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 Northeast Temperate Network monitors forest breeding bird populations at 11 National Parks in the northeast. Breeding birds are a consistently reliable and easily detectable indicator of long-term ecosystem change. Management activities at National Parks in the northeast aimed at preserving historical features, landscapes, or practices may have an impact on natural resources. By observing trends in breeding bird populations, park managers can better understand the effects of these practices on ecosystem processes. Bird watching is an important experience for many park visitors. This monitoring program involves and engages the public in park stewardship.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Brian MitchellVermont Center for Ecostudies
The Minnesota Odonata Survey Project is a volunteer effort to determine the ranges and distribution of Minnesota's dragonflies and damselflies (odonates). Citizen scientists will catch and identify odonates and report back to the MOSP with their findings. There are many species in Minnesota whose ranges are not known. Finding a new county record is a common occurrence, and there are many new state records to be found as well!
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Minnesota Department of Natural ResourcesKurt Mead
The Virginia Master Naturalist program is a corps of well-trained volunteers conducting natural resource education, citizen science, and stewardship projects in their communities for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michelle PrysbyVirginia Department of Conservation and RecreationVirginia Department of Game and Inland FisheriesVirginia Department of ForestryVirginia Museum of Natural History
The Coalition for Watershed Education, consisting of the Land Access Information Association, Great Lakes Children's Museum, Interlochen Public Radio and Northwestern Michigan College Great Lakes Studies Institute will implement a comprehensive science education project for youth and adults. The major components include: Watershed Discovery field experiences, Soundscapes radio broadcasts, Waterscapes exhibits, a project website, and the expanded Great Lakes Coalition for Watershed Education. Watershed Discovery is a field-based experience for youth ages 11-17. Teams of 6-10 youth will work with mentors who specialize in GPS, GIS, geology and geography to research and collect data on the Great Lakes watershed. These students will also use their new knowledge to produce radio segments as part of the Soundscapes component. Youth teams will be trained to interview sources, gather information and write scripts for use on the local National Public Radio affiliate. The Great Lakes Children's Museum will design a permanent, interactive watershed of 1,500 square feet, as well as a traveling exhibit of 500 square feet for visitors ages 7-12. Other deliverables include "A Community Guide to Watershed-based Science Education" (available in print and CD-ROM), a one-day regional dissemination conference, and an interactive website. Strategic impact will be realized through the development of a novel model for watershed education, its subsequent replication and summative evaluation outcomes. It is estimated that over 40,000 children will be reached by this community-wide initiative.
Hopa Mountain, in collaboration with Blackfeet Community College, One Step Further, and Ogala Lakota College, will develop "Native Science Field Centers (NSFC)" to provide year-round informal science education for youth ages 8-18 and adults. Informal science education professionals are also served through the publications and materials designed to support programs targeting Native communities. The "NSFCs" will be located on the Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, and Pine Ridge reservations. The centers will develop "TribalWatch" environmental science programs that will be disseminated to six other tribes in the Missouri River Watershed. The "Tribalwatch" programs create a STEM career ladder for youth and adults to develop scientific expertise, knowledge of monitoring and an understanding of management of local lands. New technologies will be created for the evaluation of Native science programs that incorporate indigenous evaluation methodologies. Key partners include the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the Field Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum of Minnesota. Deliverables include "Native Science Field Centers, ""TribalWatch" programs and a "TribalWatch" toolkit and training plan. Strategic impact will be realized through capacity building within Native communities, research and documentation of programming practices and dissemination of the toolkit and publications to informal science education professionals, 32 tribal colleges and other educational organizations that serve Native communities. It is anticipated that this project will reach 100,000 Native and non-Native youth, adults and informal science education practitioners in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bonnie Sachatello-SawyerHelen AugareMichael Fredenberg
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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TEAM MEMBERS:
Laurie Kleinbaum FinkSusan FlemingJ Newlin
After-School Program Exploring Science (APEX) proposes to develop and implement a training model that will enhance the capacity of community-based after-school programs to provide science-learning opportunities for children ages 5-10. Capacity building will center on expanding the human resource base as well as access to hands-on resources that enable investigative science in informal settings. " APEX" will create a series of engaging hands-on science investigations that will be designed for replication in a wide range of informal learning environments. "APEX" community partners include the YMCA, YWCA and Family Christian Association of America (FCAA). The Miami Museum of Science will also partner with Miami-Dade Public Schools, Florida International University and Miami-Dade College to formalize opportunities for paraprofessionals and pre-service teachers to meet a portion of their certification requirements by leading "APEX" Science investigations in after-school programs thereby providing community-based after-school programs with a more stable workforce while at the same time supporting future teachers in the development of inquiry-based teaching skills. Through "APEX" over 275 after-school provider staff will be trained along with up to 300 pre-service teachers and paraprofessionals. The project will work with 93 after-school programs and impact roughly 7,000 high-need students.
