The first phase of the evaluation, a front-end visitor study, assessing visitors' knowledge of and interest in space science and the cosmos, was conducted in May and June of 2000 at Boston's Museum of Science (MOS). The evaluation's second phase, a formative evaluation of the exhibition prototype, was completed in February of 2001 at the MOS. This summative report represents the third round of the evaluation process conducted by PERG, and is an evaluation of the current Cosmic Questions exhibition and related activities, based on data obtained by evaluators at two sites Boston's Museum of
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joan KarpJudah LeblangSusan Baker CohenHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
The Hudson River Museum (HRM) will develop Hudson Riverama: An Interactive, Long-term Exhibition for Families and School Children. This will be a 2000 sq. ft. exhibit and will take the form of a trip along the Hudson River. Part I, "The Journey," will introduce seven distinct river environments from Lake Tear in the Clouds to the New York Harbor. Part II, "River People," will present human occupations and activities that are related to the river such as a shad fisherman, a municipal planner, a sewage treatment worker, and an environmental educator. The exhibit will present four fundamental, interrelated environmental concepts: ecosystems, habitats, adaptation, and human impact on the environment. Learners will immerse themselves in a habitat by "becoming" Hudson River animals and by role playing field guides, urban planners, etc. National science standards will provide a framework for the exhibit and complementary educational activities. The complementary materials will include pre- and post-visit materials for use by teachers and their students. These will include visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic activities that will connect the science education requirements with the exhibit. Information about the exhibit will be broadly disseminated and it is expected that other similar museums will emulate this approach. The exhibit is scheduled to open in January, 2001.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Philip VerreCatherine Shiga-Gattullo
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Bay Area Discovery Museum will expand their "My Place by the Bay" theme with new programmatic elements that "reinforce the theme that people, plants and animals live together and depend upon each other to survive." Three new activity areas will be developed that focus on science learning: A) an outdoor "Tot Lot" for early science learners; B) an outdoor "Discovery Cove" focusing on place-specific elements of their bayshore site; and C) an indoor recreated "Research Vessel" outfitted with a simulated navigaion station and marine biology laboratory. The learning goals for these three areas are: 1) "The Bay environment is home to many living things"; and 2) "I can do science to explore and learn about my world". The "Tot Lot," built into a hill, will be a one-half acre, multi-sensory, outdoor, prepared environment for children under five to learn about animals living in three distinct Bay habitats: woodland, stream and meadow. The "Discovery Cove" will be a two-acre area prepared environment for children up to age eight. Learners will be encouraged to see the bay as an integrated system that includes animal adaptations, ecological relationships and human activity. The "Research Vessel" is inspired by the R/V Questuary and is the place where visitors will use authentic tools to do science. Other features of this project include an integrated system of Parenting Messages that includes special signage for parents and a Families Ask Guide for families with children ages seven and under that is a joint effort of DABM, Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Golden Gate National Parks Association. They will also develop a series of teacher workshops that will link this informal learning space with the needs of formal education. One specific school group with whom they will work is the Junipero Serra, an NSF Urban Systemic Intiative site.
The Brooklyn Children's Museum (BCM) will develop "LifeTrek," a 6000-sq. ft. permanent exhibition and related educational extensions. LifeTrek will be an integrated learning environment comprised of a series of immersive indoor habitats where children will investigate natural phenomena and processes. Designed for urban children ages 4-11 and their families and teachers, LifeTrek will provide a range of open-ended and challenging opportunities to practice science skills, and facilitate greater awareness of and respect for the natural world. Reflecting the ecological framework in which New York City resides, a northern estuary system, the exhibition will feature twelve object-rich habitats: stream's edge, flowing stream, freshwater pond, salt marsh, tidal pool, shore, dune, cliff, cave, meadow, fallen log and living tree.
