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Project Descriptions

How People Make Things -- A Traveling Exhibition

July 1, 2004 - December 31, 2008 | Exhibitions
The Pittsburgh Children's Museum (PCM) is developing a 2,700 sq ft traveling exhibition, "How People Make Things," in collaboration with Family Communications, the producers of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." The exhibition will use the factory visit segments from this popular television program, the longest running on PBS, as a jumping off point for engaging children in the processes by which familiar objects are manufactured. PCM is building on its prior success with "Design It!," an after-school program funded by a prior NSF grant. This project extends that work to expose children to the hidden science and technology that form the basis for manufacturing. The exhibition will include the Neighborhood Factory orientation area and sections on Making Things: Designing Things, Forming Things (Additive, Subtractive, Deformational), and Assembling Things. Project collaborators include members of the Carnegie Mellon University Industrial and Engineering Design program and the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center UPCLOSE. Broader Impact: The exhibition is projected to reach at least 750,000 visitors in nine museum venues through its nationwide tour; the target audience is families with children ages 3 to 10. Promotion and dissemination will be enhanced by the connection with PBS, which continues to air the "Mister Roger's Neighborhood" program. Partnerships with the AFL-CIO, Catalyst Communications, and Society of Manufacturing Engineers will extend the outreach effort. Special efforts will be made to target girls and underserved audiences.

Funders

NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0407355
Funding Amount: 1552571

TEAM MEMBERS

  • REVISE logo
    Principal Investigator
    Pittsburgh Children's Museum
  • Penny Lodge
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Pittsburgh Children's Museum
  • Ross Chapman
    Former Co-Principal Investigator
    Pittsburgh Children's Museum
  • 2014 10 08 MartiL
    Former Co-Principal Investigator
    Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
  • Discipline: Engineering | Nature of science | Technology
    Audience: Families | Pre-K Children (0-5) | Elementary School Children (6-10) | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Exhibitions | Museum and Science Center Exhibits
    Access and Inclusion: Women and Girls | Low Socioeconomic Status

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