Award-winning Scholastic Productions, Inc. proposes to produce 39 fully animated, half hour television programs, based on the successful children's science book series, The Magic School Bus. We are seeking funding for the initial three seasons (13 episodes per season) which will be produced over a four year period. Designed as an informal science education series for PBS, it is targeted primarily for 6-9 year-olds, with special attention given to reaching girls and minority children. The series has clear science pedagogical goals: 1) to motivate children to further science study, 2) to present science facts, concepts and systems, and 3) to inspire positive attitudes towards science and education for students and teachers. Throughout the production, audience research and field testing will ensure that the programming is effectively meeting these goals. The series features a remarkable teacher, Ms. Frizzle, who takes her class on equally remarkable field trips. While other teachers may go to a museum, Ms. Frizzle leads her class onto a yellow school bus that shrinks (along with its students) to the size of a cell to journey through the human body, rocket into outer space, or travel into the eye of a hurricane. Thus, the series makes science tangible and relatable for an audience of children who are still concrete thinkers. We will create a broad outreach program, utilizing the publishing and distribution resources of Scholastic Productions' parent company, Scholastic Inc., (the largest publisher of children's materials in the English-speaking world), and other targeted organizations. Through viewer guides, series publicity and promotion, magazine editorials, community and after-school programs, we expect to reach a large and culturally diverse audience, including minorities frequently not served by PBS.
Reading Rainbow is an eighty (80) part PBS children's series (15 of which are science programs) that entices children five to eight years old to read good books, thus addressing the national tragedy of more and more young Americans reading less and less. The Emmy award winning series employs television to sell the joy of science and reading to young viewers. This proposal seeks funding for five additional Reading Rainbow programs which will focus on scientific themes. These programs will be added to the previously funded science programs (22) to become part of the on-going series in demonstrating to children how science is integrated into all aspects of our lives. The Reading Rainbow series premiered in the summer of l983 to phenomenal critical and popular acclaim. In the fall of 1990, Reading Rainbow expanded ta a year round, daily schedule-- after having spent seven years as a summer series. According to formal studies, the science shows are of great interest to children and pique children's interest in related science topics and books. The series is no in its tenth season and its popularity has grown among young viewers as well as with parents.
BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY is a half-hour, weekly children's science education series produced in Seattle, Washington by McKenna/Gottlieb Producers Inc. and KCTS Television in association with Rabbit Ears Production. The series is designed to make science assessable and interesting to children in the of forth and fifth grades by relating science at the interests and everyday activities of children and presenting basic concepts from elementary science curricula in a humorous and exciting format. Programs are set in a variety of studio and field locations and utilize special effects and the creative techniques of host Bill Nye, a popular television entertainer and science aficionado. In each program, studio demonstrations/experiments and field segments feature Nye and a diverse cast of children, scientists and celebrity guests. Experiments and demonstrations use inexpensive, safe household items to enable viewers to follow along at home or in the classroom. As part of the promotion and outreach for the series, ancillary materials such as a teacher's guide, parent's guide, activity packages and newsletters will be developed and made available to schools as well as in the home and such informal setting as community centers, libraries, and clubs.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth BrockWilliam NyeJames McKennaErren Gottlieb
The Carnegie Science Center (of Carnegie Institute) and Carnegie Mellon University (Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, and The Studio for Creative Inquiry) have initiated a collaborative project that portends to change in a dramatic fashion the planetarium theater as a tool for informal science education. After several months of preliminary discussions and, now, the beginning of work, the creative team has been assembled that is defining the vision and executing the program of this exciting project. The vision being formulated is the transformation of The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium into a new visualization environment to achieve an interdisciplinary and interactive group learning experience. We call this new concept the "Group Immersive Visualization Environment (GIVE). GIVE will accomplish much of the impact of virtual reality by combining "three-dimensional" images generated by Evans & Sutherland's Digistar Projection System with real and animated, high-resolution video computer images and multimedia and by providing direct audience-control of program direction via The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium's elaborate 156-seat, electronic response system. While we anticipate the eventual production of a series of programs in a variety of subject fields, the first to utilize GIVE will be "Journey to the Center of the Cell," a 35-minute presentation. The treatment will convey an experience of self-discovery and natural wonder as audiences transport themselves through striking visualizations of the living cell. Production and evaluation of "Journey to the Center of the Cell" and the development of the Group Immersive Visualization Environment will occur under the auspices of staff of The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium, key personnel from Carnegie Mellon University, evaluator Harris H. Shettel, and an Advisory Panel consisting of key planetarium and eductional professionals. Program production packages, incorporating compatible components of "Journey to the Center of the Cell," will be produced, marketed and distributed to public and school planetariums; and a Teacher Resource Kit containing supplementary educational materials in the form of video tapes, CD-ROMS and computer disks wil extend the program's reach into the classroom. Special relationships and viewing times will be offered at The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium targeting Pittsburgh inner city schools and regional districts containing large percentages of underserved and minority students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Paul OlesD. Lansing TaylorMartin Ratcliffe
NACME will produce a three year public service advertising campaign designed to shape the educational choices children make in junior high and high school with respect to mathematics and science. The ads, featuring actor/director Spike Lee, will aim to increase the number of children in grades three through eight who understand the relevance and value of mathematics and science to life in the adult world. The campaign also will be directed towards parents with the goal of helping them recognize the importance of learning mathematics and science to their children's future. The components of the project will be: For each of the three years of the project, development and distribution of one 60, one 30, and one 10 second television spot; For each of the three years of the project, development and distribution of three 60, three 30, and three 10 second radio spots; Annual development of print ads and marketing materials to be delivered to selected consumer magazines, educator's publications, in-school magazines, newspaper "kid pages," comic book companies, and bus shelter and transit card carriers; Annual development and distribution of 100,000 full-color student brochures to reinforce the concepts outlined in the campaign; Annual development and distribution of 100,000 brochures for parents to engage them in their children's science and mathematics education; Establishment of a toll-free 800 number for students to call to request information. Each caller will be sent both the student and the parent brochure; Development of promotional materials including buttons, games, science experiments, math puzzles, T-shirts, etc.; Annual public relations campaigns including press conferences, media tours, in-school demonstrations, and personal appearances; Annual evaluation of the project including monthly reports of fulfillment of requests received via the 800 number. Development, production, and distribution of the campaign will be the responsibility of a task force consisting of: Ronni Denes, NACME's vice president for communications and public affairs; George Campbell Jr., President of NACME; Lea E. Williams, executive vice President of NACME and formerly served as vice president, educational services, of the United Negro College Fund; Catherine Morrison, director of research; and Ismael Diaz, director of precollege programs. The ad agency for the NACME/Ad Council campaign is Tracy-Locke. Rob Britton, manager of Advertising and Direct Marketing for American Airlines will serve as campaign director.