MacGillivray Freeman Films is producing and distributing "Greek Odyssey," a large-format film presenting archaeology as a sophisticated, precise science that utilizes highly advanced technologies to reconstruct the past. The film will examine research in Athens, the Greek islands and beneath the Aegean Sea where archaeologists, geophysicists and conservationists collaborate to solve and record the mysteries of ancient civilizations. Audiences will discover the process and importance of scientific research to our understanding of Greece's past and its extraordinary influence on our world today. Outreach will include a Museum Resource Guide, Family Fun Sheet, Teacher's Guide, Website and a Scientist Speaker Series. Greg MacGillivray will serve as Co-Producer/Director/Director of Photography, Alec Lorimore will be Co-Producer, and Stephen Judson will be the film editor. The Lead Science Advisor is Mark Rose, a member of the Archaeological Institute of America and Managing Editor of Archaeology magazine. Science advisors include: George Bass, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A & M University; Sandy MacGillivray, Co-Director of Palaikastro excavations on Crete; and Floyd McCoy, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii.
Rutgers University is developing a large-format, scientific, documentary film about the evolving scientific investigation of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Volcanoes of the Abyss (working title) will be produced in conjunction with Volcanic Ocean Films and produced/directed by Stephen Low. It will examine the communities these vents support and their relationship to the surrounding environment. It also will consider the implications vent discoveries have for our understanding of the evolution of life and our search for life elsewhere in the Cosmos. Much of the filming will be done from on board the Alvin deep ocean research vessel. The companion Educational Outreach Program will reach students in middle and secondary schools and at the college level. Print-based and web-based material also will be designed for use by families. The film and the outreach materials together will be the basis of a substantive educational effort to inform the public about the intricacies and significance of the fascinating, but largely unknown, ecosystem.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard LutzAlexander LowStephen LowBarbara Flagg
National Geographic Television, in Collaboration with Graphic Films, is producing a 40-minute, large-format, documentary film about the scientific quest to understand some of the most dramatic geological and meteorological events we experience -- volcanoes, earthquakes and violent storms. The goals of the film are to inform audiences about geological and meteorological forces which greatly impact our planet, present the scientific research being performed in an effort to understand and predict these forces, portray scientific role models and to stimulate a greater appreciation and interest in the Earth sciences. Informal education outreach will include: A "Forces of Nature" website that will include educational resources targeted to the general audience as well as to students and teachers. Museum and Family Activity Guides The National Geographic Society will support public programs at science-technology centers by providing access to scientists who work in the areas of science covered in the film. National Geographic's cable program Explorer (carried on MSNBC) will produce a themed show around "Forces of Nature" to coincide with the launch of the film. A companion book In addition, outreach materials for formal education will include: A "Forces of Nature" Teacher's Guide A teacher training seminar to be conducted at the first 20 theaters in the U.S. that lease the film Workshops at the national conferences of the National Science Teachers Association, the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for Geographic Education. Instructional information in National Geographic for Kids, the classroom magazine for elementary school students in grades 3-6. The Executive Producer for the film will be Lisa Truitt. George Casey will be the Producer/Director. The Lead Science Advisors are Stephen Schneider, Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change, Stanford University; James Shymansky, Professor of Science Education, University of Missouri-St. Louis; and James Walker, Professor Emeritus, Space Physics Research Lab, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Science, University of Michigan.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lisa TruittGeorge CaseyPaul NovrosBarbara Flagg
The Children's Museum of Houston, in cooperation with Scholastic Entertainment, the National Weather Service and the American Meteorological Society (AMS), will develop, produce and nationally circulate two (2) copies of a 2,500-sq.ft. interactive exhibit. Using the popular icon of the Magic School Bus, the exhibit will take young children on a journey of discovery to explore the science involved in the Earth's weather. The exhibit, "The Magic School Bus Gets Weather Wise," and accompanying educational materials and programs will be bilingual in Spanish and English and will support national and Texas standards for science and mathematics learning for children aged 5-10. It is estimated that the exhibit and programs will serve 2,000,000 children and adults in 36 national venues over six (6) years. Weather Exploration Stations will precede the exhibit to encourage community engagement prior to the exhibit's arrival at the host venue. AMS scientists, local meteorologists and media weathercasters will assist visitor experiences and help museums with strategies for publicity campaigns and development of local programming. The visiting audiences of children and their families will learn meteorology is a study of weather, there are different types of weather, a variety of tools are used in predicting weather and the water cycle plays a role in weather events. Visitors will read data from maps, graphs, thermometers, anemometers, experiment with variables and model weather conditions using interactive exhibit components.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida, will develop a permanent exhibition and associated educational programs on natural hazards, phenomena that become "natural disasters" when they interact with the human community and its built environment. The exhibition, 9000 square feet in size, will address the science of these phenomena, the science and technology of forecasting and mitigation strategies and techniques. The exhibition features floods, hurricanes, wildfires, lightning, hail, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes. The exhibition begins with an overview and a focus on the dynamic earth. It then presents a streetscape of buildings devastated by the phenomena and eight interactive areas dealing with each of the hazards. The concluding sections include a demonstration stage and a series of elements that focus on communications, community preparedness and response and forecasting. Ancillary materials include: a family exhibition guide, teacher preparation materials, classroom materials on forecasting, a distance learning program and a brochure for the public (to be developed by IBHS). Central to the project is MOSI's partnership and campus neighbor, Institute for Business and Home Safety, a nonprofit arm of the insurance industry with a mandate to educating Americans about natural disasters and ways to mitigate loss and suffering. Other partners include FEMA, USGS, Red Cross, NFPA, local schools and community based organizations. The Institute for Learning Innovation will conduct the evaluation, supplemented by action research investigations by the University of South Florida. A local high school emphasizing design and art will participate in the exhibition development process.
