This project develops an 8-week middle-school mathematics module that introduces cryptography, the science of sending secret messages, while teaching and reinforcing the learning of related mathematical concepts. The topics range from the classical encryption systems and the historic context in which they were used through powerful modern encryption systems that provide secrecy in electronic messages today. The module also covers passwords and codes that correct errors in the transmission of information. Public awareness of the importance of cryptography is growing, as is the need to understand the issues involved. The study of cryptography provides an interesting context for students to apply traditional mathematical skills and concepts. Mathematical topics covered include percents, probability, functions, prime numbers, decimals, inverses and modular arithmetic. The main product is a middle-school student book, with accompanying teacher materials. A web site is being developed that supports the activities in this book. Abbreviated modules for Grades 3, 4 and 5 are also being developed, as well as an instructor's guide for adapting the materials for use in informal educational settings such as museums and after-school programs. The development of the module involves piloting and field-testing by experienced classroom teachers from diverse school communities and instructors of informal educational programs. Evaluation includes review by mathematicians and educators, as well as an investigation into the level of students' understanding of the topics studied.
The Developmental Studies Center (DSC) will implement "Home, School and Community: AfterSchool Math for Grades 3-5," a program that targets at-risk and low income children in afterschool programs. AfterSchool Math trains youth workers to help students in grades 3-5 better understand measurement and geometry concepts, building on the success of the NSF-funded Home, School and Community mathematics program for grades K-2 (ESI #97-05421). The project develops, field-tests and evaluates thirty math games and ten story guides, which support the social and mathematical development of children, while emphasizing cooperative learning. The content for all materials will be aligned with national standards in mathematics. A 12-hour professional development workshop for youth workers and an 18-hour workshop for facilitators or youth worker leaders are also planned. Two training videos and a facilitator manual will be produced to support this aspect of the project. Field testing will occur in Kansas, Louisiana and Missouri. This proposal has been augmented to include a special emphasis on rural communities which doubles the number of field test sites from 50 to 100. A Rural Outreach Specialist will conduct focus group meetings to determine needs unique to rural programs and lead the field testing in these communities. It is anticipated that over 3,200 youth workers will be trained and a national cadre of more than 300 youth worker leaders will be created.
WGBH is producing a three-hour television series about the scientific quest for a unified set of laws governing the universe. The programs, to be broadcast as part of the on-going NOVA series, will place special emphasis on the new development in physics known as string theory. Inspired by Columbia University physicist Brian Greene's best-selling book of the same name, "The Elegant Universe" will explore the ways in which our understanding of matter and forces, space and time have shifted over the years, most recently with the emergence of string theory in the 1980s and its resurgence in the last five years. Greene will play a prominent role in the series, both on camera and as a consultant helping the producers shape the programs. The series, planned for broadcast in the fall of 2002, will communicate critical scientific concepts through filmed experiments, carefully crafted explanations, and the latest in computer animation. Interviews with scientists and historians, re-creations of key breakthroughs in the history of science, and sequences featuring physicists working on today's most pressing problems will allow viewers to share in the excitement of scientific discovery. Outreach material will be developed for the public and for teachers. NOVA Online will produce a rich companion Web site to allow viewers whose interest is piqued by the series to enhance their learning in a number of ways, including interactive animations of famous experiments and essays that go deeper into subjects than the programs could.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Margaret DrainPaula ApsellBarbara Flagg
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
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will develop "Outdoors Indoors, an Interactive Natural Science Exhibition for Young Children," ages 3-8, and their families. Two 2,500 sq. ft. versions of the exhibition will be developed -- one to be installed at OMSI and the other to travel. Building on children's innate curiosity about the natural world, the exhibition invites visitors to explore a woodland environment where they can develop process skills and learn natural science concepts. The exhibition will also focus on ways that parents can help encourage their children's science learning, both through exhibit activities and through exploration of the natural world outdoors. Bilingual text (English and Spanish) will help make the exhibition accessible to a diverse audience. Ancillary materials for families and educators will further enhance learning.
WGBH is producing twelve quarterly television magazine-format programs devoted to the public understanding of current scientific research. The programs will consider the significant areas of on-going research, present the scientists who are conducting the research, portray research as an on-going endeavor and discuss the social impact and ethical implications of major areas of research. Each program will include segments such as the following: Research news update - (5 to 7 mins.) Feature stories about on-going research - 3 (8 to 12 min. each) In-studio discussions following many of the feature stories - ethical, policy and social implications Point/Counterpoint - 2 commentators presenting social, ethical, political and economic aspects of research "Then and Now" segments showing changing nature of scientific research In-studio demonstrations Interstitial moments -- Showcases of interesting and surprising aspects of research Close -- update stories from previous programs, read viewers' input or answer viewers' questions, preview upcoming story. In addition, WGBH will produce three one-hour "Year in Review" programs that report what major research has occurred over the past year and puts it in a context that will help viewers understand the role of current research in all aspects of life. Other major components of the project include on-going collaborations with other Public Understanding of Research Projects, an interactive web site, communication training for scientists to help them explain their work to the public, "Science Cafes" with on-going public programs about cutting-edge research in informal settings, a resource guide for teachers, "Leading Edge" articles in magazines targeted to teens, a "Leading Edge" science contest for students conducted through PBS stations and a station resource kit with information about how to establish local collaborations with researchers, science museums, schools and others.
