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.
The Family Science Learning Project is comprised of a research study and subsequent program development designed to fundamentally improve family science learning in museums. The endeavor will be carried out in the Philadelphia area by PISEC, a partnership of The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Franklin Institute, the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium at Camden and the Philadelphia Zoo, joined for this project by the University of the Arts. To achieve the goal of fostering science literacy by encouraging families to engage in successful learning strategies while visiting science museums, PISEC has identified the following objectives for the project: - To increase understanding of the processes and potential of science museum-based family learning. - To apply this understanding to the development and implementation of effective program and exhibit enhancements in four science museums. - To involve existing staff so that evaluation and research become an ongoing component of program and exhibit development in the participating museums. - To utilize a multi-institution team approach designed to maximize impact, be cost-effective and be replicable in other regions across the country. The project has three phases. First, a research study using ethnographic data collection and focus groups will be conducted at the participating museums. This study will lead to the formulation of a set of criteria for successful family science learning and hypotheses about what is needed to facilitate this behavior. Second, utilizing these findings, the four institutions will develop four distinct programs and/or exhibit enhancements designed to foster positive family learning experiences. Formative evaluation and inter-museum collaborative will be integral parts of this process. Finally, the summative findings of the individual efforts will be compared to look for constants in successful programming across the sites. Results will be assembled in a handbook which will be widely disseminated to the field. In carrying out this study, the project will fill in the body of existing museum-based family learning research. The knowledge gained will give science museum professionals a new set of tools which can be used to increase the frequency of positive learning experiences in their facilities, and to broaden the diversity of visiting families as well. Because the subject matter under investigation represents a wide range of scientific disciplines, the results of the projects should prove applicable to many different types of informal science learning environments, including science centers, natural history museums, zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens. The collaborative nature of the project will serve as a model for similar partnerships among cultural institutions and universities in other large metropolitan areas.
The Franklin Institute and the Girl Scouts of the USA will develop, implement, and evaluate "Girls at the Center," a family outreach program that will foster girl-centered, learning within the context of the family. Partnerships will be promoted between local science and technology centers and Girl Scout Councils. It is a multi- component program that will increase girls' and their families' understanding of and interest in basic science principles and processes. Consisting of a series of family-oriented activities that coincide with the school year, science/technology centers will serve as the hosts. These museum-based activities will be supplemented by home-based activities. The activities will follow the constructivist theory of education and will cover a broad menu of scientific disciplines including ecology, energy, and human physiology as well as science careers opportunities. They will be linked to the requirements for the Girl Scout recognition (badges) program. It is building on the success of a previously NSF funded project "National Science Partnerships for Girls Scout Councils and Museum" and is expected to reach 75,050 girls and 112,575 adults in 25 sites across the US during the funding period. It will be institutionalized and will continue to operate in those sites as well as expand to other sites after the NSF-funded period.
The Magic School Bus Museum Collaborative, requests through Discovery Places, Inc., NSF support for six science museums and Scholastic Productions, Inc., to develop science education materials that capitalize on the interest and excitement in the forthcoming Magic School Bus television series and the Magic School Bus books. Over a three year period the collaborative will provide basic science education activities and demonstrations through museum educational programming. The collaborative will provide tools and support for teachers to use the Magic School Bus themes in their science curriculum and provide hands-on science classroom experiences using mobile museum exhibits. Working with the National Urban League, ASPIRA, the AAAS Black Church Project, and other youth serving organizations, the collaborative will encourage multi-ethnic participation in these museum programs. The numbers of children and their families who will be reached by the Magic School Bus Museum Collaborative are significant. The components of the project are a planetarium program (100 copies), two 1200 square feet traveling exhibits, and activity and programming guide, table-top exhibits and program, and 2 teacher enhancement workshops. Collectively, these components can reach conservatively over 5 million museum visitors in the first year. Coupled with the new television series, the Magic School Bus can have a tremendous impact on the education of young people in the sciences.
