Nebraskans for Public Television is developing the math strand in Reading Rainbow. Under this grant, the project will "re-purpose" 30 existing Reading Rainbow program for use in mathematics learning, produce two new math-focused programs, and institute a comprehensive outreach campaign. Books currently being considered for the new programs are Mama Bear, which looks at money and its uses and examines some simple economics; and Echoes for the Eye which explores patterns in nature. The outreach will solicit and involve families served by the National Urban League; recruit school and community-based children's librarians in the math-based literature effort; and expand the local public broadcasting outreach efforts related to the math focus of the series from the eight model stations in the previous year to all interested public television stations. The target will be to involve at least 75 stations in substantive outreach to families and schools. The project also will develop and disseminate a new print piece modeled after the very successful Math is Everywhere Reading Rainbow Teachers Guide which has been used by over 3,000 teachers. Twila Liggett will continue as Executive Producer and Project Manager and LeVar Burton will remain as host and Co-Executive Producer. Cecily and Larry Truett will be Supervising Producer and Producer/Director respectively. Advisors include Herbert Ginsburg from Teachers College, Columbia University; Lucille Mahon, Math Coordinator, NYC Community School District 2; Solomon Garfunkel, Executive Director, COMAP, Inc.; and Judith Jacobs, Director of the Center for Education and Equity in Mathematics, Science, and Technology at California State Polytechnic University.
WGBH Educational Foundation is producing Season I of Zoom, a daily half-hour television series for children aged 8 to 11. Zoom, which is based on the highly successful 1970's series of the same name, features a cast of seven children who engage in activities and examine ideas submitted by youth who watch the show. The new Zoom will have an enhanced educational concentration, an emphasis on science and math activities and projects, and a comprehensive outreach campaign. A major focus of the series will be to develop "Habits of Mind" which promote the capacity to think about the same ideas and evidence in multiple ways; collect, organize, and recognize patterns in data; identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations; and develop skills of estimation, judgment, and data literacy. Season I will have three over-arching science and math-based themes: Structures, Things That Go, and Living Things. Each program will include two or three science and math segments, as well as encouragement to try these activities at home. From time to time, the cast will provide a "challenge" for viewers by asking them to conduct an activity as home and send in their results for presentation on a later show. Field-produced segments will feature children engaged in science or math projects that they have found particularly fascinating and have done on their own. The series also will revisit projects or "challenges" over the course of a season to demonstrate that science is an on-going, evolving endeavor and that new information may change old assumptions. Zoom outreach activities will include a Zoom science guide for educators, a World Wide Web Site, museum Zoom rooms, community partnerships with three national organizations that work with underserved children. In addition, every viewer who writes, calls an 800 number, or sends an e-mail will receive a free four-page newsletter with directions needed to complete activities from the series and to tackle challenge s that the cast issues to the audience. Kate Taylor will be Executive Producer for the project. She has been co-executive producer for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and for Degrassi Junior High. The Science and Math Director will be Candace Julyan, Senior Project Director at TERC. The Director of Outreach will be Beth Kirsch who oversees the development and implementation of national outreach campaigns for WGBH. The staff will work closely with a group of consultants and advisors with expertise in such areas as science and mathematics, informal science, outreach, and evaluation.
This project is composed of a 1,500 square foot permanent, and traveling exhibit, and a schools program focused on problem- solving, targeted primarily for children in grades 5-8. The exhibit includes a variety of classroom-tested puzzles, interactive computer programs, and hands-on challenge problems. These will enable participants to try and utilize different problem-solving strategies, and gain experience in spatial relationships, communicating mathematically, and reasoning inductively and deductively. Materials produced include: Solve It! Trunks, a problem-solving program that teachers can use as a single unit or integrate throughout the year; a publication which will enable others to reproduce the exhibits; and a Guide with suggestions about how to use the Problem-Solving Program. Other activities include Student and Family Problem-Solving Programs, and puzzle- based workshops.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
James FrenzaJohn BowditchCynthia Yao
The Zoological Society of Florida and Miami Metrozoo will use this award to plan their strategy for "Attracting New Neighbors". During their planning activities they will address issues involved in attracting the traditionally underserved and large Hispanic population of Dade County, Florida to the educational programs of the zoo. The planning grant will support 1) audience research within Dade County, 2) a national study to see what others have done to attract diverse audiences, 3) a three-day invitational planning conference, 4) site visits and focused research by Metrozoo staff on attracting a diverse audience, and 5) dissemination of the information about marketing strategies and programming techniques developed during the planning activities to zoos and science museums across the country. The planning process will culminate in the development of a long-range exhibition, educational program, and marketing plan for the zoo's new Education Court scheduled to open in 1998.
