This planning grant is designed to increase science literacy in Native Americans by developing education materials for families that incorporate both a tribal worldview and western science. The intended impacts include an increased value of scientific awareness, acquisition of scientific principles using intergerational learning and enhanced science literacy. The project deliverables include nine toolboxes that will contain tested STEM activities and two planning booklets. Project partners include the Northwest Indian College and the Mt. Baker School District. Strategic impact will be realized through the development of culturally sensitive strategies that can be used to engage Native audiences.
Universal BEATS developed by The Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina State University's Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, and NCSU's Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology, and Science improved elementary education by developing instructional resources for 2nd-5th grade students that infuse cutting-edge content from the emerging field of biomusic into standards-based elementary science and music curricula. The approach used the musical sounds of nature to help students learn concepts in biology, physical science, and anthropology.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
patricia grayEric WiebeDavid TeachoutSarah Carrier
This Communication to Public Audiences proposal from the University of Colorado, Boulder, is based on current NSF-funded research =, HSD 0624344, "The Dynamics of Human-Sea Ice Relationships: Comparing Changing Environments in Alaska, Nunavut and Greenland." A collaboration of the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the University of Colorado Museum, the principal investigato and team will develop a small traveling exhibit that hightlights aspects of environmental change in the Arctic as observed by Inuit Elders in Clyde River, Nunatvut, Canada. The exhibit will also include a section that informs the visitor on starting an oral history research project similar to the work of the principal investigator. An oral history take-home guide and material on the Web are being produced
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Shari GearheardElizabeth SheffieldJames Hakala
This planning project by the National Academy of Sciences is the first step toward their establishment of a new initiative on helping the public become more knowledgeable about and engaged with the science of energy and energy choices. The Energy Ambassador program would eventually work around the country with several local civic/business/community leaders to provide them with a solid foundation for understanding the science of energy-related issues and provide them with a solid foundation for understanding the science of energy-related issues and developing possible strategies in their communities for public engagement and decision-making. The planning work is prelude to a pilot study and then to a major roll-out if all indicators suggest that would be successful. The planning work will convene scienctists, policy makers, educators, and media to develop the details for the pilot study, including indentifying three cities where the pilot study could take place and the science ambassadors for these. The activity will be in collaboration with the NAS's Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments and the staff of the Board of Science Education.
This Communicating Research to Public Audiences (NSF 03-509) project will produce a half hour documentary television program and use it to conduct outreach to encourage students and teachers to pursue science and engineering careers through hands-on activities in polymers and plastics, cutting edge scientific experiments, enrichment activities, and effective mentoring. The project is based on her NSF-funded research NSF #0300717 aimed at understanding the structure-property relationships of newly developed biopolymers and their composites. The PI previously developed the Why Plastics? curriculum to provide a high-quality science educational experience to pre-college students. This project will create a half-hour documentary to bring the local success she has had with the program to a broader audience. The documentary will be screened on public television and in other venues such as children's museums in an effort to magnify the effects of the Why Plastics? course. Film footage will also be used for a multimedia Web site for documentary viewers who want to learn more about the subject. Why Plastics? primarily serves youth from elementary and middle schools in which a large number of the students are members of underrepresented groups.
IslandWood, a national model for outdoor learning in the Pacific Northwest, proposes to partner with Boys and Girls Clubs of America to plan and pilot a multi-platform informal science initiative. The project will capture the attention of a broad audience, bring viewers into ecosystems they wouldn't otherwise experience, and illuminate the connections to everyday lives through 5-minute video shorts. Support materials for staff at informal learning institutions, and parents of children ages 5-11 who want to learn through neighborhood explorations will be the centerpiece of an online community of support. The scope of this planning project will be to create and evaluate support materials and a pilot video, and design an online environment. Over the year-long planning period the project will continue to develop the relationship with Boys and Girls Clubs of America with the intent to produce and distribute the project nationally beginning in 2010
Cornell University will utilize planning grant funds to conduct front-end research to inform a major citizen science effort targeting Latino families in six major US cities. Partnering organizations include the New York Restoration Project (New York), Aspira of Illinois, Inc. (Chicago), Youth Policy Institute (Los Angeles), Chicanos Por la Causa, Inc. (Phoenix), the Children's Museum of Houston (Houston), and Aspira of Florida, Inc. (Miami) Project deliverables for the planning effort include culturally responsive research and subsequent dissemination of findings. The Garibay Group will create profiles of partner communities and conduct focus groups with potential project participants to examine attitudes towards science, interest in participatory science activities, tools (online bird identification, data entry, and data visualization tools), and technologies. The research will also include an analysis of existing data from interviews previously conducted by project partners. The research results will provide insights into effective strategies for engaging Latino audiences in citizen science efforts.
