The Museum of Science (Boston) Discovery Center, MIT Early Childhood Cognition Lab, Boston Children's Museum, Indianapolis Children's Museum, Children's Museum of Richmond, and Maryland Science Center will help develop and evaluate a variety of methods to engage adults in activities that help the adults understand and apply current cognitive science research on children's exploratory play and causal reasoning development. The primary audience is adults with young children; secondary audiences are informal science education professionals who operate early childhood exhibit areas and cognitive science researchers.
FETCH is a new PBS television series with accompanying Web and outreach activities targeted to 6- to 10-year olds. The program brings science learning to young children by uniquely blending live-action with animation, game show convention with reality programming, and humor with academics. The intended impacts are to: 1) reach the target audience about what it means to be a scientist and encourage them to pursue a science career; 2) provide outreach partners with curriculum that supports content-rich ISE activities and career explorations in varied settings; and 3) demonstrate how media can be used to teach substantive science and share the results of project evaluation with others in the field. The requested funds will allow the project to expand the science curriculum with 20 new half-hour episodes and expand the Web site, focusing on three new science themes that highlight a range of careers: habitats, structures, and chemistry. In addition, funds will support new educational resources for libraries and other youth-serving organizations. FETCH is produced by WGBH; content and outreach partners include the Association for Library Service to Children, the National Wildlife Federation, and the American Chemical Society in addition to outreach partners in 3,200 youth-serving organizations. American Institute for Research will conduct formative evaluation for the project; Goodman Research Group will conduct summative evaluation of both the television show and the FETCH Future Scientist Guide.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is developing, producing and testing a pilot phase for an after school program designed to engage children 9-12 years old in recreational science education. The materials will provide a structured yet flexible daily experience aligned with age-appropriate learning goals. Individuals and teams of children engage in the program by registering on-line, following the developing story line, and performing science activities on and off line. The activities will remain available on the Internet for continued use by after school programs, home schools, small teams of children and individuals working independently.
ScienceQuest is an innovative program created by the Education Development Center that fosters an interest in science and technology among adolescents ages 10-14. This program builds on the successful "ThinkQuest" model, in which small teams of 2-3 students work with adult coaches to research subjects of interest and share their knowledge through the creation of websites. "ScienceQuest" teams focus on science topics and are housed in HUD Neighborhood Network technology centers, located in communities with HUD-assisted or insured housing residents. Participants include individuals with and without disabilities from low-income urban areas. Students select a science topic and research it using online resources, hands-on experiments and visits to museums and science centers. Coaches such as scientists, teachers, museum staff and other role models, as well as on-line scientists, provide assistance by setting goals, devising an action plan and identifying appropriate resources. The "I-Search" model, a four-step strategy used to direct student inquiry, is used to guide investigations and aid in content acquisition. Once completed, websites are mounted on the "ThinkQuest" server. Parental participation is encouraged throughout the process. "ScienceQuest" will be piloted in the greater Boston area in year one, and disseminated to 75 Neighborhood Network sites throughout the country in years two and three of the grant. Each site may have one or more teams. With more than 500 Neighborhood Networks in place, "ScienceQuest" has the potential for widespread dissemination.
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
Hands-On Optics is a comprehensive, national level program that introduces middle school youth to the science of optics using hands-on kits, modules and related activities. Six optics modules will be developed for use in after-school and weekend programs. Modules will focus on engaging topics such as kaleidoscopes, optical illusions, magnifiers and solar telescopes while exploring the principles of reflection, refraction, light and vision. "Hands-On Optics" will be introduced at four MESA sites in California and then disseminated to 13 other sites in California, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, New York and Maryland. Additional dissemination venues include four science centers and two NSF-funded research centers. Students will also develop optic projects for competitions and participate in Industry Shadow Days, while parent workshops and a supporting website will provide guidance on careers. "Hands-On Optics" is projected to serve 39,500 students over a three-year period.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Anthony JohnsonStephen PompeaEugene Arthurs
This project will develop a "Research Ambassador" program whereby a small cadre of scientists will be trained to communicate rain forest canopy ecology to underserved public audiences in the northwest U. S. and elsewhere. A set of collaborating academic researchers and informal science educators will draw from successful dissemination experiences in the field of forest canopy studies. An interdisciplinary research/education team will recruit six "research ambassadors" and provide tools to help them effectively speak and write directly to the public. The team and the ambassadors will create dissemination materials for each ambassador, and contribute to a canopy research website for public audiences. In addition to communicating research to public audiences, this project will provide innovative connections between science and society that can present pragmatic solutions to problems of scientific communication to the public.