The National council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's principal Hispanic constituency-based organization, seeks funding from the National Science Foundation's Informal Science Education Program for a four-year community-centered demonstration program. Project EXCEL-MAS, the Math and Science component of its EXCEL-MAS is designed to develop and encourage the adoption of supplemental math and science programs for at-risk Hispanic elementary and middle school students and their parents, using thematic, hands-on approaches; and ultimately help to increase the numbers of Hispanic student enrolling and succeeding in paths which lead to advanced study in math and science. Hispanics -- the youngest and fastest-growing major U.S. population, numbering 22.4 million or 9% of the U.S. population according to the 1990 Census -- continue to be most undereducated major U.S. population. Only about half of Hispanics are high school graduates, and fewer than one in ten have completed college; only about one-quarter of high school graduates have followed curricular tracks including the math, science and language arts needed for college attendance; national studies suggest that Hispanic 17-year-olds on average have math and science skills at the level of White 13-year- olds. Contributing to these problems are a lack of culturally appropriate, meaningful parent involvement or family-wide approaches to education, supplemental programs to motivate and support at-risk students, wrap-around social services for low- income students and their families, and efforts to promote more equitable Hispanic access to the full school curriculum.
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.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Nancy StueberMarilynne ElchingerJoan Liberman
The National Easter Seal Society is engaged in a project to introduce young people with disabilities and their families to science, to provide them with access to science, and to familiarize them with the wide range of career options which depend on science and technology. Easter Seal affiliates serve as project sites, and a sub-contract with the American Association for the Advancement of Science led to development of a family-centered activity-based science program. The three major project components are: Family Science events, including hands-on activities, visits by "role models," take home activities, and field trips; an Activity Manual containing twelve themes to be used as the basis of Family Science workshops; Staff Training for Easter Seal staff. Target audiences are elementary and middle school age youth with disabilities and their families.
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.
Quest Productions is producing and testing the pilot phase for a series of weekly television programs entitled, Doing It. The series which is targeted at six to ten year olds is co-production with KCTS, the producer of Bill Nye the Science Guy in Seattle, will focus on science and technology-oriented themes by introducing viewers to men and women who develop and apply science and technology in their everyday lives. In each program, two young "explorers" will journey to a place in the real world that fascinates them and, with an adult guide, explore the inner workings of the particular site and how science is involved in what the person does. An additional character, a young woman named Howzit Work, will serve as a role model for the process of figuring out how and why things work. Each episode will end with a Doing It at Home segment which feature an activity or investigation selected from one of the activities designed by the GEMS project at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Ancillary material designed to encourage child/parent involvement is science include a Doing It booklet, and Internet Home Page, and a CD-ROM. The PI and Senior Producer will be Bill Jersey. His children's TV credits include 3-2-1 Contact, Sesame Street, and Bi-Lingual Children's Television. Pierre Valette, who helped develop and produce the pilot for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is the creator of the project and will serve as Project Director. The Executive-in-charge of Production at KCTS is Elizabeth Brock, one of the developers of Bill Nye the Science Guy. The Senior Science Consultant is Ted Ansbacher, former Director of Exhibits at the New York Hall of Science. Evaluation will be conducted by Barbara Flagg. They will work closely with an advisory team of formal and informal science educators.
