John Carroll University, Cleveland's International Women's Air and Space Museum and Cleveland Public Schools are partnering in a three-year project to provide a cross-age, collaborative exhibit development experience to increase young peoples' science understanding and interest in science and teaching careers. The program exposes 120+ high school and undergraduate women to the skills of educational program planning and implementation. Content includes science, technology, engineering and math related to flight, and the history and role of women in flight related careers. The project proposes a highly supportive learning environment with museum, science and education experts working alongside students at secondary and undergraduate levels to design exhibits that will meet the interest and needs of the museum, and the young children and families from Cleveland schools who visit. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, the evaluation will measure change in participant career interests, content understanding and perception of science, technology, engineering and math subjects, and skill development in presenting these concepts to public audience members. Public and professional audience experiences will also be evaluated. More than nine hundred local elementary school age children, their families and 15,000 general public audience members will participate in student-designed, museum-based exhibits and programs. Deliverables include a model for university/museum partnerships in providing exhibit development and science learning experiences, three team-developed permanent exhibits about flight and women in science, a set of biographies about women and flight in DVD format and three annual museum based community events. The model program will be informed by national advisors from museum/university partners across the United States who will attend workshops in connection with the projects public presentations in years one and two. These meetings will both provide opportunities to reflect on the program progress and to develop new strategies in the evolution of the program design. Workshop participants will develop plans to implement similar programs in their home locations, impacting another layer of public audiences. The transferability of the model to these new sites will be measured in year three of the proposal. An additional 25,000 participants are expected to be impacted in the five years following the grant period. Beyond the implementation sites, the model's impact will be disseminated by the PI and participants in the program through peer reviewed journals and presentations at national conferences.
This report provides an overview of the findings from the formative evaluation of the RISE Public Communication Internship conducted at the Museum of Science in January from January 20-23, 2009. The internship was created as a result of a partnership between the Strategic Projects Department at the Museum of Science and the NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center headquartered at Harvard University, and was supported by a sub-award from the Center, to the Museum of Science. The program was overseen by MOS PI Carol Lynn Alpert. The goals for the internship as provided by the intern
WGBH will develop, produce, and distribute a comprehensive project that will review science of the twentieth century. The major components of the project will be a series of five, two-hour, prime time documentary programs for PBS, an outreach campaign to involve the public through informal and formal science education institutions and organizations, material for use in formal classrooms, and a science museum component. The focus of the series will be to review the science of the twentieth century by telling the dramatic story of the struggle to understand ourselves and our world over the past 100 years -- a time when science advanced further than in previous eras combined and when scientific discipline underwent a revolution. However, because at the close of the century there is an ever-widening gap between what scientists know and what most of the public comprehends, the series will explore the century's most enduring scientific endeavors with each two-hour program probing several related fields of investigation and application: views of the universe and of matter; origins of the Earth and of life; health, medicine, and the human body; human nature and behavior; and technology and engineering. It will offer viewers an opportunity to view 100 years of scientific pursuits as a whole, to recast their perceptions of science and scientists, and to be intrigued and inspired by a view of science as a never-ending and deeply human quest for answers and solutions. The outreach component of the project include: Video-based Components - videocassettes of the series, video modules selected for classroom use, level one videodiscs, and a prototype for a CD-ROM for home learning. A Discovery Challenge Activity - a national campaign targeted primarily for girls and boys 11-14 years of age. The two-phase activities will be offered through middle school science and social studies classes; through youth groups such as Girls Inc., Family Science Programs, 4-H, and Girls and Boys Clubs; at museums and science centers; and through other informal education outlets. Activities will be designed so they can be undertaken by youth with a wide range of interests, learning styles, and skills. Print Components - teacher's guide, video module activity guide, videodisc guide, poster, and a companion trade book. On-line Component - an electronic bulletin board and e-mail center related to the project. Public access sites will be established in libraries, community centers, and schools