Founded in 1979, the Science Skills Center (SSC) is a non-profit community based program which encourages young minority and female students to pursue careers in science, mathematics, and technology. At its current two sites, located in Brooklyn, New York, approximately 400 students, ages six to eighteen, are enrolled in programs where they take accelerated courses in biology, chemistry, physical science, rocketry, oceanography, botany, and advanced mathematics. Classes, which are presented within the cultural and linguistic understanding of minority children, provide students with an opportunity to recognize the relationship of science, mathematics, and technology to their everyday lives. The SSC proposes to replicate its present programs, establishing three additional sites in the New York City area in three years. The SSC also proposes to establish a systematic replication program which would assist other communities, both regional and national, to establish their own SSCs. This project would require a resource person to guide communities in all aspects of program development. To assist in that effort, SSC proposes development of comprehensive educational and administrative manuals as well as the preparation of accompanying training and profile videos. Finally, the SSC proposes to develop a research module in software and manual form which would assess and track student learning, school performance, performance on standardized exams, career aspiration and selection, and student attitudes in a community based science program targeting minority students.
The Austin children's Museum will develop a colorful, interactive exhibit on energy entitled GO POWER. Go Power is being created as part of a U.S. Department of Energy exhibition initiative with in-kind support from the Lower Colorado River Authority, a non-profit public power agency, and design and fabrication assistance by the Robot Group, an Austin-based consortium of engineers and artists. The partnership, advised by a panel of science, energy, and education experts, will build a 1,200 square-foot exhibit geared towards young children (pre- school and elementary-age), and their families. An Exhibit Developer with a strong scientific background will be responsible for the design and implementation of exhibit components which will highlight energy-related science and technology as a focus for developing and utilizing skills of scientific inquiry and invention. Through kinetic sculpture, computer games, participatory exhibits, and adjunct programming, visitors will learn about potential and kinetic energy and its forms: mechanical, electrical, chemical, thermal, solar. Following its test edition, designed with input from advisors, front-end evaluations, and prototypes, Go Power will become the sixth exhibit to join the Museum's popular national touring program.
Playtime Is Science: A National Model for Parent Involvement In Early Science Education is an innovative parent/child science activity program. The overall goal of the model is to enlarge the potential pool of students who are competent in science and technology to include more girls, children of color, with disabilities, and children from low-income families. By engaging parents in partnership with schools and community organizations, Playtime Is Science will increase the science literacy of young children (ages 4-7) as well as that of their parents and other adults in their lives. This three-year project, built on a successful local model developed in New York City public schools, will include the following activities: training and networking for site liaisons; pilot testing and evaluation at three sites chosen for geographic, racial, ethnic, language, and socioeconomic diversity; materials development and production; a formal research study; and intensive national dissemination of Playtime Is Science materials package. Materials to be developed include 1) four videotapes to provide a visual rendering of the program for parents, teachers, and administrators; 2) a how-to manual providing easy-to-follow instructions for implementing the program; 3) and a home activity booklet for parents illustrating science activities which utilize inexpensive, readily-available materials found in every home.
This project will produce and evaluate a pilot program with supplementary print material for a half-hour science radio series for Children. The series will target children 8 to 10 years old, but will be designed to include the entire family. Each program will consist of educational songs, interviews, stories, call-in questions and "hands-on" experiments. The support material will provide additional science activities that may appropriately be conducted in the home and in classrooms. The budget for this pilot phase is $266,521 of which $215,940 is being provided by the NSF. The full series, once produced, is planned to be broadcast through the Children's Radio Network. The AAAS will be responsible for development and management of the outreach component of the project.