This project will develop a Digital Technology Institute and Youth Radio Science Desk as new components of the existing Youth Radio organization. The project's Digital Technology Institute and Science Desk will train and engage 450 low-income and underrepresented youth ages 14-24 in Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, DC. An additional 300 youth will be engaged through quarterly community outreach programs. Youth Radio currently reaches wide audiences through traditional media such as NPR and emrging media such as podcasting and vodcasting. This project will produce 60 short-format radio programs for distribution on NPR, iTunes and MTV Interactive, as well as other distribution outlets. Organizational partners include media organizations, scientists and youth organizations around the country, universities and technical partners such as sound and animation studios.
The goal of this Planning Grant is to create and pilot embedded mathematics activities in an effort to increase numeracy skills of adults in community advocacy groups. The project is designed to explore the manner in which adults address mathematics issues related to community problems, design interventions that will assist with the understanding and interpretation of data, the use of mathematics and experiment with focused activities to explicate mathematical ideas. Three proof of concept intervention activities will be pilot tested with members of urban and rural community action groups in Boston, Massachusetts, and in a rural Appalachian town in Tennessee. The project partners include the Center for Literacy Studies, Boston Asthma Coalition, Haitian American Public Health Initiative and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense Fund. Project deliverables include a needs assessment and the design and evaluation of mathematics interventions to ascertain the impact on adults' use and confidence. Strategic impact will be realized by exploring community groups as an informal education setting for introducing contextualized STEM content.
The University of Minnesota is requesting funding to implement a nationwide citizen science project focused on the life cycle of monarch butterflies. Scientists from the University will train naturalists and environmental educators throughout the U.S. at nine host sites. Participants in the first round of training will then conduct regional training sessions for naturalists, who will in turn train volunteer monitors. The target audience for volunteers will be adult/child teams. Results will be disseminated using the University of Minnesota's Environmental Spatial Analysis Center to show temporal and spatial data via the WWW. Listserves will also be created to support the project, to augment a monthly newsletter and the website. Mini-exhibits will be created to highlight the project at participating nature centers. Exhibits will focus on monarch and insect ecology and conservation, as well as local and population-wide monitoring efforts. It is estimated that 90-150 nature centers will participate in the regional training, and they will in turn train almost 5,000 volunteers.
Education Development Center (EDC) is developing and implementing a three-year project to promote the informal learning of key basic mathematical concepts and skills among undereducated adults throughout the country. The effort will be part of EDC's Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA). The principal components of the project will be: Ten new, half-hour episodes of the television series, TV411, which is currently carried by approximately 100 public television stations. The new programs will shift the emphasis of the series from reading literacy to mathematics skills. In addition to covering a broad array of mathematical concepts, procedures and vocabulary, the programs will have an explicit focus on problem-solving strategies and attitudes about mathematics. A multi-level national outreach and marketing campaign to attract viewers and users to the materials and to increase carriage of the series. An in-depth implementation effort will be conducted with outreach partners is six large metropolitan areas. EDC will adapt the outreach, marketing and promotion aspects of this focused effort so that it can be used by all television stations that commit to carry the series. Formative and summative evaluation to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the materials and to inform the understanding of the impact on viewers and users of these types of materials.