Pulse of the Planet” children's science challenge includes 150 radio programs which focus on the interaction between a select group of scientists and youths 8-11, who have been chosen from a nationwide Science Challenge which encourages children to submit questions and potential experiments to scientists. Project partners include a variety of businesses (e.g., sports manufacturers such as K2), media (e.g., internet social networks such as imbee.com, TIME for Kids, Dragonfly TV, and Hispanic Communications Network) and educational partnerships (e.g. Community Science Workshops and the National Science Teacher's Association.) Underserved participants will be reached through Celebra la Ciencia science outreach programs.
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.
WGBH will produce and distribute 10 new episodes of the award-winning television series "PEEP and the Big Wide World ," which is targeted to preschoolers. In addition, the project will expand the PEEP Web site, and develop and evaluate an online multimedia tutorial to help educators engage preschool children in science. The project's three intended impacts are to (1) engage preschoolers in science explorations that promote positive attitudes and inquiry skills, (2) empower parents to encourage and support their children's science activities, and (3) provide educational resources and professional development for preschool educators via a curriculum that contributes to the emerging field of preschool science education. The project's innovative deliverables include a television show that has a unique style and content, a Web site that is navigable by non-readers, and outreach activities that fulfill an important need for preschool science education. The series is produced by WGBH and broadcast on TLC and Discovery Kids. The project's collaborators, which include organizations such as Head Start, the National Education Association, Countdown to Kindergarten, American Library Association, and Boston Children's Museum, help promote the series' educational goals across different platforms, maximize resources, extend impact and reach underserved audiences. The Goodman Research Group will conduct the project summative evaluation.
WGBH is producing and disseminating two seasons of a daily, half-hour television science series and accompanying outreach for three to five year olds. The series will be carried nationally as part of Discovery Television's newly expanded Discovery Kids. The project, "Peep and the Big Wide World," will model a developmentally-appropriate process of inquiry and exploration, nurture young children's innate curiosity, catalyze further hands-on exploration of the world around them, and motivate parents and care-givers to support and encourage these activities. The television programs will combine animation and short, live-action segments. The animation will weave the early childhood science curriculum into stories about three birds and their animal friends as they explore the world. Science content, unifying concepts, and habits of mind will be reinforced through two-minute live-action segments that show kids engaged in science play relating directly to the previous story. The television series will be supported by a comprehensive "Anywhere Science" outreach component of the project. "Anywhere Science" reinforces the fact that opportunities to experience and enjoy science exist in most facets of life. It will offer a range of activities -- through both web and print materials -- that can be enjoyed by just about anyone, just about anywhere. "Anywhere Science" is being designed to show parents and caregivers how important it is to support children's curiosity and how easy it is to engage in activities that help develop their science "habits of mind." The outreach campaign will be built around the new National Association for the Education of Young Children professional development standards and Head Start's science framework. The content director for "Peep and the Big Wide World" is Karen Worth, Senior Scientist at the Education Development Center and the Co-Director of the Center for Urban Science Education Reform. She is also the Principal Investigator of "Tool Kits for Early Childhood Science Education" that is developing national standards for preschool science education. The Executive Producer for the project is Kate Taylor who has previously served as Executive Producer for"ZOOM," " Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego," and "Degrassi Junior High." The creator of PEEP and animation artist is Kai Pindal, former Head of Animation at Danish Television. The head writer is Kathy Waugh who has written four seasons of the Emmy winning children's series, "Arthur." Evaluation will be conducted by Rockman et al. Advisors for the series include Barbara Bowman, President of the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development; Diane Levin, Professor of Education at Wheelock College; Tera O'Hora, Consultant and Workshop Facilitator for "Science Beyond the Sandtable;" Kathy Paget, an early childhood educator working as a science curriculum developer and evaluator of science-related educational projects at the Technical Education Research Center; Diane Whitehead, a Quality Initiative Coordinator for the National Head Start Association; and Elizabeth Young, Director of Head Start Child Care in Cambridge, MA.
To address a lack of informal science education opportunities and to increase community capacity to support STEM education for their children, Washington State University's Yakima Valley/Tri Cities MESA program, the Pacific Science Center, and KDNA Educational Radio have developed a set of informal science initiatives that offer complementary learning opportunities for rural Latino families. The goal of this four-year program is to create a sustainable informal science infrastructure in southeastern Washington State to serve families, increase parental awareness, support and involvement in science education and ultimately increase the numbers of rural Latino youth pursuing STEM-related under graduate studies. This program is presented in English and Spanish languages in all of its interconnected deliverables: Two mobile exhibits, beginning with one focused on agricultural and environmental science developed by The Pacific Science (PCS) Center; Curriculum and training in agriculture, life sciences and facilitating learning; Curriculum and training for community members to provide support to parents in encouraging the academic aspirations of their children developed by PSC and MESA; 420 Youth and parents from the MESA program trained to interpret exhibits and run workshops, community festivals, family science workshops and Saturday programs throughout the community; Four annual community festivals, quarterly Family Saturday events, and Family Science Workshops reaching 20,000 people over the four-year project; Take home activities, science assemblies, a website and CDs with music and science programming for community events; A large media initiative including monthly one hour call-in radio programs featuring science experts, teachers, professionals, students and parents, 60-second messages promoting science concepts and resources and a publicity campaign in print, radio and TV to promote community festivals. These venues reach 12,500-25,000 people each; A program manual that includes training, curriculum and collaborative strategies used by the project team. Overall Accesso la Ciencia connects parents and children through fun community activities to Pasco School District's current LASER science education reform effort. This project complements the school districts effort by providing a strong community support initiative in informal science education. Each activity done in the community combines topics of interest to rural Latinos (agriculture for instance) to concepts being taught in the schools, while also providing tools and support to parents that increases their awareness of opportunities for their children in STEM education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
James PrattD. Janae' LandisDonald LynchMichael Trevisan