This project was an early example of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) and was produced for the 2004 BLD Studios art exhibition, Time Machines, in Columbus, OH. This project included a chair and a desk made of drawers, on top of which was a audio/video work station where visitors sat and interacted with the technology by using the headphones and listening to one tape deck for instructions and then listening to music on the other while watching the TV screen with special HyperSpeks(tm). There was also a panel of photos above the TV designed to simulate time travel. The instructions explained the purpose of the exhibit and how to use the TV to tune into various channels to pick-up a variety of video static on empty UHF frequencies. The music was designed to put the visitor into a certain frame of mind. It was futuristic sounding and created using DEMI sampling, a proprietary sampling technique also created by Marshall Barnes. The intent was to set the mood. Training Session was supposed to simulate training prospective transdimensional travelers in the cognitive exercises required to deal with the psychological rigors of time/parallel universe travel. The HyperSpeks(tm) allowed the visitors to search for various shapes in the TV static on a number of selcted channels which would resemble such cosmological constructs as black holes and wormholes. The static was live and not prerecorded and so the interaction on all levels was live and in real time. Visitors were to write their observations down on paper which was provided via a note pad and pen at the exhibit. In this way, a record of their experiences existed for subsequent visitors to review. The visitors were also told to view the photo panel, which consisted of pictures taken in 1977, but not developed until 2004. As a result, the pictures were somewhat faded and all tinted pink, however, when the visitors viewed them with the HyperSpeks(tm) they appeared not only normal color, but almost as if the scenes they depicted were views outside a window. Thus, the visitor was able to travel optically back in time and see the images the way they looked when they were originally photographed.
The California Academy of Sciences will develop, evaluate and disseminate exhibits and programs designed to communicate to public audiences the results of research including a biotic inventory of the amphibians and reptiles of Myanmar. Using innovative trading cards for kids, updates to current research exhibits, a poster highlighting research, a pocket guide to venomous snakes of Myanmar and a posting of research -related materials on the CAS website, the project will inform the public about biotic inventory research and conservation in Myanmar. Designed specifically for target audiences of children and adults, the exhibits and programs will serve several hundred thousand CAS visitors annually.
The Materials Research Society (MRS) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate a traveling exhibition developed by the Ontario Science Center, funded by the National Science Foundation. The evaluation documents the impact and effectiveness of the traveling exhibition and its associated Web site using timing and tracking observations, exit interviews, peer review, and telephone interviews with Web site users and non-users a few weeks after their visit to the exhibition. How did we approach this study? worked with MRS to identify its goals and objectives for the exhibition
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Materials Research Society
Gardeners visit this site and report what varieties perform well - and not so well - in their gardens. Other gardeners visit to view the variety ratings and read the reviews to decide which might work well for them. The VVfG citizen science project also provides an opportunity for researchers to involve knowledgeable, motivated citizens in meaningful scientific research. Research on the performance of vegetable varieties is often limited to commercial production in part, because visiting thousands of home gardens to collect data would be an overwhelming task.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will develop "Investigations in Cell Biology," an integrated program that introduces cell, microbiology, and molecular biology to museum audiences through open-access, wet-lab, micro-experiment benches; training and support for school teachers; classes for adults and teens; and a long-term program for local high school youth. The project includes the development, testing, and installation of four micro-experiment benches that introduce visitors to the objectives, tools, and techniques of cell biology experimentation. These benches,"Inside the Cell," "Testing for DNA," "DNA Profile," and "Microbe Control," will be part of "Cell Lab," a 1,500 square-foot open experiment area within the science museum's new core exhibition, "The Human Body," opening December 1999.
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Laurie Kleinbaum FinkSusan FlemingJ Newlin
The Exploratorium will conduct a controlled, two-year research project, titled "Finding Significance," to study how different exhibit presentation techniques affect visitors' abilities to make meaning -- or find significance -- and how such techniques impact learning. The techniques will be applied to a varied sample of five exhibits commonly found in science and children's museums. The exhibit design techniques include a) sharing scientist and exhibit developer stories, b) sharing visitor stories, and c) modeling inquiry. Although each technique shows promise at eliciting personal significance, they have yet to be rigorously tested and applied to the same set of exhibits to compare relative strengths and weaknesses. Five baseline exhibits, plus four variations of each, will be tested on groups of visitors, including adults, children and mixed groups of both.
The Garfield Park Conservatory will develop, install and evaluate "Sugar from the Sun," a living plant exhibition that explores the fundamental biological process of photosynthesis. The exhibit addresses common misunderstandings and misconceptions about photosynthesis by engaging children and adults in activities that explore the primary concepts that plants require air, water and light to produce sugar, and that the sun is the energy source. The exhibit will be constructed in the Conservatory's Sweet House, where tropical plants such as mangos and bananas will provide the stimulus to engage visitors in learning how plants manufacture sugar from the sun. Exhibits convey the science of photosynthesis and inspire appreciation for the critical role plants play in sustaining life on earth. Supplementary educational materials (self-guides, exploration backpacks and an interactive website) will be layered into the visitor experience, enabling visitors to develop a deeper understanding of photosynthesis. The project also will develop a non-exhibit based model dissemination package for teaching photosynthesis in other conservatories, promoting active science learning about photosynthesis nationwide.