Go Figure is a new multimedia project targeting 3- to 6-year olds, with a secondary audience of parents and caregivers. The intended impact of the project is to support the development of mathematics literacy for the pre-school audience and to help the secondary audience to support young children's informal mathematics education. This award supports pre-production development and evaluation of project elements including the continuing design of characters and locations, creation and test of interstitials, animatic and script, development and testing of scaffolded math game prototypes and piloting real-world extensions. The project will be produced by WGBH, with the support of advisors and a third-party evaluator. The project is being designed for broadcast on public television, with an extensive educational outreach component focused on improving parental attitudes toward math.
SciGirls was a multimedia project to encourage and empower more girls to pursue STEM careers--the first PBS television series designed specifically for girls 8-13. Episodes were made available for distribution on the newest digital platforms, e.g., Vimeo and iTunes for downloads, free of charge. Strategic partners included the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) and The Franklin Institute. The NGCP links SciGirls with its network of 500 community-based science programs for girls. The Franklin Institute coordinated an affiliate network of science museums to implement outreach. The project also wored with the new "Girl Scout Leadership Experience" program.
This CAREER grant interweaves research and teaching focused on understanding how social groups construct meaning during scientific conversations across different learning contexts, such as classrooms, museums and the home. This work will be translated into formal educational settings and used to inform teaching practices within pre-service University and in-service school district settings. The research and educational emphasis will be on creating conceptual links between social learning in diverse settings and the creation of corridors of opportunity between formal and informal learning institutions. To date there has been little research with families from cultural and linguistic minority populations, such as Latino families, at informal learning settings and virtually none that integrates formal and informal learning, or impacts teaching. The five-year project will: 1. Conduct Study 1, aimed at making fundamental cross-cultural comparisons of family conversational meaning making at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and linking this work with family interviews, reflective conversations and visits to family homes; 2. Review the theoretical framework and conduct Study 2, which will incorporate lessons learned from Study 1, and linking this research to formal classrooms; and 3. Use the findings (at each stage) to inform teaching practice with UCSC undergraduate (Science majors) and graduate (Science credential, MA and Ph.D.) students, and, in collaboration with teacher research groups for new and experienced teacher in schools that serve predominantly Latino students. This research plan provides an opportunity for viewing several inter-connected mechanisms, including family interactions and conversations, compelling science content, naturalistic learning in museum settings, and, finally, analyzing these factors in order to inform teaching practices that promote bilingual minority students to the rank of scientists.
The Exploratorium will create the "Outdoor Exploratorium," a 10,000-square-foot, open-air exhibit environment comprising 20 to 25 original installations. Each exhibit will allow visitors to interact directly with a variety of elements, that is water, wind, sound, light, and living things, as they exist in the natural world. One of the key components of this project will be the use of "Noticing Tours." Led by staff scientists, artists, educators, exhibit developers, and other "expert noticers," the tours will initiate a dialogue with the visitors as a starting point for exhibit development. To augment visitor learning and unify the museum's entire collection, exhibit text will relate the "Outdoor Exploratorium" experiences to exhibits. The project will culminate in a workbook for the field and two workshops for museum professionals. The Exploratorium Teacher Institute staff will develop two-week institutes that make extensive use of the "Outdoor Exploratorium." Classroom activities and inquiry-based learning experiences will be developed based on the new exhibits.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peter RichardsThomas HumphreyThomas RockwellTheodore KoterwasJoyce Ma
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) will carry out a museum-wide initiative to distribute exhibits and programs about new science and research among its core exhibits. The project goal is to redefine science for visitors as a dynamic human endeavor that is rich in discovery and relevant to their lives, as well as to position SMM as a resource for complex science and science issues. The project includes Current Science Central (500 sq ft) plus three Current Science Zones (250-300 sq ft) distributed among existing galleries (Mississippi River, Human Body, Experiment). Standardized formats (e.g., newscast scripts, quiz questions, multimedia kiosks, bulletin/graffiti boards) will provide frameworks that simplify the constant need for updating content and increase the ability to respond quickly. Target audiences are families, school groups, teachers, teens and lifelong learners from among the 850,000 annual visitors; involvement of the Youth Science Center will engage underserved audiences. Project collaborators are researchers (University of Minnesota, Augsburg College, Gentra Systems, 3M and JPL), as well as media (Physics Today, television and radio). The science museum field will benefit from the experience gained through this project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Liza PryorCari DwyerMark DahlagerPaul Martin