In this paper, Pedro J. E. Casaleiro of the University of Leicester (UK), Department of Museum Studies, discusses methodology and findings from a comparative analysis of audiences for "The Return of the Living Dinosaurs" exhibition in four separate locations: London, Paris, Spain, and Portugal. The exhibit consisted of robotic dinosaurs (animatronic models).
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.
9355629 Chiss This is a project of the Chicago Children's Museum to develop, evaluate and install a 2,200 square foot permanent exhibit called "Inventing: The Process of Discovery." This exhibit engages young visitors (primarily from 6-10 yrs.) in inventive creativity, testing, and development, and teaches them a meaningful sequence of activities for problem-solving. Museum educators and adolescent interns act as multi-cultural role models in exhibit areas and facilitate hands-on learning. Every year the exhibit will serve over 500,000 children, parents and teachers in Chicago's inner city and metropolitan neighborhoods. A large percentage of this audience is under-served minority children drawn from CCM's alliances with diverse ethnic community agencies. This exhibit provides a safe haven where young multi-cultural, often disadvantaged children may find support for science learning and be encouraged to grow and participate in the many science fairs, science clubs, and invention conventions available to adolescents in the Chicago area. ***
The California Academy of Science will develop "Chinook: A National Traveling Exhibit on Salmon." The main components will be a 3500 sq. ft. and a 5000 sq. ft. version of an exhibit about salmon ecology and biology, genetic diversity, and the science of species preservation. Futher, components of the exhibit will be reproduced for a 500 sq. ft. exhibit for the new public visitors center at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. The exhibit will focus on the Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon. Several themes from the California Science Frameworks and Benchmarks for Science Literacy serve as the foundation for the interpretation. Benchmarks theme of evolution and the Framework theme of patterns of change are woven throughout the exhibit and are illustrated by salmon life cycles, genetic diversity, and physical adaptations. Benchmarks theme of systems and interactions as well as the Frameworks theme of scale and structure are also incorporated in the interpretive material. The exhibit will be developed by the ichthyologists, educators, and exhibit designers of the California Academy of Science and genetic researcher from the Bodega Marine Laboratory of the University of California at Davis. Thirteen individuals have been selected as project advisors. They bring a diversity of perspectives including expert knowledge of the science concerns (salmon and habitats issues, anthropology) to the educational interests (both formal and informal). The various evaluation studies will be carried by CAS staff member Lisa Mackinney. The complementary materials linking the exhibit with formal education that will be developed are a Teachers Resource Kit and a Chinook Curriculum Guide. The Teachers Resource Kit, available to each host site, will include a slide show, a video tracing the story of salmon fisheries, a special issue of the CAS educator newsletter, sample of fish scales and otoliths, a compilation of resources from government agencies and env ironmental organizations, and a bibliography produced by the CAS Biodiversity Resource Center. The Curriculum Guide will include sixteen hands-on activities using readily available materials to reinforce the educational objectives. A Chinook Family Activity Guide targeted at families with children between the ages of five and ten, will provide parents with specific steps to facilitate discussion what at the exhibit and to suggest follow-up activities to do at home.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is requesting $971,288 over three years for the development, formative and summative evaluation of two traveling exhibits. The 5,000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit is designed for children ages 3-8 and their families, using the context, setting, characters and challenged portrayed in the books of Richard Scarry, a noted children's author. A 2,000 sq. ft. mini-version traveling exhibit will be produced for use in smaller venues. Parent, teacher, and staff guides will be prepared and distributed. This exhibit gives strong emphasis to facilitating parent interaction with their children, and has activity areas for parents built into the exhibit. There is also an emphasis on anti-bias content within the exhibit.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Nancy StueberMarilynne ElchingerJoan Liberman
The California Museum of Science and Industry requests $1,103,410 over three years to work in a partnership with the National Council of La Raza to develop two content-rich "discovery rooms" in the Museum that are supportive of further learning in the larger museum context and that guide parents from culturally diverse backgrounds in supporting their children's science learning at the museum and in the home. A major component of the project is the "Our Place Academy," a comprehensive education program that will train Latino parents of preschool and school-age children to serve as learning facilitators in the discovery rooms. The curriculum of the Academy will focus on skills that will both serve Latino parents as partners in their children's science education and as leaders and disseminators within their own communities. A training guide entitled, "Making it our Place" will be developed as a practical guide for building a trained staff from the parents in a community to facilitate learning in a discovery setting. Target audience is parents with preschool and school-aged children.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Ann MuscatSylvia ConnollySharon SchonhautCarol ValentaRoxie EsterleMaria Bonillas