throughout the country and members of the public with home computers will be able to connect to WGBH at no cost. Service and activities offered on-line will include the ability of viewers to critique programs, ask questions of the production team, download educational materials, and ordering project material. The bulletin board will provide an electronic forum for educators to exchange strategies and ideas as they use the project's resources and enable participants in the Discovery Challenge to tap into the on-line resources and share information. The on-line component will be managed and controlled at WGBH. Museum Component - consisting of a museum tool kit and activities to be incorporated Science-by-Mail. Paula Apsell, executive producer for NOVA and director of the WGBH Science Unit, will serve as executive-in-charge of production. Jon Palfreman will be executive producer and will head up a project team consisting of the executive editor, Thomas Friedman, a senior producer, and two producers. Outreach activities will be the responsibility of Beth Kirsch, Director of Educational Print and Outreach, and Simone Bloom, Outreach Manager.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Paula ApsellThomas FriedmanJon Palfreman
Rutgers University is developing a large-format, scientific, documentary film about the evolving scientific investigation of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Volcanoes of the Abyss (working title) will be produced in conjunction with Volcanic Ocean Films and produced/directed by Stephen Low. It will examine the communities these vents support and their relationship to the surrounding environment. It also will consider the implications vent discoveries have for our understanding of the evolution of life and our search for life elsewhere in the Cosmos. Much of the filming will be done from on board the Alvin deep ocean research vessel. The companion Educational Outreach Program will reach students in middle and secondary schools and at the college level. Print-based and web-based material also will be designed for use by families. The film and the outreach materials together will be the basis of a substantive educational effort to inform the public about the intricacies and significance of the fascinating, but largely unknown, ecosystem.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard LutzAlexander LowStephen LowBarbara Flagg
NOVA'S CENTURY OF DISCOVERY is a series of five prime-time documentary specials to be shown nationally over the Public Broadcasting Service(PBS) during late 1997 or early 1998. Altogether the programs will tell a sweeping story, celebrating the end of a remarkable century of discovery when science advance further than in all previous centuries combined, and when every scientific discipline underwent a revolution. Yet the closing of the 20th century coincides with an ever-widening gap between what scientists know and what most of the public comprehends. To increase public understanding of science, scientists, and scientific methods, the series will provide a dramatic retelling and interpretation of the century's most enduring scientific endeavors. Each two-hour program will probe several related fields of investigation and application: views of the universe and of matter; origins of the planet and of life; health, medicine, and the human body; human nature and behavior; and technology and engineering. A marriage of scholarship and entertainment, NOVA'S CENTURY OF DISCOVERY will be created using all the tools at the command of its award winning production team including archival footage and stills; personal accounts; letters, dairies, and other primary sources; computer animation; and even dramatic re-creations. Indeed, the series will not only make a unique contribution to the public and historical record, but also offer viewers an unprecedented opportunity to view 100 years of scientific pursuits as a unified whole, to recast their perceptions of science and scientists, and to be intrigued, even inspired, by a view of science as a never-ending and very human quest for answers and solutions. A special outreach and promotion campaign will increase audience awareness of the series, particularly among nontraditional PBS viewers. In addition, carefully developed teaching and learning materials will extend the series' reach into formal and informal educational settings, including high school and college classrooms, and community and youth-serving organizations.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Paula ApsellTom FriedmanJon Palfreman
The excitement of astrophysical research and discovery is brought into the high school science and mathematics classes through a flexible set of student activities and projects on variable stars. The project includes a computerized database, of 400,000 measurements of brightness of 150 variable stars in five constellations over 25 years, from which students can deduce properties, processes, and evolution of these stars. Students can make additional measurements and discoveries from carefully selected time sequences of 125 35mm slides or from actual measurements from the night sky. A comprehensive student manual and instructional videos make the materials self-contained and easy to use. The teacher manual enables the instructor to adapt the materials to skills, objectives and local curricula. The material can be used in a variety of contexts: traditional mathematics and science classes at both the high school and college level, independent projects, summer institutes, and community science clubs. The material will be field tested in classes and refined through workshops with teachers. A newsletter and a video about amateur astronomers is planned.