EINSTEIN is a series of three prime time television programs to be shown nationally on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The series will present a scientific biography of Albert Einstein. The series will treat the life of Albert Einstein on several levels. The central narative thread will trace the development and impact of Einstein's work in physics. The three programs will examine Einstein's impact beyond physics -- as a muse for the arts; a dissident voice in politics; a moral sensibility; ultimately as the greatest public symbol of scientific accomplishment. With original texts (including newly identified documents from the Einstein archives), historical footage, interviews, documentary sequences, the most sophisticated computer animation available, and other techniques as appropriate, EINSTEIN will present to its audience a unique picture of the role of Albert Einstein in the making of the modern world. Beyond its broadcast in 1992, the series also will receive wide educational distribution in secondary schools and colleges and a large foreign audience.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Paula ApsellThomas LevensonBarbara Flagg
"3-2-1 Contact," the nationally broadcast award winning children's public television science series, has been reaching children aged 8-12 with daily half hour science programming since 1980 with support from both the National Science Foundation and the U. S. Department of Education. In seven seasons of production, CTW has produced 225 regular and two special shows, generating an estimated 633 million viewings by the target audience and more than 1.66 billion viewings by viewers of all ages. With completion of primary show production, the series will begin repeat broadcasts in the fall of 1989 drawn from the library of existing programs. This final award will support continued broadcast of the series and insure the widest possible distribution and utilization of "3-2-1 Contact." CTW will implement a Transition Plan to sustain series broadcast, establish series access as a VCR based science resource, and insure permanent access for teachers, schools, and out of school resources to the "3-2-1 Contact" program library. Broadcast activities will include supporting a portion of the costs of residuals for rebroadcast for a five year period, production of five "3-2-1 Contact EXTRAS" -- single topic half hour specials with high visibility -- and encouraging increased off air taping of the series by teachers. Support for school use of the series will be strengthened with the development and distribution of topic indexing software and teacher guides, the creation of short "3-2-1 Contact" segments specifically tailored to the classroom needs of teachers and a series blockfeed to schools to create a permanent archive of shows. Community outreach partnerships will be strengthened and home video opportunities explored as well. This five year award will allow millions of American children the continued opportunity to view science programming after school on a regular basis, and will assist their teachers in making effective use of "3-2-1 Contact" program materials in classroom settings.
The Computer Museum in Boston, MA is requesting a SGER of $49,000 to support preliminary research into the use of virtual reality as a tool for informal science. Using a virtual reality environment of the human cell, they will test to determined: 1) if people gain a physical understanding of the human cell, including a sense of scale, the shape and location of elements, and the physical relationship between elements, and 2) if people gain an understanding of the concept of a system by interacting in the virtual world of the human cell. The PI will be David Greschler, Exhibit Developer at the Museum. He has developed two major exhibits at the Museum, has worked at the MIT Media Laboratory, and has taught educational software design at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Eben Gay will be co-PI and will have oversight for the software development of the virtual reality. He has been Principal Engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation since 1980 and has been building virtual realities since 1982.
The Numbers Alive project will model the use of number sense and provide opportunities for its practice through the production of ten half-hour television programs for students, one program for parents and care-givers, and print materials in support of both types of programs. The targeted student audience is fifth and sixth graders. The print materials supplement the televised programs. The series emphasizes number concepts and problem solving strategies in support of the NCTM Standards.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gail Porter LongFrancis Fennell
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This project is to host a conference, "Future Direction of Informal Science Education", for project directors of NSF- funded informal science education projects. The purpose will be to: promote communication, networking and collaboration; address common problems; discuss strategies for areas of concern; design future roles of projects for informal science education. Themes for the conference will be serving underrepresented audiences, linkages with formal education and citywide systemic change, and assessing the impact of informal science education project.
The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) is requesting $50,000 to investigate and report on education activities linking science centers with schools. The research will examine the nature and levels of service currently provided by science centers, and produce a report that describes the current status with an emphasis on understandings that provide insight for program planning. The study will gather information from both museums and schools and museums where collaborative efforts are not occurring to investigate the barriers that have discouraged linkages.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bonnie VanDorn
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This conference is to examine learning techniques in a museum setting, in cooperation with the American Association of Museums. The conference will initiate the process of defining both what and how to measure learning in museums.