The New England Aquarium proposes to develop a traveling exhibition based on recent research implicating human activities in the worldwide increase in jellies. Humans are changing oceans so that they are becoming more suitable for jellies than for fish. The exhibition is expected to reach 12 million people -- primarily families with school-aged children -- across the nation. No jelly exhibit to date has shown jellies as important indicator species and ecosystem linchpins. Dissemination will include materials and programs for school and community outreach. A Sea Jelly Activity Kit and a community art/science program will be developed. In each year of the project approximately 100 urban teens will intern in the jelly culturing facility, where they can learn about the science of culturing jellies and present their experiences to the public.
Massachusetts General Hospital, representing Partners HealthCare System, Inc., is producing a large format film on the brain that is designed to increase the popular understanding of brain biology and recent advances in neuroscience. Framed within the larger question of the unique abilities of the human mind, the project will take an interdisciplinary look at brain science and raise questions about the nature and biological basis of diverse aspects of human experience including consciousness. By following a rider in the Tour de France, the film will illustrate how the brain functions in both normal and stressful situations. Major sequences will explore vision, memory and emotion. Slightly shorter sequences will delve into imagination and creativity, language, dreams and pain. Brief "interludes" will allow the film to reflect on the brain as it is represented in a range of human capabilities. Finally, the film turns it attention to consciousness, self-awareness and the totality of experiencing life as a human. Outreach components of the project include: A weeklong national symposium for museum educators, teachers, and community organizations from all regions of the country. Follow up regional "Brain Workshops" designed to provide more focused project support. "The Brain: Exploratory Trips Into the Final Frontier" -- An Educator/Student Activity Guide Fun Facts Family Guide to "The Brain" An Educational Lobby Kiosk "Head Trip: A Voyage Through the Young Human Mind" -- An illustrated instructional brochure A Brain Website The film will be directed by Bayley Silleck whose prior large format films include "Cosmic Voyage" and "Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance." The lead scientific advisors are Dr. Dennis Selkow, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Anne Young, Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. There also will be a seven-member advisory committee composed of neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
JoAnna Baldwin-Mallory
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
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.
Thinking SMART is a comprehensive five-year program that will encourage young women to pursue careers in science, mathematics and technology. The project focuses on girls ages 12-18, and will especially target those who are underserved and underrepresented in the sciences, including girls from diverse backgrounds and persons with disabilities. Key elements include four science/engineering module options, a two-tiered mentoring component, training, resource materials, online activities and an awards program. The modules (Material Girls, Eco Girls, Galactic Girls, Net Girls), focus on engineering, ecology, physics and computer science respectively, and will be aligned with national standards. The modules are implemented during the school year and include weekly programming, a summer camp and a spring "Women in Science and Engineering" conference organized by girls. Weekly meetings are augmented by online activities, in which girls interact with other participants and mentors, publish reports and obtain career information. Additionally, participants who complete all four modules are eligible to become paid mentors for younger participants. Five publications will be produced to support the program, including manuals for mentors (both adults and youth), module activities, a parent guide and a guide for implementation sites on community partnerships. Thinking SMART materials will be developed and piloted tested at eight sites in conjunction with Girls, Inc. affiliates in Nashua, NH, Worcester, MA, Oakridge, TN and Shelbyville, IN, with input from the Society of Women Engineers. Extensive training will also be provided for pilot programs and future dissemination. Finally the E3 Awards Program will motivate implementation sites to create high quality local programs. It is anticipated that more than 1,500 Girls, Inc. affiliates will adopt "Thinking SMART."
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Brenda StegallJanet StantonHeather Johnston NicholsonShalonda MurrayJoe Martinez
The Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh has designed a research project to examine the process of and outcomes of informal (out of school) web-based learning. "Conceptualizing and Assessing Web-based Informal Science Education" will be a three-year research study to document and analyze how the informal learner, both as an individual and in a social group, uses and learns from web-based activities. The PIs will also develop a framework and tools for evaluating informal web-based learning environments and guidelines for effective web-based learning activities. This research will use web sites developed by museums and that are complementary to exhibits in those museums. These sites are being selected because according to the PIs, "museums and other nonprofit developers are already going beyond traditional content to create true virtual informal learning environments." The outcomes of this research will include a better understanding of the cognitive and social processes that occur as learners engage in web-based activities; a framework and tools for evaluating informal web-based learning activities; and a web-based annotated bibliography relevant to this research.
The Garden Mosaics program will develop and test a model in which youth conduct research on community and home gardens in urban settings. Youth ages 11-18 will be recruited to participate in gardening activities in conjunction with elders from their communities. Students learn the science content associated with organismal biology, community ecology, ecosystems and the physical environment, as well as culturally-related food growing practices. Participants then take part in guided research; using methods such as transect walks, mapping, ecosystem models and soil tests, to document food-growing practices of immigrant minority and traditional gardeners. Expanded research investigations will be open to students who want to continue their explorations using the Internet and other resources. Students contribute to new and existing databases of ethnic and heritage gardening practices in the United States. Materials to be developed include an Educator's Manual, a Youth Handbook and a Garden Mosaics website. During the pilot phase a national leadership team will be established to test the program and materials at 10 sites in different cities across the U.S. including San Antonio, Baltimore, Boston, Sacramento, New York, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. It is anticipated that the dissemination of this model will reach more than 750 educators and 13,000 youth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marianne KrasnyAlan BerkowitzGretchen Ferenz
The goal of this project is to make a fundamental contribution towards a nationally shared understanding of the role and impact of a science center in facilitating enhanced public understanding, attitudes and behaviors toward science by means of informal learning activities. To accomplish this, this research project will investigate the following questions: 1) What are the specific long-term changes in science understanding, attitudes and behaviors that result from visiting a science center exhibition? 2) What are the factors that contribute to these long-term changes? 3) What is the relationship between science center visits and subsequent reinforcing educational experiences? This study will build on previous work conducted by ILI at the California Science Center aimed at understanding how a science center impacts its community. These studies are known collectively as the Los Angeles Science Education Research Project (LASER). A sample of participants in one of the LASER studies has expressed their willingness to participate in subsequent interviews. These interviews will be designed to capture both small and large changes in science understanding, attitudes, behaviors and other informal learning experiences subsequent to the visit to the science center.