Cornell University is producing a documentary television program about the 100-meter radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. The film, planned as a PBS special, will document the engineering and technology behind the construction of the telescope as well as examining and explaining the science of radio astronomy. Ancillary educational material, including a 20 minute version of the video, will be developed and distributed for use in informal education setting through the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In addition images and information about the Green Bank Telescope and the science of radio astronomy will be made available through an electronic bulletin board service such as GOPHER or MOSAIC. Teaching materials also will be developed for use in the secondary school curriculum and an "Across Space and Time" undergraduate curriculum developed at Cornell University will be made available to faculty at other colleges and universities. In addition, the film and related material will serve as the centerpiece for short courses for college teachers at Green Bank under the National Chautauqua Short Course Program. The PI and major content developer is Martha Haynes, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University associated with the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center and the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research. The film is being produced by PhotoSynthesis Production of Ithaca, New York. David Gluck is co-producer, director, and cinematographer and Deborah Hoard is co-producer and writer. A twelve person advisory committee of astronomers, teachers, and informal science educators will guide development of the project.
Starting in January 2006 ROCKMAN ET AL conducted a twelve-week study of the use of the PBS science series, DragonflyTV, in twenty middle grade science classrooms. DragonflyTV is a PBS science series that models science inquiry by presenting real children conducting inquiry investigations into their own science questions. The goal of the TV series is to illuminate the inquiry process and inspire viewers to conduct their own investigations. The participating teachers were provided with DVDs of 36 DragonflyTV programs, an index with the National Science Education Standards correlations, and
Sesame Workshop created a new planetarium show and outreach activities for children ages 5 and 6 and their families, teachers and other caregivers. The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Beijing Planetarium and the Liberty Science Center also collaborated on the "sharing the sky" themed show to help Chinese and American children identify differences and similarities in their respective associations to astronomy.
Voyage of Discovery is a comprehensive and innovative project designed to provide K-12 youth in Baltimore City with an introduction to mathematics, engineering, technology, environmental science, and computer and information science, as it relates to the maritime and aerospace industries. The Sankofa Institute, in partnership with the Living Classrooms Foundation and a host of marine, informal science, community, and educational organizations, collaborate to make science relevant for inner-city youth by infusing science across the curriculum and by addressing aspects of history and culture. Youth are introduced to historical, current, and future innovations in shipbuilding as a means to learn the science, mathematics, and history associated with navigation, transportation, environmental science, and shipping. Activities will take place at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum where students participate in intensive afterschool, Saturday, and summer sessions. Families are invited for pre-session orientation meetings and again at the end of each session to observe student progress. This project will provide over 3,900 K-12 youth with the opportunity to learn mathematics (algebra, geometry, and trigonometry), physics (gravity, density, mechanics), design, and estuarine biology while participating in hands-on sessions. Project deliverables include a 26-foot wooden boat, a working model of a dirigible, a submarine model, and pilot control panel models, all constructed by students and subsequently incorporated into exhibits at the USS Constellation Museum. The project also results in the production of two curricula--one each on celestial navigation and propulsion. Voyage of Discovery informs the literature on inquiry-based informal science education programs and strategies to engage minority and low-income youth in learning science and technology.
The Museum of Northern Arizona proposes to initiate a two-part project in natural-science education on the Colorado Plateau, with a strong focus on the Native Americans of the region, and especially their children. The project involves, one, the installation of modern geology and biology exhibits that are highly relevant for understanding the natural history of an important area and, two, the development of two closely associated new educational outreach programs, one based on well designed kits for school use and the other involving the training of teachers in the use of those kits.
This proposal requests partial funding for the development of a new paleobiology hall at the University of Nebraska State Museum. This project will give students and the general public a dynamic view of the period of time known as the Age of Reptiles. It emphasizes experience with interactive exhibits that focus on concepts of geologic time, how species adapt and change, relative size, scale and time, the activities of scientists as role models, and it provides reinforcement of these experiences for students in the classroom. This project includes the first use in a museum of SemNet, a software program designed for concept mapping and the representation of knowledge networks, which will be used with a videodisc. Prototypes of all interactive exhibits will undergo formative evaluation to establish maximal audience accessibility, ease of use and educational effectiveness. The exhibit concepts will be disseminated throughout the state of Nebraska through mini- versions, teachers in-service training, and scientist-in- residence programs. This project will also be used as a teaching laboratory for the University of Nebraska's graduate program in Museum Studies.