The North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences requests $544,390 for the design and implementation of Freshwater Westlands: Habitats of Beauty and Function. This project consists of two main components: a 2,800 sq. ft. exhibit and related education program. The exhibit will communicate ecological principles and provide visitors of all ages with an appreciation of the diversity and beauty of freshwater wetlands habitats. The exhibit is comprised of three main areas: an introductory theater, an immersion diorama, and an interactive hall. Exhibits are designed to present many aspects of freshwater wetland habitats, including hydrology, dendrochronology, organism structure, and function, life- cycle, ecological research, and environmental policy. Through interactive exhibits on scientific concepts, visitors will gain an appreciation of both a particular habitat and the process of science and its application to their lives. The major objectives of the education program are to help teachers of grades 4-8 to bring the study of freshwater wetlands into their classrooms and to employ experientially oriented pedagogy. The project will offer a teacher resource guide, prepared in collaboration with state science curriculum staff, a satellite workshop for teachers, a freshwater wetlands edition of Wildlife in North Carolina, a statewide publication prepared in collaboration with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and a classroom program in the museum.
The Franklin Institute Science Museum will, over a three year period, develop a regional Girl Scout leader training programthat provides science education experiences for Girl Scouts. The Girl Scout Council of Greater Philadelphia and the Washington Rock, NJ Council will be primary partners and the source of volunteer leaders and the target audience of member girls. Science Education kits will be developed and tested for Brownies and Juniors, training materials for staff trainers and volunteer leaders developed, leaders trained, and several post.training support mechanisms developed. Program materials are designed for continued use by the Girl Scouts; more than 2,000 leaders will be trained and 20,000 girls will participate in project activities during the three year period. This project is directed at the substantial under representation of women in many science and engineering fields by working with girls in informal settings to overcome patterns of science and mathematics avoidance. Replication and dissemination will be undertaken both within the Girl Scout Council system and among museums, youth organizations, and other informal educators. The proposers are contributing nearly $250,000 in resources to the project; NSF support will be 55% of the project total.
The Brooklyn Children's Museum will create a 3,000 square foot natural science exhibition, "Animals Eat", that will provide interactive experiences that assist children in formulating appropriate concepts of living things. The exhibition and accompanying educational materials will be targeted at children aged 7-10 years old, and will utilize recent research on how children conceptualize biological phenomena. It will focus on familiar animals and on the processes of eating because many observable aspects of the natural world are mediated by the quest for food. The exhibit, capitalizing on existing living collections, will be developed and designed using a variety of interview techniques and formative testing of exhibit prototypes to insure that the content is both appropriate for children and that the exhibition results in successful learning experiences. A broad range of exhibition techniques, including museum objects, interactive units, games, and video will be used. The exhibition will reach more than a million visitors during its five year life. "Animals Eat" will be the first in a series of new core exhibitions at the museum. NSF's award will be supported by more than $320,000 in cost sharing.
BACKYARD SAFARI (Working Title) is an engaging series of 26 half hour programs designed to introduce topics in Natural Science to children ages four to six. The series will be shot on-location and hosted by an appealing young women of color, who will serve as a role model to female and minority children who are normally disenfranchised from participation in science. A variety of settings and topics will be used that appeal to all preschoolers -- from urban/inner cities to surburbia to Appalachia. A special feature of the series will be an animated gnome - like character called Crinkleroot. Using the rotoscope technique similar to that in the "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", Crinklroot will interact in screen with the host and special, acquired footage. Thus, Crinkleroot is able to do things the host can't do -- for example, interacting with time-lapse photography as a flower blooms, or as a spider climbs its web. Outreach to parents and childcare providers will be an important part of BACKYARD SAFARI. It is imperative to communicate that all children, regardless of race, sex, or disability are "science material." Activities will be developed that engage adults and children in hands-on, physical science activities using materials commonly found in any home or school.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Twila LiggettCecily TruettLaurence LancitBarbara Flagg
