The National Science Festival Network project, also operating as the Science Festival Alliance, is designed to create a sustainable national network of science festivals that engages all facets of the general public in science learning. Science Festivals, clearly distinct from "science fairs", are community-wide activities engaging professional scientists and informal and K-12 educators targeting underrepresented segments of local communities historically underserved by formal or informal STEM educational activities. The initiative builds on previous work in other parts of the world (e.g. Europe, Australasia) and on recent efforts in the U.S. to create science festivals. The target audiences are families, children and youth ages 5-18, adults, professional scientists and educators in K-12 and informal science institutions, and underserved and underrepresented communities. Project partners include the MIT Museum in Cambridge, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The deliverables include annual science festivals in these four cities supported by year-round related activities for K-12 and informal audiences, a partnership network, a web portal, and two national conferences. Ten science festivals will be convened in total over the 3 years of the project, each reaching 15,000 to 60,000 participants per year. STEM content includes earth and space science, oceanography, biological/biomedical science, bioinformatics, and computer, behavioral, aeronautical, nanotechnology, environmental, and nuclear science. An independent evaluator will systematically assess audience participation and perceptions, level/types of science interest stimulated in target groups, growth of partnering support at individual sites, and increasing interactions between ISE and formal K-12 education. A variety of qualitative and quantitative assessments will be designed and utilized. The project has the potential to transform public communication and understanding of science and increase the numbers of youth interested in pursuing science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Loren ThompsonJeremy BabendureBen Wiehe
The NSF-funded 400 Years of the Telescope project was a unique partnership among a public television station, a production studio, two planetariums and a leading astronomical society in the United States. Its five main components included a one-hour PBS documentary, a 22-minute planetarium program, a website with astronomical infromation, "star parties"(nighttime astronomical viewing events) and promotional events hosted by PBS affiliate stations. The summative evaluation focused on three main evaluation questions: 1) What are the individual and cumulative impacts of the menu of deliverables
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
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), in partnership with the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), proposes to develop the Zoo in You: Exploring the Human Microbiome, a 2,000 square foot bilingual (English and Spanish) traveling exhibition for national tour to science centers, health museums, and other relevant venues. The exhibition will engage visitors in the cutting edge research of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Human Microbiome Project (HMP) and explore the impact of the microbiome on human health. To enrich the visitor experience, the Zoo in You project will also produce an interactive bilingual website and in-depth programs including science cafes and book groups for adult audiences. JCVI will provide its expertise and experience as a major site for HMP genomics research to the project. In addition, advisors from the Oregon Health & Science University, Multnomah County Library, the Multnomah County Health Department, ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum, Science Museum of Minnesota, and other experts will guide OMSI's development of exhibits and programs. The Institute of Learning Innovation in collaboration with OMSI will evaluate the exhibits, programs, and website. Front-end, formative, remedial, and summative evaluation will be conducted in English and Spanish at OMSI, ScienceWorks, and tour venues. The exhibition's target audience is families and school groups with children in grades 4-12. Latino families are a priority audience and the project deliverables will be developed bilingually and biculturally. The Zoo in You will tour to three venues a year for a minimum of eight years. We conservatively estimate that over two million people will visit the exhibition during the national tour. This project presents a powerful opportunity to inform museum visitors about new discoveries in genomic research, to invite families to learn together, and to present and interpret health-related research findings for diverse audiences. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE (provided by applicant): Our research education program, the Zoo in You (ZIY): Exploring the Human Microbiome, is relevant to public health because it will inform exhibition visitors and program participants about the significant new research of the NIH's Human Microbiome Project (HMP). Visitors will make connections between basic research, human health, and their own personal experiences. The bilingual (English and Spanish) ZIY exhibits and programs will present research finding and public health information in enjoyable and engaging ways to reach diverse family and adult audiences.