The Ocean Institute will design, develop, evaluate and install "Sea Floor Science," a 5,200 sq. ft. site-wide exhibition designed in partnership with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University. "Sea Floor Science" will provide opportunities for families, students and the general public to use authentic oceanographic equipment, tools and technology to recreate a world of ocean research and discovery. Visitors will experience how oceanographers are exploring the largely unknown sea floor to permit better understanding of the origin of sediments and rocks, paleoclimate reconstruction as evidenced by marine microfossils, and the dynamics of oceanic lithospheres and margins. The project is a new approach to museum exhibits. It will test innovative convertibility solutions that enable public areas to serve as both teaching stations and effective exhibits. It will also implement cost-effective update strategies to keep visitors at the forefront of scientific research. "Sea Floor Science" will reach 4,000,000 people in 22 states including on-site and on-line visitors, multi-state teacher networks, videoconferencing participants, science professionals, and replication sites at science centers and aquaria nationally.
The San Diego Society of Natural History (SDSNH) will design, fabricate and install a 9,000 square foot permanent exhibition exploring the fundamental scientific concepts of paleontology, geology, biology and ecology as they pertain to prehistoric southern California and the peninsula of Baja California. Playing the role of paleontologist, visitors will be invited to ponder a mystery, explore the setting, examine the evidence, and use scientific tools to discover answers. Carefully crafted settings will support exploration that engages learners of all ages at levels for both novice and experienced learners. Visitors will discover how natural patterns reveal natural processes, and examine the relationship between past, present and future. Focused activities will enable visitors to exercise their skills of observation and critical thinking, with exhibits that promote learning in a family context. The exhibits and activities focus on the Museum's collections and research, and are grounded in comprehensive visitor research supporting exhibit development. The exhibition and related science education materials will demonstrate how these fundamental concepts can be investigated in a regional setting. Visitors will extend their learning experience beyond the museum through a content-rich interactive website, a popular book on regional geology and paleontology, and related public programs and fossil displays at regional nature centers near the actual discovery sites. Exhibition planning, program evaluation and visitor research will be widely disseminated as contributions to the literature on best practices for interpretation of prehistoric life and landscapes.
The Great Lakes Story is a 3,000 sq. ft. interactive traveling exhibit based on the highly successful and unique permanent exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center. Its focus is devoted to highlighting the natural history of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The traveling exhibit will allow even more visitors around the country to understand the beauty, majesty and restoration efforts of this important national resource. Through a planned six-year tour, it is estimated "The Great Lakes Story" will be experienced by as many as three million people. There will be several components, including hands-on exhibits, organized with a centerpiece of a walk-around model of the Great Lakes region, and other interactive components. The four major areas of the exhibit are physical characteristics of the Lakes, the natural cycles and processes which shaped them over time, changes and threats to the Lakes (especially human-induced), and finally, restoration efforts to bring the Lakes back to being the rich and productive ecosystem they should be. Along with these exhibit areas, other project components are educational and marketing materials to ensure that host science centers are able to provide a complete learning experience to their youth, family, and adult audiences around the country.