The "Environmental Science Information Technology Activities (ESITA)" based at the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at UC-Berkeley is a three-year, youth-based proposal that seeks to engage 144 inner-city ninth and tenth graders in learning experiences involving environmental science and information technology. The goal of the project is to develop, field-test, and disseminate an effective student-centered, project-based model for increasing understanding and interest in information technology. Program components included an afterschool program, summer enrichment and an internship program. An extensive partnership involving community based agencies, environmental science organizations, a local high school and industry support the project by serving as host sites for the afterschool program and internship component. Student participation in project-based, IT-dependent research activities related to environmental science will occur year round. Students will research air and water quality in their local communities and study attitudes toward -- and use of -- information technology among their peers. The focus of the research activities is based on the results of a students-needs assessment. Students participate in the program over a two-year period and are expected to receive at least 240 total contact hours. The afterschool program serves as the project's principal mechanism for content delivery. The five-month afterschool program consists of inquiry-based mini-courses on the following topics: Information Technology tools and concepts, earth and physical science, data compilation and modeling, and publication of research results. The summer enrichment component encompasses a series of workshops at LHS; excursions to IT-related exhibits, environmental facilities, and IT-based companies; and an annual student robotics fair. During the second year of program participation students will complete 12-month internships to support the application of concepts and skills learned the first year. The LHS Student Geoscience Research Opportunities program will serve as a model host site for the program. Stipends are provided throughout the program to encourage student participation and retention.
This planning grant will enable The Indiana State Museum (ISM) to develop "The Science Behind the History," a program of live interactive video distance learning that includes multiple components and state-wide partners. The project is based on "ISM Live!," which uses a satellite van with video broadcast system to deliver programs from diverse historic settings throughout Indiana. Intellectual Merit. This project will add scientific components to interpretations of settings that usually are presented from social or cultural perspectives, including hands-on experiments at the remote broadcast-receiving sites. Scientists and historians will both be involved in the activities along with the audience participants. Broader Impact. Diverse, multigenerational audiences throughout Indiana will be reached through this project. In addition, it will provide a new model for interactive distance learning, as well as help establish partnerships among educational and community organizations that may lead to other beneficial long-term outcomes.
Temple University's "Sisters in Science in the Community (SISCOM)" is a constructivist-based, inclusive youth/community project targeting underrepresented urban middle and high school girls in grades 6-10 and their families; it supports inclusion of girls with disabilities. It engages girls and their parents in hands-on, inquiry-based sports science in after-school, Saturday, and summer programs co-hosted by community-based organizations and Temple University. Girls will also be engaged in student-centered research projects guided by female scientists. With regard to intellectual merit, SISCOM is based on previous research done by Temple on methods for engaging girls and their parents in STEM activities. The infrastructure of research and practices in education will be facilitated through the sharing of information between the network of partners and the national community of formal and informal educators
IDSolutions, in partnership with the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC) and eight NAHEC member organizations will develop an original project to provide informal science education experiences to children, families and the local community via visual communications' technology. This initiative includes building a technical infrastructure that will connect participating Health Education Centers. It will expand beyond the installation of a network and will focus the bulk of its energy on the technology's application -- generating inquiry-based science experiences through active engagement with content that originates from remote locations. Through the creation of an Interactive Videoconferencing Programming Collaborative (IVPC), IDSolutions, NAHEC, and NAHEC Members will produce and disseminate to our target audience of school-age children, families, community groups and teachers, a high volume of science-related programming. The core content of the initial set of programs will be extracted from one of the nation's most popular life science traveling exhibits called "Grossology." These distance-learning programs will originate from a central "studio" location and will be available during the day, after school, on weekends, during summer breaks and holidays. Supporting this effort will be Advanced Animations (designers of "Grossology" and "Experience Science!"), a science education consulting company.
After-School Math PLUS (ASM+) uses the rapidly growing field of informal education as a venue to develop positive attitudes, build conceptual knowledge, and sharpen skills in mathematics for underserved youth in grades 3-8. "ASM+" brings families and children together in the pursuit of mathematics education and future career interests and directly addresses the NSF-ISE's four areas of special interests: (1) builds capacity with and among informal science education institutions; (2) encourages collaborations within communities; (3) increases the participation of underrepresented groups; and (4) models an effective after-school program. " ASM+" is being developed in collaboration with the New York Hall of Science and the St. Louis Science Center with support from after-school centers in their communities. "ASM+" incorporates the best practices of existing programs, while adding its own innovative elements that have proven successful in the NSF-funded "After-School Science Plus" (HRD #9632241). "ASM+" is aimed at underserved youth and their families, as well as after-school group leaders and teenage museum explainers who will benefit from training and participation in the project. It has facilitated the creation of alliances between museums, after-school centers, schools and the community.