Twin Cities Public Television, in association with Red Hill Studios, is producing and disseminating an Exploring Time television special and associated outreach material. The project will augment and leverage the Exploring Time traveling exhibit now being developed by the Science Museum of Minnesota (NSF grant #99-01919). The goal of both the exhibit and the television special is to increase the public's understanding of our world by revealing the unseen world of natural change -- the multitude of changes that are occurring in the present but at rates too slow or too fast to be seen. The television special will provide visual explorations of changes that take place over a vast range of timescales -- from billionths of seconds to billions of years. The television series and exhibit will be supplemented by a range of materials. Both low- and high-bandwidth, web-based material will be available and a teacher's guide will be developed for middle school classrooms. A "Time Explorers Toolkit" will be available to both formal and informal learners. This CD-ROM includes detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to create time-lapse movies. The project also will coordinate outreach with the Community Technology Centers Network, the organization that supports technology centers that serve individuals from underrepresented and low-income groups.
The Soundprint Media Center will conduct planning for "Evolution Discoveries," a multi-part radio series on evolutionary science, contemporary issues and new discoveries. The project will help educate the public about the insights evolutionary science can offer current problems and issues, while at the same time help to explain basic principles of evolutionary science. Key planning activities over five months will include identifying gaps in public understanding of evolutionary science, creating a framework for the radio series and producing and testing a pilot program. They will work with an advisory group that includes museums and researchers that are studying visitor understanding of evolution -- geographically, developmentally and by gender. They plan to develop partnerships with informal science organizations (museums, zoos, aquariums, etc.) to extend the reach of the audio material beyond those of public radio. Other components of the project include a public radio station resource guide to help establish local collaborations between stations and local scientists, museums, zoos, aquariums and others; a resource guide for teachers and a website that will complement and be compatible with other online resources such as those supported by natural history museums and the Human Genome Management Project.
WGBH Educational Foundation is requesting funds to produce 20 new shows and new outreach and Web activities for "ZOOM," which will be renamed "Hot Seat." "Hot Seat" is a daily half-hour PBS television series targeted to kids ages 8 to 11. Uniquely by and for kids, the program gives its viewers a chance to explore, to experiment and to share their creativity. The series, along with its far-reaching outreach, offers its audience an innovative curriculum that promotes the acquisition of basic math and science knowledge and the development of problem solving skills called "Habits of Mind." The intended impacts are to: (1) establish a project that uniquely integrates television, the Web and outreach as a model for how media can teach science and math; (2) engage kids and teach them science and math content and process skills; (3) provide curriculum and professional development to organizational partners. Innovation includes developing three new content areas for the series -- Invention, Space Science and Earth Science -- and evolving the project design by incorporating new production techniques that enhance the "reality factor" of the science programming. Outreach for the project will include printed materials for kids, families and educators. A new collaborative partnership is being developed with the American Library Association to help distribute the new afterschool curricula to librarians across the country. "Hot Seat" will support the existing network of "ZOOM" outreach partners and convert the museum "ZOOMzones" to "Hot Seat Spots." "ZOOM" currently is carried by 269 public broadcasting stations and is viewed by 4 million children each week.
Twin Cities Public Television is producing 13 new episodes and new outreach and Web activities for the fourth season of DragonflyTV, the weekly science television series targeted at children ages 9-12. The series presents authentic inquiry-based investigations, created by and for children. The programs focus on children doing their own scientific investigations and sharing the excitement that comes from making their own discoveries. The programs also include real scientists doing research on related themes and snapshots and home movies of the scientists when they were kids. Outreach for DragonflyTV consists of an interactive website where children can share their science investigation, programs at selected Boys and Girls Clubs of America and 4H Clubs, Teacher's Guides distributed through the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and PBS stations, and the development of new community partnerships with established informal science organizations. Multimedia research and Rockman et al will conduct formative and summative evaluations.
This comprehensive ITEST project would provide sixty middle and high school teachers with an introduction to Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies. The project, which brings together a leadership team of educators, science researchers and experts in resource management, is based at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory, a research facility that studies stream and forest ecosystems. The program will focus on environmental applications in which teachers use probes to investigate the properties of local forest and stream ecosystems. Teachers will apply their technology experiences to creating standards based lessons aligned with local curricula. The teacher participants will be recruited from rural, underserved Appalachian communities in western Maryland and northern West Virginia. Local students will be recruited to participate in a four-day summer session that includes field-testing the proposed lessons and learning about career opportunities in information technology.
WGBH Educational Foundation is requesting $1,709,863 to produce 20 new shows and new outreach and Web activities for ZOOM. ZOOM is a daily half-hour PBS series targeted to kids ages 8 to 11. Uniquely by and for kids, ZOOM gives its viewers a chance to explore, experiment and share their creativity. The series, along with its far-reaching outreach, offers its audience an innovative curriculum that promotes the acquisition of basic math and science knowledge and the development of problem solving skills called "Habits of Mind." The goals for Season VII are to: (1) develop three new content areas-"Survivor Science," "Sleuth Science," and "Conservation Science"; (2) launch "ZOOM Into Action and Conserve," a new campaign designed to give kids conservation activities to fuel their volunteerism and help them understand the science behind their efforts; (3) create new science training materials for afterschool program leaders; and, (4) conduct summative evaluation to continue to gauge ZOOM's effectiveness at teaching math and science to targeted audiences. Outreach for the project will include print materials for kids, families and educators. ZOOM-related activities at community-based organizations include 1,450 ClubZOOM science afterschool programs and 23 ZOOMzone science museum exhibits. ZOOM currently is carried by 261 public broadcasting stations and is viewed by close to 5 million children per week. The 2,400-page interactive web site is updated weekly and attracts almost 43,000 visitors per day.