In this article, the authors review a collaborative project between two developmental psychologists and the staff of Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Under the broad agenda of studying the development of scientific literacy, they have been exploring the hypothesis that the guidance of parents is an important bridge between the intentions of the exhibit designer and the experience and knowledge of the child. Their research is guided by a framework inspired by a combination of socio-cultural and information-processing theories of how children learn. In the first section of this article
This evaluation instrument was developed for Exploring Physics, an extra curricular program for 5-7 grade students, with a focus on female students. It is part of an NSF funded program entitled Promoting Young Women in the Physical Sciences.