The San Jose Children's Discovery Museum will develop an exhibit "Take Another Look." A semi-permanent version will be installed at the Children's Museum and a 600-750 sq. ft. traveling version will be developed and circulated under the auspices of the Association of Science and Technology Centers Traveling Exhibition Service. Consisting of 14 individual elements, the exhibit is to communicate the essential role and significance of observation in the human experience and its more purposive character in science; the role and importance of instrumentation in scientific observation; and the importance to science of observing and interpreting phenomena in different ways. "Take Another Look" is aligned with nationally developed science education goals as outlined in Goals 2000, the AAAS Benchmarks, and with the California's Science Framework. The project targets the adult/child unit (parents and teachers with children age 2 to 10 that they accompany). Particular attention is being paid to reaching traditionally underserved audiences including Latino, Asia, and African American. Complementary materials include a Teacher's Guide, a Family Activities Guide, and a free/low cost "take-away" card with suggested activities and recommendations for other activities. It is estimated that in four years it will reach over two million children and adults both at the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum and host museums of the touring version.
"Under the Rock: An Experiment in Neighborhood Exhibit-Making" is a project that will engage children in the development of exhibits as well as present information about backyard ecology. The Children's Museum staff will work with Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses (a group of inner city neighborhood centers in Boston) to develop a model activity that uses the theory and practice of exhibit making as a tool to engage children in science learning in their neighborhoods. They will work with children and their parents in the exploration of insect life in their urban settings and presentation of their findings in exhibits the children will make. Exhibit making includes the entire process of: studying live insects, doing research, writing text, designing and building interactive activities for an exhibit about insects, and marketing the exhibit. Exhibit making has been chosen as the pedagogical technique because it parallels creative work done in the real world; it involves people working together in teams, and utilizes different skills and intelligences of the participants. In addition to the exhibits, other results of this project will include: an educator's guidebook documenting the process of exhibit-making in community centers; a proposal for an activity book for kids with writing samples and illustrations that will be submitted to a publisher; video and electronic resources; and contributions and recommendations for the Museum's "Under the Rock" exhibit, a new exhibit to be developed subsequent to the completion of the first two phases of this project.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Signe HansonTimothy PorterDorothy Merrill
The Educational Film Center (EFC) is developing a science, engineering, and technology careers exhibit for distribution to science museums and technology centers. The core of the exhibit kiosk, with related career graphics surrounds, is SET/QUEST, an interactive multimedia program for both Macintosh and PC/Windows using CD-Rom as the full motion video source. Teens and preteens will enter an interactive exploration of thirty careers with first person video profiles of people in science and engineering; animated/reality video simulations of a work experience in these fields, decision screens, and a database of over 200 more science and math-based professions. The documentary profiles, database, and a personal interest career match component will also be developed in alternative media formats (video, audio, print) for broad distribution to community and youth education networks, schools, and libraries. Specific emphasis in this project is being placed on reaching and attracting female, minority, and disabled youth. A parent outreach component has been developed and will be implemented by the Directorate of Education & Human Resources Programs of AAAS. The concept of the parent effort is to work directly with and through the national offices of four major national organizations with different institutional community roots -- Science Museums, Public Libraries, Schools, and Community Based Organizations -- to involve parents and families with SET Project materials and to provide them with information with which they can foster their children's pursuit of science and math education and careers in these fields. Initial efforts will be conducted in 18 cities. The project is a collaborative endeavor among three organizations: The Educationa l Film Center which will be responsible for management and development/production of the software and documentary video profiles; The New York Hall of Science which will be responsible for the exhibit kiosk and graphics, will design and develop the student workbook and user installation print, will serve as the principal test site for the exhibit, and will advise on software, interactive multimedia design, and installation options; and COMAP which will be responsible for direct involvement of the Advisory Board, for selecting and hiring content consultants, for assuring the accuracy of the science and math content, for formative and summative evaluation, and for developing and preparing community leader and school users guides for publication. Stephen Rabin, President of EFC, will serve as PI for the project.
