The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History will construct a new 9,000 square foot Bird Hall utilizing interactive exhibitry in a unique combination with original mounted specimens. The exhibition will cover avian biology in a comprehensive fashion, including the physiology of flight, adaptation, behavior, ecology and species diversity as well as traditional systematics. The exhibition will be directed at all levels of visitors, from small children to well informed adults; birds represent a familiar and powerful vehicle through which modern biology can be presented. A broad range of educational techniques will be used, including specimens, interactive exhibit stations, electronic media, and modern walk through habitat groups. Substantial formative evaluation and audience surveys will precede detailed design and construction, and leading ornithologists will serve as advisors and consultants. More than 80% of the total $3.2 million cost of exhibition development will come from county and private sources, and the exhibition will be seen by more than 1,000,000 visitors a year.
The Museum of Science will design and produce an exhibition, "Two of Every Sort", whose aim is to present a scientific basis for the public's understanding of genser, reproduction and human diversity. Using interactive techniques and state-of-the-art media technology, the exhibition will debut at the Museum in Boston, tour science centers in seven other cities and reach an audience of nearly 2.5 million. The eight museums are members of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, which has approved "Two of Every Sort" as one of a second round of shared-cost exhibitions scheduled to appear at each of the member institutions. "Two of Every Sort" (4,000 square feet) will present introductory scientific overview, ranging among biology, anthropology, botany and biomedical technology, to make discussion of these difficult and sensitive matters more meaningful. The exhibit will offer an unusual opportunity to millions of people -- families, teachers and youngsters, to consider complex questions in a safe, friendly learning environment.
The videodisc-based exhibit, the Powers of Ten in Time, will allow museum visitors to explore the unseen world of natural change - events that occur too quickly or too slowly to be perceived. Through the use of a touch screen and interactive software, users will be able to, in effect, speed up or slow down timeto witness changes that lie outside of the limits of human time perception. Visitors will see scenes such as a forest recovering after a fire, a wall of earth crumbling from erosion, tides coming in and out, the intricate motions of complex machinery and molecules colliding and reacting to produce fire. The videodiscs will contain more than 100 short video segments depicting a wide range of phenomena. We will use time-lapse footage, slow-motion clips and animations to show changes occurring over time periods form 300,000,000 to femtoseconds. Not only will museum visitors be able to watch these video segments at their own pace and in order they choose, they will also be able to learn more about such phenomena through on- screen textual and graphical explanations. The goal of the project is to engage museum visitors with captivating photographic segments, explain the phenomena shown with supplemental text and graphics, and stimulate them to look at the world in a new way - not just with their eyes, but with their minds and imaginations.
This one-hour documentary film profile of world famous mathematician Paul Erdos is being made for eventual broadcast on the NOVA series. At age 76, the world's most prolific mathematician (1,100 papers and over 200 co-authors) still spends all of his time moving from country to country, meeting with other mathematicians to work on problems. The film will show how a prodigious mathematician, with a career of over 50 years, lives and works, how he interacts with his colleagues, and how the international community of mathematicians functions. It aims to explore the human side of a discipline in which God, Beauty and Numbers are the subjects of daily speculation. But what do mathematicians actually do? Because of his peripatetic nature and eternal curiosity, Erdos provides an ideal window on a field that has often been perceived by the public as remote and intimidating. The film will show Erdos and his colleagues at work and play. Interviews and archival materials will establish his contributions in combinatorics and in Number theory. Some more accessible problems will be illustrated with animation and computer graphics. The interplay of a warm human story with intriguing philosophical speculations and mathematical problems will show important results are arrived at in mathematics. This is expected to stimulate interest in mathematics among television viewers and students. The film is in production and only partial funding is being requested from NSF.
