San Francisco State University is collaborating with MESA of California to replicate the Mission Science Workshop (MSW) model for informal science education to establish 10 self-supporting interactive Community Science Workshops (CSW's) throughout California. The overriding theme for activities at the CSW's is to let children and parents "be" scientists as they explore through the use of interactive exhibits, hands-on building/tinkering activities and content workshops, while at the same time ensuring they learn correct science concepts. Content to be presented is from the areas of Engineering, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Mathematics. The target audience is primarily African-American, Latino, and Native American children in grades K-8 and their families.
Science Museums of Charlotte, Inc. will develop a 5500 square foot traveling exhibit on SCIENCE of FASHION for the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (SMEC). Opening in February 1994, SCIENCE of FASHION will tour eight major U.S> cities over thirty-two months, introducing 2.5 million people to principles of chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and technology that drive the textile industry. SCIENCE of FASHION integrates diverse disciplines and will help public explore science in a wholistic manner. Because the subject matter is somewhat unusual fare, SCIENCE of FASHION will help diversify audiences, drawing in population segments, particularly women, who may not normally visit science museums. SCIENCE of FASHION is an eloquent vehicle for science-rich exhibitry which teaches the mathematics of pattern geometry, production statistics, and retail costs, polymer chemistry for engineering new fabrics, the genetics of new natural colors and strong aware fibers, and the sophisticated research, robotics, and computerized technologies that keep America's textile industry at the top international commerce. Rigorous evaluation will ensure a satisfying product that is educationally-effective, durable, and appealing to a broad public audience. SCIENCE of FASHION will be a worthy addition to the rich menu of science fare in SMEC exhibitry.
This is a comprehensive project about the science behind special effects in the motion pictures. WGBH, in association with eighteen museums in the Museum Film Network, will produce a 35 minute IMAX/OMNIMAX film showing the behind-the-scenes story of a group of filmmakers at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) as they create a special effects sequence in the IMAX/OMNIMAX format. The film will illustrate how the eye and brain work together to process cinematic illusions. The California Museum of Science and Industry (CMSI) will create a 6,000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit that will focus on the science and technical processes of special effect. The exhibit will travel to fifteen other museums. A smaller scale lobby exhibit also will be developed for display in the cueing areas of IMAX/OMNIMAX theaters that are showing the "Special Effects" film. A collaborative educational outreach program will extend the reach of both the film and exhibit. The project will be managed by the NOVA production unit at WGBH under the direction of Paula Apsell. Ms. Apsell also will serve as Executive Producer for the IMAX/OMNIMAX film. Diane Perlov, Curator of Exhibitions at CMSI, will supervise the exhibit portion of the project. Kenneth Phillips, Curator of Aerospace Science at CMSI, will develop video interactives and oversee scientific content of the exhibit. Carol Valenta, Director of Education for CMSI, and Beth Kirsh, Director of Educational Print and Outreach for WGBH, will be responsible for implementing the outreach plan. Advisors for the project include David H. Hubel, neurobiologist, Harvard Medical School; Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, neurophysiologist, University of California, San Diego; Richard Gregory, perception psychologist, University of Bristol; Sally Duensing, Science and Museum Liaison, Exploratorium; Elizabeth Stage, Co-Director for Science, New Standards Project, National Center on Education and the Economy; and Robert Coutts, high school physics teacher, Los Angeles, CA.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Paula ApsellSusanne SimpsonAnn MuscatCarol ValentaBarbara Flagg
WHALES, SHARKS & THINGS IN THE DARK - A 70MM IMAX FILM is the first science museum and aquarium film in the 70MM large-screen format to present the diversity of life in the oceans in a science context. Through a unique collaboration of a national environmental education group, a leading non-profit science center, and with the co-operation of a federal agency, the project's main objective is to convey to a general and school- age audience a view of the richness and range of life in the underwater realm -- from the deep sea creatures to whales and sharks and other marine life. Narratively, the film will proceed through the water column and selected food webs, showing the relationships in the complex skein of life--including human. The audience will be guided by explorers and role-model scientists, such as Dr. Sylvia Earle, an enthusiastic and well- known oceanographer, and three other sets of characters involved in marine science and exploration. The content will highlight a range of scientific disciplines, including marine biology, engineering, geology, physics, and oceanography, and it will shed light on the entire study of the oceans as a career path, and as an area for further investigation. Accompanied by a educational package delivered and supported by all three groups, this film will have wide impact, reaching a projected 8 million U.S. viewers within two years.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Christopher PalmerDavid ClarkLeighton TaylorPaul Hanle
The Staten Island Children's Museum requests support for an interactive exhibition for children on the topic of water. WATER WATER EVERYWHERE will open in April 1991 and remain on view for three years; a smaller replica of the exhibition will be ready to travel in the Spring of 1992. The first year will allow an initial evaluation period during which both design and content can be improved. The exhibition has dual goals: to provide family audiences, focusing on children, with the materials and context that encourage experimentation and learning, and to educate visitors about an essential and widespread constituent of our world. WATER will present different aspects of this varied subject in six sections: the many forms of water in our world; the properties of water; how living things use water; how water works for us; experiments with water and local water issues. The exhibition will engage children imaginatively, inform, provide opportunities to experiment and learn, and stimulate creativity. Museum public programs and activities will be offered in conjunction with WATER to both extend and enrich the project. WATER will contribute to both children's and inter- generational learning. Its desired outcomes include further development of the Museum's critical thinking skills program, expansion of our renewed Informal Science Education Program, extension of our community service programs and heightening our participation in community issues, such as the environment, through the ecological aspect of the exhibition. By touring the exhibition and producing educational materials based on WATER, the Museum will extend its impact in learning skills, science education and environmental awareness to a scale that is potentially national.