The Museums of the Rockies will develop a 2450 sq. ft. exhibit titled Landforms/Lifeforms and complementary educational materials including teacher enhancement activities, outreach trunks, and other programming. The exhibit will serve as the pivotal experience for visitors as they engage the museum's theme One Place Through All Of Time and it serve to introduce all other permanent exhibit galleries. Using the important and spectacular geological and paleontological resources of the region and the museum's collections, the exhibit will bring to life the concept of the evolution and diversification of life in response to changing geological conditions from the Precambrian to the end of the Mesozoic. Visitors will experience the Northern Rocky Mountain Region and the life supported by that region over time. Critical thinking skills of visitors will be stimulated with the purpose of enhancing their overall science literacy. The exhibit is designed to promote adult-child interaction. Special attention is being given to attracting a rural audience. Complementary programming aimed at K-12 students and teachers will be developed. The content of these activities will address the goals set forth in Montana's systemic initiative and the Systemic Teacher Excellence Preparation program. The educational materials will also be shared with member museums in the Mid-Continent University Natural History Museum Consortium.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Arthur WolfShelly WhitmanBeth MerrickBonnie Sachatello-SawyerSharon Horrigan
The Space Science Institute of Boulder, Colorado in partnership with the Franklin Institute Science Museum and the Electric Producers Research Institute will develop a 3000 sq. ft. traveling exhibit entitled Electric Space: Exploring Our Plasma Universe. Visitors to the exhibit will be introduced to the physics of the sun and the polar aurora. They will learn about the effect solar variability has on technology and humans working in space. The exhibit is divided into seven sections: Space is Not Empty; SkyWatchers; Plasma: the Fourth State of Matter; The Dynamic Sun; Planet Earth: a Great Magnet; Reaching Toward the Starts: the Heliosphere; and The Cosmic Connection. Its design is guided by the desire to create a total immersion environment that will allow visitors to explore the many realm of the plasma university from Earth's upper atmosphere to distant galaxies. It is the developers intention to demystify science by concentrating on process rather than facts, to create a stimulating informal learning environment, to reach a diverse audience, to motivate young people to pursue science as an interest and a career, and to have the exhibit serve as an interface between the scientific community and the general public. In addition to the exhibit, supplemental curriculum modules using an inquiry-based approach will be developed in cooperation with the Science Discovery Project at the University of Colorado. These materials will provide teachers, students, and parents the opportunity to explore the concepts presented in the exhibit. An extensive evaluation plan will be carried. The exhibit will open at the Maryland Science Center the summer of 1995. It will then travel to nine major US cities reaching an estimated two million adults and children who represent a great diversity of ages and education an ethnic backgrounds.
How do we know the distance to a star? How do we know what a star is made of? How do we know how fast an object is moving? These questions are addressed in this 1,488 square foot permanent exhibit which emphasizes astronomical spectroscopy - the detailed analysis of light from astronomical objects. This interactive, bilingual (English/Spanish) exhibit will demonstrate different applications of spectroscopy that provide insight into the universe, and will provide opportunities for students, teachers, parents, and the general public to learn about the universe. Bilingual ancillary materials will be produced: pre- and post-visit materials for school visitors; a "Life at an Observatory" ten-minute orientation/information video to be shown at the visitor center. Target audiences are students in grades K-12, and general visitors.