The goal of the project is to produce a one hour television documentary and a series of video teaching modules which explore a wide range of scientific disciplines in an exciting manner by presenting the story of how these disciplines are used in the preparation and racing of an Indianapolis race car. This program will be distributed to a wide audience through its broadcast by PBS and cable sports networks; through dissemination to classrooms and museums nationwide; and through distribution via agencies that focus on bringing educational programs to youth and minorities across the country. We expect to attract a new audience to science, the millions of Americans who are infatuated by automobiles. This is an audience that cuts across age, ethnic and racial distinctions in America today. This exciting story of applied science should also appeal to American youth in a way that more traditional science stories do not. The major scientific disciplines involved in the project are: basic engineering, mathematics and physics, aerodynamics, materials science, mechanics, telemetry and computer aided design. This project is submitted to the Informal Science Education Program. The specific content of this project will be aimed at an audience with little background in science. High-school students and adults should be able to understand all the principles presented. Younger audiences will gain insight into how a knowledge of science is fundamental to a sport that many of them find fascinating.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will produce a 38- minute IMAX/OMNIMAX film on the topic of tropical rainforests. The objectives of the film include: To illustrate the key scientific concepts relating to rainforest ecology including biological diversity, biological change and human impact; To expose a wider audience to ecological thinking than might normally be exposed through traditional means of science education or science media; To communicate the complexity of conservation issues related to the rainforests. In addition, the film will portray science as an attractive career, particularly for minorities and women. The museum will create an integrated program of science enrichment materials that will accompany the film and will be used for both school groups and general audiences. Linking an education program to an IMAX/OMNIMAX film is a first for the industry and will extend the learning potential of the project. Tropical Rainforest will be distributed to IMAX/OMNIMAX theaters located in museums and science technology centers; it has the potential to be seen by more than 14 million people in its first four years of distribution.
WGBH/Boston in association with the Chedd-Angier Production plan the production of a series of five one hour public television programs on the environmental history of North America, "A Continent Transformed". Each of the programs will emphasize a key process which has shaped American environmental history: biological invasion, drawing boundaries, linking transportation and market systems, projecting ideals onto the landscape, and increasing the pace and complexity of systematic change. The principal author of the series and its on camera host will be William Cronin, a leading ecological historian. The series will be assisted by a prestigious Advisory Board, educational materials will be developed for series classrom use, and 8 million viewers should see each episode when the series airs in the Fall of 1992. NSF support will represent approximately 10% of the project total.
"Roman City," fourth in a series of PBS specials based on the acclaimed books of David Macaulay, is an hour-long film that traces the planning, engineering, building and habitation of an ancient Roman city at the height of empire. The program continues the unique Macaulay presentation format of a cinemaquality animated dramatic story juxtaposed with live- action documentary segments, hosted by Mr. Macaulay and filmed at actual sites portrayed in the story. Each film roots its dominant structures and technology firmly within the thought and culture of its historical period. The dual presentation style has enabled the previous Macaulay specials to capture a wide range of viewers from young children all the way up to older adults. "Roman City," as well as the previous award-winning Macaulay specials--"Castle," "Cathedral" and "Pyramid"--is specifically aimed at enhancing the scientific, technical and humanistic understanding of both young people and adults outside of the formal educational environment. All indication from the previous programs suggests that this goal has been widely achieved. There is a natural curiosity about other cultures, about things technical and how they interrelate with human needs and aspirations, and we believe our unique format satisfies that curiosity in an entertaining, informative and educational manner. The ancient Romans achieved breakthroughs in planning and the delivery of those elements deemed necessary for the functioning of an increasingly world. Aqueducts, sewers, roads, bridges, amphitheaters and public buildings, even public lavatories, all speak to the technical mastery of the ancient Romans. And if their social aims were not always as "advanced" as their scientific and technological sophistication, then that, too, provides a modern object lesson on the critical and mutually dependent interrelationship of science and civilization.