The Genome Radio Project, through the Pacifica Foundation, will produce nine one-hour radio documentaries and a live two-hour Town Hall on current genome research. The goals of the project are: o to provide background information on the theories and techniques of human genetic science, o to raise the social, ethical, and legal issues and concerns associated with human genetic research, and o to provide an opportunity for the public to interact with the scientific experts and policy makers. The specific programs include: o DNA and Behavior: Is Our Fate in Our Genes? o Prenatal Genetic Testing: Better Babies Through Science? o Gene Testing; Do You Really Want to Know Your Future? o Gene Therapy: Medicine For Your Genes. o DNA and the Law o The Commercialization of Genetic Information o Eugenics, Past and Present o Race, Evolution, and Philosophy in the Age of Genetics o The Human Genome Project: Roadmap to the Human Body The radio programs will be supplemented by a variety of printed and electronic ancillary materials exploring the science, ethics, and social impact of human genetic research. The project will be under the Bari Scott who will serve as PI. She has most recently been Executive Producer for The Telecommunication Radio Project. The Co-PI's will be Mat Binder, an Independent radio producer and instructor at the University of California, and Jude Thilman, the Project Director/Host of The communications Revolution, the nationally syndicated, live series on new telecommunications technologies. The principal consultants responsible for the science content of the project will be Sylvia Spengler, Deputy Director of The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Human Genome Center and Lane Conn, Coordinator of the Human Genome Education program at the Stanford University Human Genome Center. The science consultants and production staff will work closely with approximately thirty genome scientists nationwide who have formally agreed to advise the project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Barinetta ScottJudith ThilmanMatt Binder
The Museum of Ophthalmology will develop "Amazing Eyes of the Animal Kingdom", a 1500 to 2000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit that will enable young people (ages 11 - 14) and their families to explore the science of vision of humans and animals. Following an introduction about human eyes (structure and function) visitors will then discover the diversity of eye designs within the animal kingdom and learning how visual systems have adapted in response to their surroundings. Complementary activities will include and interactive gallery guide for those who prefer a facilitated experience; a trunk kit for use in a classroom, community center, or other non-museum locations; and pre- and post-visit materials for teachers. The exhibit content and complementary materials will be developed to complement the Science Framework for Californian Public Schools, other state frameworks and The National Science Education Standards. It is anticipated that the exhibit will be managed by the Association of Science-Technology Centers and will travel to nine museums during a three year period. It will open June, 1998.
"Under the Rock: An Experiment in Neighborhood Exhibit-Making" is a project that will engage children in the development of exhibits as well as present information about backyard ecology. The Children's Museum staff will work with Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses (a group of inner city neighborhood centers in Boston) to develop a model activity that uses the theory and practice of exhibit making as a tool to engage children in science learning in their neighborhoods. They will work with children and their parents in the exploration of insect life in their urban settings and presentation of their findings in exhibits the children will make. Exhibit making includes the entire process of: studying live insects, doing research, writing text, designing and building interactive activities for an exhibit about insects, and marketing the exhibit. Exhibit making has been chosen as the pedagogical technique because it parallels creative work done in the real world; it involves people working together in teams, and utilizes different skills and intelligences of the participants. In addition to the exhibits, other results of this project will include: an educator's guidebook documenting the process of exhibit-making in community centers; a proposal for an activity book for kids with writing samples and illustrations that will be submitted to a publisher; video and electronic resources; and contributions and recommendations for the Museum's "Under the Rock" exhibit, a new exhibit to be developed subsequent to the completion of the first two phases of this project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Signe HansonTimothy PorterDorothy Merrill
This is an after-school, informal science, engineering and technical advancement program for students in grades four through twelve. FSEA brings together students, volunteer mentors from business and industry, and teachers in activities centered around members working in teams designing, building, and testing FSEA hands-on projects making science, mathematics and technology "come alive." The goal for this project is to bring FSEA up to full implementation status and to expand the number of FSEA chapters to at least 300 and the number of students to at least 9,000. The anticipated outcome will be a national model implemented on a broad scale whereby small and large businesses participate with local schools in delivering technical education.