The Wildlands Project is producing a four-hour television series for PBS and the CBC. The television series, "The Sacred Balance," will feature geneticist and environmental scientist David Suzuki as he examines a new vision of the human place in nature. The series aims to enrich and expand the scientific world view by looking at traditional knowledge, myth, literature and art, and by incorporating aspects of human spirituality into the insights presented by science. The aim of the project is to show that the world-view human beings have celebrated since ancient times is reemerging, transformed, from the laboratories of modern science. Moving away from reductionist techniques, researchers from many different disciplines are studying diversity, whole organisms, systems and relationships that begin in the individual cell and extend to the entire planet. The television series is designed to change the way the public acts in the world by demonstrating that what we do to the Earth we do to ourselves. Dr. Suzuki will work closely with an advisory committee in shaping the series. The members of this committee include: Lane Lubchenco: Professor of Marine Biology and Zoology, Oregon State University David Schindler: Environmental Ecologist, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta E. O. Wilson: Biologist, Harvard University Sylvia Earl: Marine Ecologist and "Explorer in Residence" at the National Geographic Society, Washington, DC James Parks Morton: Former Dean, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, currently at the Interfaith Center of New York The television series will be supplemented by a new, interactive Sacred Balance website and a teachers guide. Ancillary material also will include Dr. Suzuki's trade book, "The Sacred Balance."
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David SuzukiRobert LangAmanda McConnell
The Exploratorium will develop a series of Internet resources on three popular topics -- cooking, gardening, and making music -- to encourage users in science education activities in relation to daily activities. The three-year project will include the development and testing of resources that explore the science behind these topics, using the notion that we all, consciously or not, are "accidental scientists" who engage in the scientific process in the course of everyday life. Target audiences include general public adults and youth. Components of the site will feature aspects of cooking, gardening, and making music that are intended to appeal to diverse communities. The resources will also serve formal education through the Exploratorium's national and local network of educators.
This creative project pairs grandparents or other senior citizens with children in grades K-7 for an intergenerational hands-on SMT program. The OASIS institute, which has a large national membership of adults 55 and older with centers based in 25 cities across the US, is the source of adults. Twenty intergenerational modules will be developed which address the learning styles of both children and older adults, half of which will be linked with the NSF-funded "Find Out Why" materials. Master training sessions will be conducted for OASIS trainers, who would then train volunteers at their local centers. Anticipated outcomes include increased knowledge of standards-based SMT concepts, enhanced problem-solving skills and a better understanding of how science, math and technology apply to everyday life. In addition to the modules, the program would also result in the creation of a supplementary guide for volunteers, materials kits and a comprehensive training program. It is anticipated that this exciting program will be piloted in the following nine states: MO, IN, OR, MD, AZ, TX, CA, IL and OH. Over 100,000 individuals will be impacted during the three years of the project.
Native Waters is a comprehensive four-year tribal science education program focused on water. Working closely with leaders from 28 Missouri River Basin Tribes, the project will explore the Missouri River Flood Basin from a scientific and cultural standpoint. Partners are The Watercourse and International Project WET (Water Education for Teachers). Activities include Leadership Institutes for community educators and Native Waters Future Leaders Camps for secondary school and college students. Products to be developed include an interactive traveling exhibit, which will focus on the Missouri River watershed and the physical properties of water, as well as its uses from a cultural and scientific standpoint. The exhibit will travel to cultural centers, tribal colleges and school libraries throughout the ten Missouri River Basin states. A 250-page Native Water's Educators Guide will be disseminated nationally and impact over 500,000 individuals, both youth and adults. Finally, a 16-page student activity book and a Native Waters film will be produced to introduce youth and community members to water resource issues. The training materials will be used in cultural centers, museums, area water councils and schools.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bonnie Sachatello-SawyerDennis Nelson
The University of Minnesota is requesting funding to implement a nationwide citizen science project focused on the life cycle of monarch butterflies. Scientists from the University will train naturalists and environmental educators throughout the U.S. at nine host sites. Participants in the first round of training will then conduct regional training sessions for naturalists, who will in turn train volunteer monitors. The target audience for volunteers will be adult/child teams. Results will be disseminated using the University of Minnesota's Environmental Spatial Analysis Center to show temporal and spatial data via the WWW. Listserves will also be created to support the project, to augment a monthly newsletter and the website. Mini-exhibits will be created to highlight the project at participating nature centers. Exhibits will focus on monarch and insect ecology and conservation, as well as local and population-wide monitoring efforts. It is estimated that 90-150 nature centers will participate in the regional training, and they will in turn train almost 5,000 volunteers.