Through this award, the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island (NCARI) has installed NOAA's Science on a Sphere (SOS) to enhance and expand their existing Storms exhibit. NCARI's location on the Outer Banks makes understanding ocean systems critically important. Installing SOS increases environmental literacy by exposing NCARI's 300,000 annual visitors to NOAA datasets and information. Additionally, through educational programming students, teachers, and visitors obtain current and accurate information to help them make better-informed decisions. Workshops hosted at NCARI have provided valuable professional development opportunities for both informal educators and NOAA staff.
The University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS), in partnership with the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI, propose to develop and evaluate curriculum-based content modules for spherical display systems. These modules will combine successful research-driven curriculum materials with the compelling nature of a spherical display to engage and inform museum visitors in the process of observing and interpreting patterns of global climate data.
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.
400 Years of the Telescope was an interactive, multimedia project enabling the public to participate in real and virtual telescope experiences, understand the far reaching advances that the telescope has made possible, and discover how technology, science, and society are interconnected. Partners included PBS (Southern Oregon Public Television - SOPTV), Interstellar Studios, Leading astronomers and science writers, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), Carnegie Science Center (Buhl Planetarium) and 'Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai'i. A two-hour, high-definition documentary, aired twice on PBS in 2009, kicking off the International Year of Astronomy.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kris KoenigJames ManningRose TsengMark StanislawskiShawn Laatsch
The Space Science Institute is establishing a museum educator/theater network of eight museums around the country, pairing larger with smaller institutions. The Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific also are collaborators. The primary audience is informal science education museum educators; secondary audiences are museum visitors experiencing the to-be-developed programs. The Science Theater Education Programming System (STEPS) is a technology that has been developed by the PI and others. The team will be continuing to expand the capability of the system for this project, and the partnering museums are collaboratively creating an initial set of theater programs on astrobiology, along with a suite of training programs and communication formats for educators. The STEPS technology allows these programs to be delivered both on site and via outreach, depending on the goals of each organization. The intent is to form the core of a community of practice that would enhance the professional capacity and identities of informal educators. The theater program format is positioned as a flexible, low-cost alternative to traveling exhibits, particularly for the smaller institutions. Deliverables include: the establishment of the network, the STEPS system and programs, professional development tutorials and workshops, evaluation of the programs, and a research project and report examining the network as a community of practice and vehicle for strengthening the professional identities of museum educators.