The Museum of Science, Boston led the From Project Mercury to Planet Mars: Introducing Engineering and Inspiring Youth through Humanity’s Greatest Adventure project (FPMPM) as a way to produce and share high-quality informal engineering education opportunities about the topic of human space travel to Mars. The grant involved the creation of two products that address human space travel to Mars: an immersive full-dome planetarium show and a hands-on engineering design challenge. To evaluate the grant work, the Research & Evaluation Department at the Museum of Science, Boston conducted a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Annette SawyerKatie ToddLeigh Ann MesitiAlex LussenhopKeith Allison
From 2013-2016, Pacific Science Center, implemented the Exploring Earth Systems Sciences (EESS) project with the purpose of developing and delivering scripted demonstrations utilizing the Science On a Sphere (SOS) technology in order to promote understanding of and increase interest in Earth systems sciences. Specifically, the grant allowed the Science Interpretation team to research and write 20-minute presentations, targeted towards visitors aged 11 and older, about nine unique topics such as: climate change, weather, seasons, or the Polar Regions. Staff were then provided training in
The Global Viewport project was an integrative collaboration between the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and. the New Bedford Oceanarium Corporation dba Ocean Explorium at New Bedford Seaport (hereafter, Ocean Explorium). The main thematic area that was addressed is Improving Public Earth System Science Literacy. A main objective of the Global Viewport project was to address Goal 1 of the GEO Education and Diversity Strategic Plan (2010-2015): “Advancing public literacy in Earth System Science.” For this evaluation the public interacted with spherical display content in an informal
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)Meredith Emery
In 2007, Chabot Space & Science Center, with partners LodeStar Astronomy Center and the Institute for Learning Innovation, received a National Science Foundation grant (#0610253) to develop, create, distribute, and conduct research on a full-dome planetarium show titled Tales of the Maya Skies. This physically immersive show was designed to transport viewers to ancient Maya civilizations and to push the boundaries of narrative approach in planetariums by presenting the film with a “cultural wrapper” of the Maya people and their achievements in archaeo-astronomy. The research conducted three
In May of 2006, Science on a Sphere (SOS) was set up in a permanent exhibit space at the Science Museum of Minnesota. With the new installation of the Sphere, came the addition of a variety of features that were not included in the initial front-end study. These new features included an expanded playlist, new audio for some of the visualizations, accompanying labels projected on the wall describing the visualization, indication on the labels of what image will be playing next, and seating for visitors so they can sit and view the sphere. The new master playlist was composed of three smaller
During January 2007, the Science Museum of Minnesota carried out a study to gather visitor feedback on a variety of potential interpretive features of Science on a Sphere. Visitor preferences related to the use of interpretive labels and graphics directly on the Sphere and the speed in which visualizations rotate were studied. A total of 51 visitors were interviewed. Key findings include: 1. Three quarters of visitors preferred descriptive labels to be directly on the Sphere. 2. If labels were projected on the Sphere, almost all the visitors wanted them to disappear after a period of time. 3
Visitor Baseline Study of Science on a Sphere at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. This resource includes the Research Assistant Protocol, Observation Protocol, and Visitor Questionnaire.
Visitor Baseline study for Science on a Sphere at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Resource includes Research Assistant Protocol and Visitor Questionnaire.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Andrea GironDenver Museum of Nature & Science
Visitor Baseline study for Science on a Sphere at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The Sphere was installed in DMNS’ permanent space science gallery, Space Odyssey, in February 2010. Space Odyssey “Museum Galaxy Guides” (volunteer facilitators) were trained on Sphere operation and content in April 2010. The purpose of the Baseline Visitor Study was to establish a baseline of visitors’ length of stay, behavior, interactions, perceptions, and interest in the Sphere near the beginning of the grant period. These data and findings will serve a basis of comparison for future evaluations and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Andrea GironDenver Museum of Nature & Science
In August 2009, the Program Evaluation and Research Group (PERG) at Lesley University contracted with the project's PI at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to evaluate My Dome: Defining the Computational and Cognitive Potential of Real Time Interactive Simulations in an Immersive Dome Environment, an NSF funded grant. The project focuses on creating interactive experiences in immersive virtual environments, and builds off previous work the PI and co PIs have done in developing films and immersive experiences in domes and traveling domes. The project includes staff from the Carnegie Museum
Ice Planet Earth (IPE) was a three-year NSF-Funded grant, with a focus on building awareness and understanding of polar processes and designed to coincide with the International Polar Year, which took place from March 2007-March 2009. A key feature of the IPE project was the development of 'Ice Worlds', a planetarium style film designed for both general audiences and for students/youth. IPE was a collaboration between the University of New Hampshire, and the following institutions: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh; the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences; the Louisiana Art
One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure (OWOS) is a bi-national, China-US cooperative project to produce and distribute a planetarium show based on popular characters from Sesame Workshop's television productions in each country for preschool- and kindergarten-aged children, as well as accompanying outreach materials for children, parents and teachers to further enhance learning. The project aims to: (1) provide young Chinese and American children aged four to six with an age-appropriate introduction to astronomy; (2) promote positive attitudes toward science among young children in both