The New England Wild Flower Society, in collaboration with the Yale Peabody Museum, Montshire Museum of Science, and the Chewonki Foundation, is implementing the Go-Botany project, a multi-faceted, web-based botany user interface. "Go-Botany: Integrated Tools to Advance Botanical Learning," improves botanical education by opening plant study to a larger and more diverse segment of the population including novices, citizen scientists, and informal science educators. The project is designed to integrate a variety of web tools and mobile communication devices to facilitate learning about botany and plant conservation with a focus on native and naturalized plants in New England. Project deliverables include an online database of New England plants; online keys to over 4,000 species of New England flora; a customizable user interface; My Plants personal webpages; an outdoor exhibit that incorporates mobile resources; training programs for informal science educators and educational programs for the public. Projected impacts include increased attraction to and engagement in botanical learning for public audiences and improved teaching abilities by informal science education professionals through the application of user friendly, digital resources on mobile communication devices. Go-Botany significantly impacts the field of informal science education by changing the way that informal learners learn about plants by removing barriers through the use of free online materials, mentoring, and user created resources. This project is projected to reach over 46,000 youth, adults, and informal educators in workshops and via the Go-Botany website.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth FarnsworthGregory LowenbergArthur HainesWilliam Brumback
Supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Safari Adventure Advisory Committee Workshop was held on March 11, 2013 at the Bronx Zoo, with the following experts and educators in the fields of children and nature education, hands-on and place-based learning, and digital learning: Professor Louise Chawla, educator David T. Sobel, Urban Assembly high school principal Mark Ossenheimer, researcher Ingrid Erickson, and noted author and environmentalist Richard Louv. Through this workshop, we obtained scholarly input for the purpose of assessing the conceptual
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Wildlife Conservation SocietyLee Patrick