The Rhode Island Zoological Society will develop, prototype, install, and evaluate "Habitrek", a 3000 sq. ft. exhibit to be placed in their new Education Center. The center is a circular building and as visitors go through it they will encounter habitat displays of a Urban Providence, Woodlands, Wetlands, and Desert. In addition there will be giant scale replicas of a wormhole, a bat cave, a prairie dog colony, and a stream. Their intent is to use live animals, animal replicas and interactives to shift the visitor's emphasis from simply finding and identifying species to learning about habitats where animals live and where animals and humans often have to interact. In addition to the exhibits, several complementary educational activity packages will be developed. These include a family activity pack of activities that can be completed both at the zoo and in the home. They will relate many natural history stories not obvious from the exhibit alone. To streamline the development process, materials developed by the Bronx Zoo's Habitat Ecology Learning Program (an NSF-supported teacher enhancement activity) will serve as the basis for these family packs. The HELP materials will also serve as the basis for activities developed for use by teachers to complement the already existing Kits in Teaching Elementary Science (KITES) program (another NSF-supported program). The zoo also has cooperative programs with the Rhode Island Girl Scout Council and materials will be modified for their use as well. Of special interest is the attention that is being given to going beyond minimum ADA standards to make the exhibit broadly accessible. Ambient sound will be an important part of all exhibit settings, design considerations will be made for those with limited vision, and sightlines will be consistent with wheelchair standards, are a few examples. The anticipated exhibit opening is early 1998.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will develop "Buildings: A Traveling Exhibit and Permanent Installation with Education and Outreach Programs". This is a multifaceted project that includes a 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit that will explore the science, technology, and human perception of buildings. The exhibit will tell three stories: 1) buildings must obey physical laws to stay up, 2) buildings are complex operating systems, and 3) buildings reflect and shape the societies that create them. The exhibit will initially be developed as a traveling exhibit that will circulate among the member institutions of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (8 institutions) and then it will be reinstalled in the new SMM $77 million building. Additional partners collaborating on this project include the National Building Museum, the Society of Building Science Educators, Habitat for Humanity International, The ReUse Center, the Vital Signs Program and the Center for City Building Education. Special attention will be given to reaching girls and women and the physically challenged. A broad menu of public programming is planned and school-linked materials will be developed.
Discovery will develop and disseminate museum activity manuals and hands-on science activity materials to Magic School Bus museum sites nationwide. These materials will enable participating museums to: o provide enrichment activities, demonstrations, tabletop exhibits, and other science programming to support seasons III and IV of The Magic School Bus series; and o maintain and nurture collaborations at each site between schools and teachers, public television stations, youth-serving organizations, libraries, and the museum. The key staff will include Jerald H. Reynolds of Discovery Place who will be PI and will have responsibility for coordination of The Magic School Bus collaborative. Marcia Rudy, Director of Public Programs at the New York Hall of Science will lead the development team for the museum activity manuals. Rhonda Kiest, Director of Educational Exhibits at the Children's Museum of Houston, will have primary responsibility for design of the new tabletop exhibits and for upkeep of the two Scholastic's The MAGIC SCHOOL BUS Inside the Earth exhibits that are now traveling to museums. Cheryl Gotthelf, the Executive Project Director for The Magic School Bus television series will assure coordination between the museum project and series development.
The California Museum of Science and Industry (CMSI) will develop a new exhibit "Body in Balance: Developing Integrative Life Science Exhibits." This will be a 3000 sq. ft. component in the new 17,500 sq. ft. World of Life Exhibit Hall when the CMSI opens its new facility in 1997 and becomes the California Science Center. The World of Life is organized around several key science concepts which emphasize the commonalties among living things and their life processes. One of the major ideas to be communicated in this area is homeostasis as it applies to human beings. Homeostasis has been chosen because it is the unifying theme of system physiology. The exhibit will include seventeen exhibits (with a total of sixty- seven interactive elements) as well as a "The Body in Balance" theater presentations and bilingual (English/Spanish) exhibition books. This integrative view of body functions is consistent with recommendations from Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the Science Framework for California Public Schools Grades K-12. A broad menu of complementary formal education materials will be developed.