For over two decades NSF has been investing in the development and evaluation of giant screen films for viewing by audiences in science centers and museums. These have been highly successful in terms of audiences reached and project evaluations that indicate their impact on learning. Less well understood is how the unique attributes of giant screen films (e.g., "immersion" and "presence") affect learners in ways that differ from other film formats. This integrated research and media project will contribute to that knowledge base. Project deliverables will include a giant screen film that tells the story of the discovery of biological mimicry (the critical proof for natural selection and in turn, evolution) through the life story of Henry Bates and his travels through the Amazon rainforest more than 150 years ago; 2D dome, and 2D flat format versions; live interactive science demonstrations and educational resources; and workshops for ISE professionals. The film and the related outreach via science centers, social media, and the web are expected to reach large public audiences; workshops and web resources will reach ISE professionals nationally. A strategy for reaching underrepresented audiences through science museums and partnerships with educational societies is a part of the broadening participation effort. Building on results of an NSF-funded workshop in which researchers, evaluators, and filmmakers began to develop a research agenda to provide evidence about giant screen attributes and their impacts on learning, the research component of this project will focus on the differences in learner knowledge among the various film formats, their unique attributes, and whether format plays a role in science interest and science identity. A baseline study will be conducted to begin gathering evidence on how each of these formats affects learning. Data on audience knowledge gains, interest, and science identity will be collected using a novel tablet-based game-like assessment pre-film viewing, immediately post viewing, and in a later follow-up. These baseline data will inform follow-on research that, over time, can better explain the unique impacts on learning of the giant screen format. Project partners include the Pacific Science Center, SK Films, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rutgers University, and Arizona State University.
This award continues funding of a Center to conduct research and education on the interactions of nanomaterials with living systems and with the abiotic environment. The goals of this Center are to develop a predictive understanding of biological and ecological toxicology for nanomaterials, and of their transport and transformation in the environment. This Center engages a highly interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team in an integrated research program to determine how the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials determine their environmental impacts from the cellular scale to that of entire ecosystems. The research approach promises to be transformative to the science of ecotoxicology by combining high throughput screening assays with computational and physiological modeling to predict impacts at higher levels of biological organization. The Center will unite the fields of engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, cell biology, ecology, toxicology, computer modeling, and risk assessment to establish the foundations of a new scientific discipline: environmental nanotoxicology. Research on nanomaterials and development of nanotechnology is expanding rapidly and producing discoveries that promise to benefit the nation?s economy, and improve our ability to live sustainably on earth. There is now a critical need to reduce uncertainty about the possible negative consequences of nanomaterials in the environment, while at the same time providing guidelines for their safe design to prevent environmental and toxicological hazards. This Center addresses this societal need by developing a scientific framework of risk prediction that is paradigm-shifting in its potential to keep pace with the commercial expansion of nanotechnology. Another impact of the Center will be development of human resources for the academic community, industry and government by training the next generation of nano-scale scientists, engineers, and regulators to anticipate and mitigate potential future environmental hazards of nanotechnology. Partnerships with other centers will act as powerful portals for the dissemination and integration of research findings to the scientific, educational, and industrial communities, both nationally and internationally. This Center will contribute to a network of nanotechnology centers that serve the national needs and expand representation and access to this research and knowledge network through programs directed at California colleges serving underrepresented groups. Outreach activities, including a journalist-scientist communication program, will serve to inform both experts and the public at large about the safety issues surrounding nanotechnology and how to safely produce, use, and dispose of nanomaterials.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Andre NelYoram CohenHilary GodwinArturo KellerPatricia Holden