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Thomas AntonioDavid Snyder
resourceprojectProfessional Development and Workshops
The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention in cooperation with the Playful Invention and Exploration Network (a consortium of six museums) will develop "Invention at Play." This will be a traveling exhibit in two sizes (3,500 sq. ft. & 1,500 sq. ft.) exploring the value of play and its critical role in the development of creative human beings. Audiences will a) learn how play fosters creative talents among children as well as adults; b) experience their own playful and inventive abilities; and c) understand how children's play parallels processes used by innovators in science and technology. The exhibit will be divided into three sections: 1) the "Invention Playhouse" where visitors will be offered a variety of creative play activities to help them understand how playing builds creative and inventive skills; 2) "Case Study Clusters" where visitors will learn about the playful habits of five inventors, and 3) "Issues in Invention and Play" where visitors learn about ideas and debates among theorists who have linked inventive processes to children's play. This exhibit is based on documentation collected by the Lemelson Center since 1995 from and about inventors of the past and present, and symposia they have organized to examine the characteristics of innovative processes. This research has led to new insights into remarkable parallels between children's play and the way inventors approach their work. A series of complementary educational activities and programs will be developed and documented in an Educational Manual. These programs will be aimed at diverse audiences including families, parents, teachers and other groups in science and children's museums nationwide and will help extend the impact of the exhibit theme beyond the exhibit itself. Teacher workshops will be developed and arranged for each venue along with a special teacher's manual that will be distributed during exhibit-related school events offering a variety of activities on the themes of inventive play, creative model of problem solving, and exemplary tales of playful events and habits in the lives of interesting American inventors. RK & Associates have done the front-end audience surveys for this project and will do the summative and remedial evaluation work. The exhibit prototyping will be done by the Science Museum of Minnesota exhibit contractors.
The Exploratorium will develop a series of Internet resources on three popular topics -- cooking, gardening, and making music -- to encourage users in science education activities in relation to daily activities. The three-year project will include the development and testing of resources that explore the science behind these topics, using the notion that we all, consciously or not, are "accidental scientists" who engage in the scientific process in the course of everyday life. Target audiences include general public adults and youth. Components of the site will feature aspects of cooking, gardening, and making music that are intended to appeal to diverse communities. The resources will also serve formal education through the Exploratorium's national and local network of educators.
In 2004, the City of Menomonie updated its storm water management plan to minimize storm water runoff, encourage storm water infiltration and reduce sediment and nutrient deposition in the storm water conveyance system and waterways. This plan complies with the requirements of the EPA Phase II and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource (WDNR) NR 151 and NR 216 storm water regulations that affect the City of Menomonie. Under the education and information chapter of the plan, the following recommendation is mentioned: “We recommend that the City and the University of Wisconsin-Stout partner and work together to ensure that positive steps are taken within the City of Menomonie watershed and Galloway Creek sub-watershed”. In order to meet that specific storm water management recommendation, students enrolled in the BIO 111 course (Science, Society and the Environment) collect and analyze water quality data within specific sections of Galloway Creek and submit their results in a stream report.
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Krista JamesWisconsin Water Action Volunteers ProgramCity of Menomonie
WGBH is producing four, two-hour programs on the lives of scientists. These programs will be the initial programs in a continuing series of television portraits of distinguished scientists to be broadcast as regular features in the prime-time science series NOVA. The scientists to be covered in the first four programs are Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, and Percy Julian. By illuminating the lives and scientific careers of these important figures, the programs will enhance public understanding of such basic scientific concepts as evolution, the solar system, the chemical bond and the structure of the atom. Ultimately, the programs will give viewers a new perspective on the process of scientific discovery. Ancillary educational support for the programs will include enhanced content on the web site at NOVA Online and classroom support material in the NOVA Teacher's Guide that is mailed to 60,000 teachers nationwide. WGBH also has formed an outreach partnership with the American Library Association to create informal educational resources for use by families, youths, and adults. The core of this special outreach plan is a set of Library Resource Kits that will be available to all 16,000 public libraries. Paula Apsell, Executive Producer for NOVA, will serve as PI for the project. Members of the advisory committee include: Evelyn Fox Keller, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, MIT; Kenneth R. Manning, Thomas Meloy Professor of Rhetoric and of the History of Science, MIT; Noami Oreskes, Associate Professor of History, University of California, San Diego; Daniel I. Rubenstein, Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; and Neil D. Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium.