The Please Touch Museum is requesting $684,602 for the development of educational resource materials in science and mathematics for four-year old children, and training for their parents and teachers in Head Start and other daycare programs. This 44 month project will develop, test, and produce six materials-based science and math activity kits, science training workshops for parents and daycare educators, and related family materials and events. It will culminate in a national dissemination program to promote more effective preschool science and math education through materials- based science inquiry and increased professional relations between educators in youth museums and daycare centers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marzy SykesRenee HenryTracey Prendergast
Green City Data is an after-school community service project. Teams of secondary students are trained to inventory urban natural areas selected by regional resource planning agencies to supplement their own data collection efforts. Representatives from seven agencies and educational institutions initiated this project to support development of a system of greenspaces within the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area. This consortium includes expertise in resource management, geography, biology, computer telecommunications, science education and community coordination. These and other community professionals tech students and volunteer team leaders (teachers or other adults) the basics of habitat identification and mapping in the context of regional planning. ***
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gail WhitneyMichael HouckJames GillenJoseph PoracskyEllen Lanier-Phelps
The Exploratorium is developing a model program that demonstrates the vital role science museum exhibits can play in supporting formal science education reform. The development of exhibitions and enhancement activities is based on the Science Framework for California Public Schools and the emerging National Science Education Standards. The project includes: A series of four museum exhibitions (with a total of 60 exhibits) based on the Science Framework themes of Patterns of Change, Stability, Scale and Structure, and Systems and Interactions Publications (Exhibit Guides and Pathways) for each collection A series of workshops and evening events for teachers, families and students A symposium, video and Internet resource for museum and education professionals An important feature is an information desk and resource kiosk to inform teachers, parents and the general public about science education reform efforts. The project aims at 5,000 teachers, 32,000 parents and caregivers, 140,000 students and 1,320,000 members of the general public.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Thomas HumphreyLynn Rankin
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences plans to conduct a 5 year project to train 150 mentor teachers (30 teachers/year) and their principals, who will then train the remaining 1100 elementary teachers in the Buffalo Public School System. The training would include two 5-week summer sessions (in a Magnet school that is physically incorporated into the Buffalo Museum of Science) and 4 in-service workshops during the academic years following each of the summer workshops. This innovative leadership project is a collaborative effort between the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences (including both education and curatorial/science staff persons) the Buffalo Public Schools, and individuals from local colleges and universities. The setting of the project is enhanced by a Science and Math Magnet School which is housed within the museum, and by the school/museum's location in a largely inner city environment with easy accessibility to minority persons. The project is designed to provide mentor teachers with a strong science background in pedagogy and content over a two-year period of summer and academic-year workshops, and to prepare and support these mentors as they inservice their colleagues. Project staff from the museum, public schools, and the academic community will provide strong support through academic-year workshops, site visits and telecommunications networking. Principals will be appropriately involved, and will work with mentors to develop a science inservice program tailored to meet the needs of their individual schools; as a consequence, virtually all of the 1100 K-6 classroom teachers of science in the Buffalo Public Schools will have been prepared to teach investigative, hands-on science to their students. Non-NSF cost sharing is approximately 27.9% of the amount requested from NSF.
"The Connecticut Museum Collaborative for Science Education" is teacher enhancement program that will serve approximately 5,000 middle school teachers (and their students) from throughout Connecticut over a three-year program period. The proposed program has been developed cooperatively by four of Connecticut's Science Museums and Centers (The Discovery Museum, The Maritime Center at Norwalk, Mystic Marinelife Aquarium, and Talcott Mountain Science Center), in consultation with the school districts they serve and the Connecticut Academy for Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, the State's leadership organization solely devoted to enhancing education in mathematics, science, and technology. The Collaborative seeks to enliven and enhance the teaching of science, mathematics, and technology by drawing upon the resources of Connecticut's science-rich institutions and related businesses and industry. The proposed project will provide direct services to a core group of 72 middle school teachers and their students in eight urban and suburban school districts at the four participating museums and in their classrooms, as well as teacher training, curriculum development, and networking activities. Larger numbers of teachers and their students will be served through a planned series of interactive video teleconferences. A theme-based approach will be followed in which the unifying theme of "Earth Resource Monitoring" will serve to connect the activities at the four cooperating museums. The central concept of the project is collaboration among museums throughout the state to provide a bridge between science-rich institutions and the schools for teacher enhancement, curriculum improvement, and student enrichment. Special program components involve the participation of business and industry through "Video Field Trips", and parents through a "Family Science" activity. The involvement of the Connecticut Academy for Education in Mathematics, Science and Technolo gy as a member of the "Connecticut Collaborative" provides a direct link for integration of project activities into Connecticut's NSF-funded Statewide Systemic Initiative.
