Arkansas State University (ASU) Museum will offer engaging STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning experiences for children, at-risk youth, and teachers through three years of membership in the Arkansas Discovery Network, a coalition of seven Arkansas museums that develops and shares children's exhibits. Membership in the network will entitle ASU to nine high-quality, hands-on, STEM-based exhibits that promote "learning by doing" and the needed training in their STEM programming for educators. ASU Museum staff will build substantially upon these exhibits by developing many new and engaging tours, gallery activities, and programs that ensure STEM content registers in learners. This project will enable the museum to offer exceptional experiences with the potential to change attitudes about the value of learning in the targeted audiences in Northeast Arkansas.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science will expand its museum-based professional development offerings for Dallas-area teachers by launching, testing, and evaluating a scalable Perot Museum STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Teacher Institute and Mentor Program. Participating K-12 teachers will attend a weeklong, intensive "Summer Academies at the Museum" designed to measurably improve the quality of formal science instruction in public, charter, private, and parochial schools by creating and sustaining a collaborative formal and informal STEM learning community. The museum aims to increase teachers' knowledge of science content as well as their competence, confidence, creativity, and consistency in science instruction through this program, and ultimately increase interest and engagement among their students in STEM subjects.
The Long Island Children's Museum, in partnership with the Westbury School District, will expand its Westbury STEM Partnership program to provide additional professional development and ongoing support for teachers, and experiential STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning opportunities for both first- and second-grade students in their classrooms and at the museum. The program will support inquiry-based, hands-on STEM learning in a high-need school district neighboring the museum, provide professional development to teachers, bring students to the museum to experience exhibits and programs, and make the museum's education staff available to educators for mentoring and content support as they integrate new teaching strategies into their classrooms. The project will promote improved STEM teaching and student learning by supporting teachers in integrating inquiry-based teaching strategies, enriching experiential learning for students both in and out of the classroom, and strengthening local school and community partnerships.
Pacific Science Center will expand its Science, Technology, Engineering and Math—Out-of-School Time (STEM-OST) model to new venues in the Puget Sound region to improve science literacy and increase interest in STEM careers for youth. STEM-OST brings hands-on lessons and activities in physics, engineering, astronomy, mathematics, geology, and health to elementary and middle school children in underserved communities throughout the summer months. The center will modify lessons and activities to serve students in grades K-2, align the curriculum with the Next Generation Science Standards, and increase the number of Family Science Days and Family Science Workshops offered to enhance parent involvement in STEM learning. The program will employ a tiered mentoring approach with outreach educators, teens, and education volunteers to increase interest in STEM content and provide direct links between STEM and workforce preparedness.
The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), in collaboration with the Tampa Community Development Corporation (CDC), will create a youth STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) program designed by East Tampa neighborhood participants for the neighborhood. The STEAM program will be a first of its kind in the area and will bring a continuum of experiences in STEAM fields to underserved middle and high school students, as well as volunteer participants, who come from the East Tampa neighborhood. Initial programming topics for career exploration include astronomy/cosmology and space exploration, environmental sciences, engineering, robotics, crime scene forensics, and medical explorations. The project will expand the museum's ability to create a STEAM continuum, increase interest in STEAM careers, and to increase awareness of skills necessary to be successful in STEAM careers.
The Museum of Science, Boston will prototype several exhibit elements to be included in the Charles River Gallery, a new 3,000-square-foot exhibition gallery atop the Charles River Dam that explores the connection between the science of the natural world and that of the engineered world. The exhibits will be fabricated using the concepts of universal design in an ongoing effort to make the museum's offerings available to the greatest number of people, regardless of age, background, and ability. Through a combination of surveys and observational studies, museum staff will evaluate the effectiveness of proposed gallery components and use the results to improve visitor experience and comprehension of the new exhibit themes. The prototyping activities will also allow the museum to investigate how cross-disciplinary studies enable better understanding of human interaction in complex environments.
The Clay Center for Arts and Sciences of West Virginia will create professional learning communities of teachers and after-school staff serving 7th grade students at seven partner schools using digital storytelling as a tool to explore energy-related topics impacting their communities. West Virginia's role as a leading coal producer and the impact of natural gas drilling served as strong influencing factors in the creation of this STEAM project, titled emPOWERed Stories. Students will create an exhibit that incorporates these digital stories. The results will inform the broader field on ways to better blend formal and informal education experiences to become more potent learning environments.
Wilkerson Center for Colorado River Education will create "Texas Colorado River Mobile Learning Experience," a mobile learning exhibition that will teach middle school audiences about the Colorado River watershed and human interaction with water sources. The mobile interactive water science center and accompanying curriculum will build core science knowledge and skills relative to watersheds, and provide youth a complementary, interpretive educational experience. Through the exhibit, the center aims to increase participants' water-conserving behaviors, decrease water use, and decrease behaviors leading to negative impact on water quality.
Monterey Bay Aquarium will provide to 130 middle school teachers its yearlong Project-Based Science Institute professional development program covering strategies for implementing ocean science and conservation project-based science in the classroom. The program includes two levels: Level I Institute will introduce teachers to the concepts, strategies, and examples of how to implement project-based science in the classroom. Level II Institute will provide additional support through one-on-one coaching, collaborative problem-solving and a focus on longer-term, student-run projects including data collection and analysis. By implementing these strategies, teachers will have the tools to positively impact student STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning outcomes and expose children to interesting, real-world science experiences.
The Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, in partnership with the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) and the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), will develop detailed biological species "stories" that show how the scientific name attached to a species is the product of meticulous study and the progression of knowledge over time. These stories will form the basis for exhibit stations in the museum galleries, digital collections on the EOL website, and an e-book that combines the online content into narrative form. These resources will promote public understanding of Earth's biodiversity, the importance of museum and library collections in its study, and give people tools to further their own investigations through freely available web resources. The project will serve as a model for content delivery that other institutions can adapt for their own collections.
Sciencenter will develop and deliver "Science from the Start," a program to empower parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators to integrate STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) into everyday activities for preschool children. Using workshops to help parents, caregivers, and educators engage children in science discovery, the museum will provide support, training, and inquiry-based activities to increase their comfort and knowledge of methods to encourage their children's STEM learning. "Science from the Start" will increase the museum's capacity in early childhood education and disseminate results to science and technology centers to promote a deeper understanding of the importance of early childhood education as the foundation for lifelong learning.
The Missouri Botanical Garden will work with six urban schools, to create new educational opportunities for teachers and students who use the garden's institutional research as a foundation for STEM Programming (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Students in the program will focus on one of three core garden research themes: medicinal uses of plants, plants as a food source, or the ecological value of plants. Anchored by multiple field experiences at the garden and its satellite sites, follow up programming, and teacher professional development, the program will be aligned with state standards to address concerns with student proficiency in the STEM disciplines.