LIVING ON EARTH is a new weekly National Public Radio newsmagazine about the people and politics of environmental change. It goes beyond the ecological segments on NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED and MORNING EDITION to meet the growing demand for consistent, high quality, balanced and in-depth coverage of the environment, and scientific discoveries and advancements relevant to the rapidly changing ecology of our planet. Audience research consistently shows that information about the environment is a priority to a broad majority of public radio listeners, and these listeners are twice as likely as all adults to take personal and political action in relation to environmental concerns. With the premiere of Living On Earth in April 1991, public radio in the U.S. began serving its national audience with its first journalistically strong environmental show, Living On Earth. Each week's edition of Living On Earth begins with a one minute billboard, followed by a five minute newscast summarizing national and world ecological and scientific developments. The newscast includes modular breaks so that stations can insert two minutes of local environmental news. The balance of each program is devoted to a theme, with produced reports followed by a five minute newscast summarizing national and world ecological and scientific developments. The newscast includes modular breaks so that stations can insert two minutes of local environmental news. The balance of each program is devoted to a theme, with produced reports followed by interviews, commentaries, and occasional humor. From time to time the show is devoted to a full-length documentary or debate special. Standards of thoroughness, fairness, and excellence result in shows that stimulate as well as inform. Distributed by National Public Radio, the program is available to more than 400 NPR stations in the U.S. Already 160 of those stations have signed up to air the program. Many environmental issues -- sustainable energy, population, biological degradation, sustainable economic development and pollution, for example -- are of global concern and cut across political, racial and cultural boundaries. Material and information for Living On Earth is obtained from diverse producers and will be exchanged with public radio services around the world.
SOUNDPRINT, the weekly half-hour, nationally heard public radio documentary series proposes SOUNDPRINT EXPLORES SCIENCE, five programs that will make science more understandable and accessible to general audiences, with secondary use in instructional settings. SOUNDPRINT proposes three different treatments of science: 1) Programs that profile scientists and the life of a scientist; 2) A comprehensive examination of a long-term science project; and 3) Explorations of issues on the frontiers of science. Two programs will profile scientists to illustrate what it is like to live the life of a scientist, how she/he became interested in a particular subject, why it is important, current research on the subject and scientific method. One program will trace, over time, a scientific project: it will be recorded over time and presented in a compressed half hour. Listeners will learn about the scientific method, share in the human interest and suspense. Two programs will bring listeners the latest thinking on a subject from individuals working on a scientific frontier and present it in an engaging, understandable manner. SOUNDPRINT has a successful track record of initial science programming within the on-going series. SOUNDPRINT documentaries combine journalistic excellence, personal storytelling and state-of- the-art audio production to create compelling programs which present issues and ideas in an accessible, memorable way. Distributed by the American Public Radio Network, SOUNDPRINT reaches over 300,000 listeners each week; cassette copies of program reach a broad post-broadcast audience in schools, libraries, community centers, youth centers, colleges and informal sharing by listeners.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Public Radio (NPR) will provide five years of operation of NPR's Science Unit to provide science and technology news and information on NPR's MORNING EDITION, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, and WEEKEND EDITION shows. Prior NSF support has allowed NPR to create stable, sustained in-depth science coverage on the national network of 335 local public radio stations. More than 9,000,000 people a month, or 2.5% of the U.S. population each week, listen to NPR's news magazines. Science coverage includes 400-500 science stories each year. NPR's News and Information Service is widely acclaimed; awards have included the Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University Journalism Award, and the Science Unit's staff's Westinghouse-AAAS Science Journalism Award and the National Association of Science Writers' Science in Society Award. With this five year award, NPR will consolidate the gains that have been made, continuing to provide the coverage that has earned their reputation, while moving towards financial independence from NSF. A FY87 30 month award of $574,449 and, subject to the availability of funds, following 12 month awards of $240,698 in FY89, $210,939 in FY90, and $180,623 in FY91 are recommended.
Earth Game is a five-day simulation, modeled on the war games the military have staged for a hundred years. An international group of scientists, diplomats and political experts will react to a simulated environmental crisis caused by global climate change. The period of play is 1995 to 2010. The proceedings will be videotaped and edited into four hours of television programming for international broadcast to a general audience in the spring of 1992. Earth Game is a project of WQED with the Smithsonian Institution, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Adrian Malone Productions, and the U.S. Naval War College. The objectives are: 1.) to stimulate greater public and governmental interest in the subject of climate change; 2.) to foster greater understanding of what we do and don't know about the causes of climate change, and 3.) to develop a greater appreciation of the dilemmas posed by the need for political action in the fact of the threats and uncertainties surrounding climate change. Senior Smithsonian scientists, Naval War College game design experts, the distinguished television producer Adrian Malone, and a small group of advisers are planning the event, which is scheduled to take place in Newport, Rhode Island in November 1991 at the historic facilities of the Naval War College.