KCTS has received support for the production and outreach for the second season of 'Bill Nye the Science Guy.' Each program in the 39 program series will focus on a single science theme developed around two or three learning outcomes and is presented with a fast and colorful pace and style suited for today's generation of nine and ten year old viewers. The host, Bill Nye, joins viewers and guests as they explore science topics in his laboratories and in field locations. Children also will perform on-camera experiments in a home setting. In most shows, guest scientists and celebrities, selected to ensure a diverse representation, will be featured. Segments in the programs include: 'Check it Out' a small experiment performed in the lab or at home by child actors. 'Try This at Home' an experiment viewers may attempt at home after receiving instructions on the air. 'Way Cool Scientist' a scientist demonstrating his or her work as it relates to the topic of the program. 'Music Video Parody' video tailored to popular music genres such as rap or 'grunge' or pop music. 'Consider the Following' Bill presents a concept to the viewer in a one on one segment. 'Big Demonstration' Bill, in the laboratory, uses equipment to demonstrate an element of the theme. 'Celebrity Cameos' featuring both teen and adult celebrities with a high recognition factor. 'Fake commercials' like the music videos, humor ous parodies of advertising. Outreach for the second season will include a quarterly newsletter to be mailed to viewers homes. This eight page newsletter will include regular columns such as 'Ask Bill' and 'Try this at Home.' It will be designed to appeal to children ages 8 to 12 and will contain a column for parents. During the second season, at-home science kits will again be available to viewers. These free kits will enable children and their families to perform scientific experiments together at home. The video series will be produced by McKenna/Gottlieb Producers Inc. and KCTS Television and will be syndicated for broadcast by Buena Vista Television (the syndication division of Disney Productions). The second season also will be broadcast daily on PBS. This will give the series a presence on both public broadcasting and on commercial television in many markets. Buena Vista Television will provide $3,000,000 toward the production budget and PBS will provide $2,000,000 for production. KCTS is seeking a corporate underwriter to provide $1,000,000 for additional outreach and promotion. Elizabeth Brock of KCTS will be Executive in Charge of the project. Bill Nye is the principal science writer for the series as well as host of the series. The series producers will be Erren Gottlieb and James E. McKenna. These four people will serve as Co-PI's of the project. The advisory committee consists of scientists, science educators, evaluators, and curriculum developers. Members include: H. Prentice Baptiste, Arthur B. Ellis, Caroline Herzenberg, Gilbert S. Omenn, Senta A. Raizen, Matthew H. Schneps, Paul H. Williams, Carole Ann Kubota, and Sally Luttrell-Montes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth BrockWilliam NyeJames McKennaErren Gottlieb
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will produce and distribute a half-hour science adventure show for weekly broadcast, primarily on commercial children's radio stations. The series, 'The Kinetic City Super Crew,' is targeted at children 8-10 years old with an emphasis on urban children, girls, minorities, and children with disabilities. The series of 92 programs also will be designed for family listening. The programs revolve around a drama led by child actors and include discussions with scientists and information for at-home experiments. The Co-Principal Investigators will be Jerry Bell and Gerald Wheeler. Bell is Program Director for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education at AAAS and will be responsible for overall management of the project. Wheeler is Program Director for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology and will serve as the Science Content Director for the programs. There also will be a Science Content Team (consisting of Bell, Shirley Malcom and Andrew Ahlgren) that will work closely with Wheeler, the production staff, and the advisors to review show themes, scientists to be interviewed, overall content, and to serve as arbiters for questions related to their respective fields. Bob Hirshon will serve as Executive Produce/Project Director and John Keefe will be Senior Producer.
Washington Independent Writers is engaged in a planning phase toward publication of Quest?, a 4-page, tabloid sized newspaper about science, technology, and society for children and their families. The target audience is children age 8 to 16, with a focus on the 10-14 year-old age group, along with their parents, teachers, and counselors. A prototype version of the paper has been published locally and distributed through Safeway stores. During the planning phase, the PI and staff will conduct the following activities: Conduct front-end evaluation of the target audience with particular emphasis being given to identifying ways to reach underserved and underrepresented groups; Work with science, technology, and graphics experts to improve the quality of the content and design; Explore traditional and new distribution mechanisms and cooperative arrangements; Create and test interdisciplinary procedures for evaluation; Establish a network of individual, community, corporate, and institutional supporters, including educators, community leaders, scientists, and engineers; Create linkages with schools and school programs; Explore funding sources and sponsorships; Continue building a Board of Advisors.