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
The scientific community is challenged by the need to reach out to students who have traditionally not been attracted to engineering and the sciences. This project would provide a link between the University of Michigan and the teachers and students of secondary education in the State of Michigan with an initial emphasis on southeast Michigan, through the creation of a range of computer services which will provide interactive access to current weather and climate change information. Taking advantage of a unique computer network capacity within the State of Michigan named MichNet which provides local phone ports in virtually every major city in the state, and the resources available to the university community via the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) UNIDATA program, this project would provide secondary schools with access to a state-of-the-art interactive weather information system. The real-time data available via the system, supplemented by interactive computer modules designed in collaboration with earth science teachers, will provide animated background information on a range of climate and weather related topics. While the principal objective of this project will be to provide educationally stimulating interactive computer systems and electronic weather and climate modules for application in inner city Detroit and its environs, the unique nature of the available computer networking will allow virtually every school system in the state to have access. Subsequently successful completion of this project could eventually make the same systems available to other cities and states.
"Atmospheric Explorations: Participatory, Computer-Based Simulations of the Weather" is a collaborative project of Augsburg College and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The purpose of the project is to enhance the interest and skills of museum visitors and students in science by providing a highly interactive exhibit environmental that allows the users considerable freedom in exploring topics in meteorology relevant to their everydays lives. The exhibits will be designed to accommodate a gender- and racially-diverse audience of national scope.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
William JaspersonDavid VenneJ. Newlin