The Franklin Institute proposes to establish the Science Learning Network (SLN), a unique online collaborative of science museums, industry and schools to support the teaching and learning of science, mathematics and technology (SMT) in grades K-8. The SLN will integrate the educational resources offered by science/technology centers with the power of telecomputing networking to provide powerful new support for teacher development and science learning. By December 1997 the SLN will develop and evaluate the following: UniVERSE - an online SMT database and software package which will provide interactive capabilities to actively and intelligently assist K-8 classroom teachers in their Internet explorations, much like an electronic "librarian." Online Museum Collaborative - a national consortium of science museums (The Franklin Institute, the Exploratorium, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Museum of Science - Boston, and Science Museum of Minnesota) that will pool their resources and expertise to create online assets and provide ongoing professional development on telecomputing networking for precollege SMT teachers. Online Demonstration Schools - a network of K-8 schools, working in collaboration with consortium museums and Unisys Corporation volunteers as demonstration sites for online teaching and learning in SMT. Over the course of three years, the SLN will provide direct support to 180 teachers and 3,000 K-8 students in the online demonstration schools. Through existing teacher networks, each museum will offer professional development for an additional 200 teachers each year. The Urban Systemic Initiatives in Philadelphia and Miami offer the potential for broader, systemic impact in those cities. By the end of the grant period, the SLN will provide field- tested models of a new kind of online SMT community through the collaboration of science museums with industry and schools. The sustainable impact of the SLN will be assured by UniVERSE's status as a publicly accessible database and software package and the development of the national consortium of online museums, whose network resources will be made available on an ongoing basis to educators. The three-year formative development of the online demonstration schools will contribute vital data to precollegiate school reform in SMT, showing how schools build capacity to become members of the online community and demonstrating how teaching and learning are enhanced by online resources. Unisys Corporation has pledged its support to this project and will provide matching funds for up to 40% of the total NSF award.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen BaumannWayne RansomPaul Helfrich
Five small science museums will form "TEAMS (Traveling Exhibits at Museums of Science) Collaborative". The partners include the Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, VT; The Catawba Science Center, Hickory, NC; Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY; Discovery Center Museum, Rockford, IL; and the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Ann Arbor, MI. Each museum partner will develop a 1500 sq. ft. (140 m2) traveling exhibit that will include ten to fifteen interactive units and supporting graphics and will circulate to all members of the partnership. The exhibition topics are: AirPlay (Montshire Museum of Science, Dirt (Catawba Science Center), You Can Count On It (Sciencenter), Amusement Park Science (Discovery Center Museum), and Eureka Labs: Science from Head to Toe (Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum). Following the circulation among the consortium members, it is anticipated that the exhibits will circulate more broadly via the Association of Science-Technology Centers Traveling Exhibit's Program. In addition to developing these exhibits, the collaboration has an additional goals 1) focusing on the family audiences by working together to enhance the family science learning through the development of resources that can be used by families that are related to exhibition topics, 2) building institutional expertise in exhibit design, family programming, and evaluation; and 3) conducting research on family learning and sharing results with the field. Complementary materials and activities for teachers will also be developed for each exhibit.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David GoudyCharles TrautmannSarah WolfMike SinclairJames FrenzaCynthia Yao
This materials development project is the result of a joint effort by Miami University and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). The project will combine the resources of the Univeristy and the publication department of NSTA, to work with schools to produce an innovative science journal for children in grades 3-6, a teacher support manual, a parent support manual, and a supporting computer network that will connect children with scientists and university science students in scientific inquiry. The journal will be the first national journal devoted to research scientists and children with an outlet for publication of scientific investigations conducted by children. Given the strong record of accomplishment of the PI and the publications division of the National Science Teachers Association, the panel feel it is likely that the Dragonfly, Dragonfly Companions. the Dragonfly Net will be a quality product and recommends funding this project at a high priority level. The Program Officer agrees with the panel and recommends funding this proposal.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Christopher MyersPhyllis MarcuccioR. Hays CumminsChris WolfeCarolyn Haynes
