elders from their communities. Students learn the science content associated with organismal biology, community ecology, ecosystems and the physical environment, as well as culturally-related food growing practices. Participants then take part in guided research; using methods such as transect walks, mapping, ecosystem models and soil tests, to document food-growing practices of immigrant minority and traditional gardeners. Expanded research investigations will be open to students who want to continue their explorations using the Internet and other resources. Students contribute to new and existing databases of ethnic and heritage gardening practices in the United States. Materials to be developed include an Educator's Manual, a Youth Handbook and a Garden Mosaics website. During the pilot phase a national leadership team will be established to test the program and materials at 10 sites in different cities across the U.S. including San Antonio, Baltimore, Boston, Sacramento, New York, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. It is anticipated that the dissemination of this model will reach more than 750 educators and 13,000 youth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marianne KrasnyAlan BerkowitzGretchen Ferenz