Consumer Reports Television will produce a series of four half- hour TV specials and companion outreach materials, called "YOU TEST IT|," for public television broadcast and broad educational and home video distribution. Targeted for children ages 7 to 13 -- particularly those from low-income, minority families -- the project will draw on the resources of Consumers Union, the non- profit, scientific, research and education organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine and ZILLIONS, the Consumer Reports for Kids. The "YOU TEST IT| series, created by an experienced team of children's TV producers, focuses on testing and evaluating popular products -- from observing the bubble-power of bubble gum to measuring the efficiency of 10-speed bicycles. Using lively, state-of-the-art techniques appealing to kids, "YOU TEST IT|" will encourage children to use science and math skills to investigate and, ultimately, solve real-world problems. Each of the 4 programs will cover a broad product theme such as Foods/Snacks, Toys/Games, Sports/Recreation, and Electronic Gear. Activity Guides, expanding on these topics, will delve more deeply into the science content of each show, providing hands-on learning materials for children. With repeated broadcasts of "YOU TEST IT|" over hundreds of PBS stations, and reuse of tape and print materials, millions of children will gain greater access to objective product information and greater awareness of science and its importance in everyday life.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joyce NewmanEdward GrothSusan Markowitz
Community Television of Southern California (KCET/Los Angeles) proposes to create a national television series supported by outreach activities designed to motivate parents to participate in and support children's learning and enjoyment of mathematics. This proposal requests National Science Foundation funding of $1 million towards a total twenty-two month project costing approximately $1.7 million. The proposed television series Math Smart (working title) will include 5 lively half-hour programs designed specifically to aid parents and other adult family members of children in first through third grade. The series will be offered for broadcast nationally on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Videocassettes of the series and an accompanying Resource Guide will also be made available for home use. National promotional and outreach activities will complement the PBS broadcast, including presentations of national educational conferences and one-day orientation workshops for parents and teachers at selected sites. Over the course of the project, process and outcome evaluation will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the MATH SMART materials and activities. The primary goal of the MATH SMART Project is to empower parents to participate in and reinforce the learning of mathematics and a vital par t of everyday life. It is from parents that children develop the foundation for their educational success. Unfortunately, many parents do not possess the mathematical skills or confidence needed to help their children. By providing examples of hands-on learning activities which families can do together at home, MATh SMART offers parents the tools to help excite young children about mathematics. While special emphasis will be given to encouraging minority participation, this project seeks to help all parents and other primary caretakers prepare children for the 21st century.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David Crippens
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The proposers will organize and conduct the first of what is hoped will become an Annual Symposium on Children's Science Books that will focus national attention on this important and overlooked channel for science literacy. This first two day symposium will involve 75 editors, authors, librarians and educators in an intensive exploration of science books intended as independent or collateral reading materials for children at home, classroom or library. A national advisory committee will help shape the symposium's content. Professional and popular articles and a book will disseminate the results of the meeting. This project will explore an often-overlooked area of popular science education, and will involve science researchers committed to participating in improving popular education and communication in science. NSF support will be supplemented by university funds and income from the symposium.
Award-winning Scholastic Productions, Inc. proposes to produce 39 fully animated, half hour television programs, based on the successful children's science book series, The Magic School Bus. We are seeking funding for the initial three seasons (13 episodes per season) which will be produced over a four year period. Designed as an informal science education series for PBS, it is targeted primarily for 6-9 year-olds, with special attention given to reaching girls and minority children. The series has clear science pedagogical goals: 1) to motivate children to further science study, 2) to present science facts, concepts and systems, and 3) to inspire positive attitudes towards science and education for students and teachers. Throughout the production, audience research and field testing will ensure that the programming is effectively meeting these goals. The series features a remarkable teacher, Ms. Frizzle, who takes her class on equally remarkable field trips. While other teachers may go to a museum, Ms. Frizzle leads her class onto a yellow school bus that shrinks (along with its students) to the size of a cell to journey through the human body, rocket into outer space, or travel into the eye of a hurricane. Thus, the series makes science tangible and relatable for an audience of children who are still concrete thinkers. We will create a broad outreach program, utilizing the publishing and distribution resources of Scholastic Productions' parent company, Scholastic Inc., (the largest publisher of children's materials in the English-speaking world), and other targeted organizations. Through viewer guides, series publicity and promotion, magazine editorials, community and after-school programs, we expect to reach a large and culturally diverse audience, including minorities frequently not served by PBS.