The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science will develop two areas in a new 70 acre outdoor exhibit "BioQuest Woods: Linking Animals and Plans with Interactive Exhibits". This concept is to pair live animals and plants in their natural setting with science center-style interactive exhibits to communicate key ideas in biology and physics. Support will go to sixteen interactive stations in two four-acre theme areas "Catch the Wind" and "Down to Earth". "Catch the Wind" will assist visitors in the exploration air movement and learning about how plants and animals use air in specialized ways. For example, visitors will experiment with air thermals while observing the behavior of birds of prey and will learn how prairie dogs exploit the venturi effect to ventilate their burrows. In the "Down to Earth" thematic area, visitors, simulate the activities of field biologists, will track bears equipped with radio collars, examine living invertebrates, among other activities. Scientific instruments, including microscopes, in kiosks will aid on-the-scene study of live animals and plans. "BioQuest Woods" will help visitors, teachers and students gain the realistic experience of scientific inquiry in a natural setting. Education programming will highlight curriculum linkages and fulfills the goals of North Carolina's new science curriculum. It directly addresses the State's competency-based goals requiring understanding of natural systems and the interrelations of the basic sciences. Pre and post-visit materials will be developed along with teacher guides and enhancement activities. This project is being developed with the cooperation of the Austin Nature Center, the National Zoo, and the Indianapolis Zoo.
The New York Hall of Science requests $829,312 over four years to develop and circulate a traveling version of "Hidden Kindoms - The World of York Hall of Science in April, 1991. The traveling version will consist of: an introductory panel; 16 Easy-View microscopes exhibiting living microbes; units dealing with size, scale and magnification; two interactive computer programs entitled "Understanding AIDS" and "How Your Body Fights Disease"; a video microscope for the Microscopic Life demonstration; units on virusesand bacteria; a mosaic of color transparencies of different microorganisms; one Optech (BYOB) interactive video microscope; three zoetropes illustrating mcrobial movement; and a mini-laboratory room containing all the equipment and materials necessary for maintaining the exhibit and presenting the MICROLAB workshops to students and teachers. The 1,500 square foot exhibit will travel to nine sites over three years. The new York Hall of Science will provide on-site training in estasblishing and maintaining the exhibit, a weekly shipment of microrganisms and supporting materials, an exhibit catalog, an 11-minute video featuring living microbes, pre- and post- visit materisla for schools with suggested activities , and programs for student and teacher workshops. A novel feature of this traveling exhibition will be the opportunity for the host museum to retain, on a cost-share basis, the mini- laboratory with its equipment and four Easy-View microscopes which can become the core of a microbiology program. Biology, Microbiology; Informal Science Education; Elementary, Middle and High School
This project by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) develops a public education program on chemistry. The program: introduces students and the general public to the science of chemistry and processes of chemistry-related research through drop-in lab activities; provides follow-up chemistry activities for use by elementary teachers and parents so that children can further explore the interests they have developed in science and chemistry; provides opportunities for internships for high-school students as lab assistants so that they can develop greater knowledge of "everyday" chemistry, laboratory techniques and safety, develop skills in working with others and in teaching chemistry, and explore potential careers in teaching chemistry; and make available the resources developed by OMSI to other interested science museums.
The Health Museum (THM) is requesting $868,108 over 30 months to create a 3,600 sq. ft. permanent exhibit containing seven Body Stops components, which will maintain THM's science literacy focus by linking concepts of human biology to everyday experience through visitor exploration of the human body's seen and unseen operating systems. Ancillary instructional materials and programs will be produced. The educational goals of the project are to: 1. Promote understanding of the basic biological sciences in the context of the human life cycle and health; 2. Present vital basic science information through an active and accessible exhibit environment which complements formal science education; 3. Develop an appreciation of basic human biological sciences as they are presented similarly across all people and an appreciation of human variability as these biological processes are played out in the individual. The target audiences are families, urban youth, and student and teacher groups.