This exhibit will integrate graphics, artifacts, highly interactive electro-mechanical demonstration devices together with state of the art interactive educational computer technology to demonstrate how probability shapes nature. It will draw its examples from a variety of scientific fields including physics, chemistry, earth sciences, and biology. It is planned as a permanent addition to the Museum's exhibition program, but will be designed to facilitate easy reproduction for individual copies or for circulation as a travelling exhibit. Millions of visitors--families, teachers, children form diverse communities--will gain a first hand aesthetic appreciation of the pattern finding process of scientific investigation as well as a better understanding of the usefulness of mathematics in explaining how the natural world works.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
H. Eugene StanleyDouglas SmithEdwin Taylor
The Children's Museum is requesting $910,088 from the National Science Foundation to create an exhibition to go in an Urban Environmental Center to be built on a barge anchored in Fort Point Channel, a 500-foot-wide Boston Harbor waterway in front of the Museum. Our goal is to create exhibits which broaden public access to the process of science while extending each person's awareness of an engagement in this particular waterfront environment. Barge exhibits are focused on water, which has universal appeal to children and is the central feature of our location; atmosphere -- birds, sun, solar radiation, shadow, light refraction and diffraction, heat, wind, and clouds; built environment -- architecture, engineering, buildings, technology -- and their relationship to living things. We will provide a wide menu of entry-level approaches to the environment that are not given in school. The exhibits will take a visitor from where s/he is at the beginning of the visit to a new level of curiosity and concern. Through observation and direct experimentation, children will see what varies with the tides, what flows into the Channel from street run-off, where different creatures nest, what is emitted into the atmosphere from cars and buildings, and many other things. Some exhibits invite a playful experience, involving the senses and whole body; others offer a more focused exploration to uncover principles of a phenomenon. All encourage practice in such scientific processes as observing, collecting, recording, and comparing data.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Signe HansonDorothy MerrillDiane Willow
Scholastic Productions is producing thirteen additional episodes for the third season of the fully animated, half-hour television series, "The Magic School Bus." The series, which is targeted at 6-9 year olds, is designed to motivate children's interest in science, to introduce science concepts and ideas, and to inspire positive attitudes towards science and education in students and teachers. The series is unique to science educational television because it breaks the science gender barrier, showcases both education and science, and, through the use of animation which enables the series to transport children to places they literally could not go, presents content in a unique way. Season III topics include: spiders, the Arctic, light, color, the moon, structures, and sound. Outreach activities will include and expand upon those offered for Seasons I and II. During Season III, special emphasis will be placed on reaching families. The project also will use America On-line to promote the series and to communicate the value in and the methods for encouraging children's interest in science. The same basic administrative, content, and production staff will continue with the project. Management and editorial control will be the responsibility of Jane Startz, Executive Vice President of Scholastic Productions. Cheryl Gotthelf, Executive Director of Special Projects for Scholastic Productions will oversee series distribution and utilization, print, research, public relations, promotion, and community and museum outreach. Science content will continue to be supervised by Michael Templeton with the assistance of an Associate Science Content Director, Fran Nankin. Kristin Martin will remain in charge of series production.
KCTS Television is producing 20 new programs for the third season of "Bill Nye the Science Guy." The series, which has received an enthusiastic public response, will continue to be on PBS stations during the week and syndicated to commercial stations on weekends. The twenty topics for Season range from earth science, to physical science, to life science, to technology and include programs on such diverse subjects as spiders, time, life cycles, inventions, flowers, architecture, computers, probability, invertebrates, and forensics. Outreach activities for the third season are designed an emphasis on reaching out to new audiences, especially girls and children of color. The Season III outreach components consist of: o "The Big News of Science" - a newsletter distributed through youth serving organizations as well as being mailed directly to viewers at home o An at-home science kit - an easy to use kit that enables children and their families to perform science experiments together at home. Two-thirds of the kits to be distributed directly to youth and one-third will be distributed to children participating in afterschool and community programs. o Teacher's Kit - to be distributed to fourth grade teachers nationwide. o Special appearances - As Bill Nye's schedule permits, he will present a live, traveling science demonstration show in selected urban communities. The programs will be based at science museums, community centers, or similar venues and will include an explanation about the science content of the series, and demonstrations of science experiments where children are invited to participate. o A PBS station outreach kit - This material will provide PBS outreach and education staff with programs, tips for developing local science outreach projects, and a list of informal science resources. The staffing for Season III will remain basically the same as it has been for Seasons I and II. Bill Nye will remain as Chief Writer and Host, Elizabeth Brock will continue as Executive Producer, and James McKenna and Erren Gottlieb will remain the series producers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth BrockJames McKennaErren GottliebWilliam Nye