The Hansen Planetarium proposes the creation, writing, and production of a 50-minute star theatre program, Cosmic Catastrophes: A Planet At Risk?, aimed at informally educating over a million individuals regarding the vulnerability of our Earth. The further production of four interactive exhibits is planned to accompany the program. This program will be marketed and distributed at a nominal charge to 250 national planetariums, with 50 additional production packets planned for loan. In this fashion, top-quality, accurate, and timely science education can be guaranteed to a large selection of audiences. Scientific research tells us that catastrophes of global and interplanetary proportions have happened in the past, there is evidence that they could occur in the present, and they pose an imminent danger in the future. The utilization of expert consultants, in conjunction with Hansen Planetarium staff, will insure this program presents the most current information available about these cosmic catastrophes. Its interactive format is designed to stimulate a proactive approach to problem solution on the part of the audience, especially in reference to ecological or environmental issues. The star show format, with its dynamic special effects, will make scientific theories surrounding cosmic catastrophes accessible and excitiong.
This report presents the results of a front-end evaluation for the upcoming exhibit entitled, "Electric Space: The Sun-Earth Environment" at the National Air and Space Museum. Front-end evaluation is often conducted to provide exhibit planners with information about their audience during the planning stages of an exhibit. This front-end evaluation was designed to determine visitors' familiarity with, knowledge of, and misconceptions about the make-up of space between the sun and the earth.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.National Air and Space Museum
First Light is a one-hour documentary to be shown nationally on WGBH-TV's NOVA science series. It tells the extraordinary story behind the building of the Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain in southern California. The film also documents a research effort at the frontiers of astronomy that has pushed the Hale beyond anything its builders had imagined: The attempt to find and map the edge of the known universe. It follows astronomers Maarten Schmidt, James Gunn and Don Schneider as they search for distant quasars. This team recently detected a quasar that is by far the most distant object yet found in the universe; its discovery may challenge our current understanding of cosmic evolution. The documentary is based on the award winning book First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe by Richard Preston. After broadcast, the program will have wide educational distribution in secondary schools and colleges.
Eclipse| is a one-hour program within the prime-time series NOVA, to be broadcast nationally during the 1991-92 season on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The program will document the total eclipse of the sun that takes place on July 11, 1991, and the research performed at the observatories located atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The program will trace three narrative lines. The first will be that of the eclipse itself and its importance for ongoing scientific investigation of the solar corona and solar physics. The second will be that of ongoing problems in understanding the sun, especially the issue of solar variability. The third will place this eclipse within the history of eclipse science. The passage of an eclipse over a major observatory complex is a unique occurrence -- it has never happened before, and will not happen again for several generations. The four minutes of totality will allow solar astronomers to turn deep space instruments on the sun for the first time. At the same moment, however, this eclipse marks what many observers feel is the end of a 130 year research program. Eclipse| will provide its audience with a portrait of a spectacular natural phenomenon and of scientists attempting in real-time to tease new knowledge out of the sun. In addition to its broadcast, Eclipse| will be seen in an estimated 70-90,000 classrooms over a seven year period.
WQED/Pittsburgh plans to produce SPACE AGE, a major eight-hour prime time PBS television series on space sciences for airing in 1992, coinciding with the Columbus Quincentennial Celebration and the inauguration of the International Space Year (ISY). Produced in association with the National Academy of Sciences, the $7.2 million series will comprehensively document the extensive influence of space activity from scientific, technological, economic and social perspectives. International co-operation and co- production support from several nations will insure that topics are treated globally, rather than nationally. WQED will develop collateral educational materials and a trade book for popular audiences; eight years of off air taping rights for pre-college teachers will be provided. The series should be viewed by more than seven to twelve million viewers on 320 PBS stations. NSF support will amount to approximately 9% of the $7.2 million project total.
The daily radio series EARTH AND SKY began airing nationally on September 30, 1991. It consists of 2-minute programs about Earth science and astronomy. Produced in association with the American Geophysical Union, it is designed for people of all ages. Its aim is to make science accessible and interesting to millions whose common bond is that they happen to be listening to the radio. On February 1, 1992, the series was airing on 63 commercial and public radio stations, which had paid for it, and the number of stations was growing. Producers and hosts Deborah Byrd and Joel Block were responsible for 5,000 daily programs in the award- winning STAR DATE radio series. Partial support is requested for the production, distribution and promotion of 780 programs in the EARTH AND SKY series. The goal for the grant period is to acquire a large listening audience via heavy promotion. After three years, EARTH AND SKY will be self-supporting on 371 stations, more stations than for any previous series of this king.
COSMIC VOYAGE will be the first film in IMAX to survey the whole universe. Its main objective is to convey to a broad museum audience the enormous range of space and time scales spanned by the universe, and to locate our familiar human place in this context. The film's centerpiece will be a continuous "cosmic zoom" extending from the largest observable structure of the universe down to the subnuclear realm, a guided tour across some 42 orders of magnitude. This will be followed by a similar excursion through the dimension of time, from the first instant of the Big Bang to the present day some 15 billion years later. The film will take special care to explain the utility and importance of "orders of magnitude". It will indicate the observational basis underlying our description of the physical world. The narrative will emphasize the continuity as well as the open- ended nature of the scientific enterprise over a wide range of disciplines (cosmology, high-energy physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry and biology), and it will integrate the whole into a coherent picture of the universe. COSMIC VOYAGE will communicate this material in ways that are scientifically accurate and instructive, as well as visually absorbing and entertaining. The overall aim is to produce an unparalleled film about the universe that is both beautiful and powerful.
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Bayley SilleckJeffrey MarvinSteven SoterEric ChalssonMartin Harwit
The excitement of astrophysical research and discovery is brought into the high school science and mathematics classes through a flexible set of student activities and projects on variable stars. The project includes a computerized database, of 400,000 measurements of brightness of 150 variable stars in five constellations over 25 years, from which students can deduce properties, processes, and evolution of these stars. Students can make additional measurements and discoveries from carefully selected time sequences of 125 35mm slides or from actual measurements from the night sky. A comprehensive student manual and instructional videos make the materials self-contained and easy to use. The teacher manual enables the instructor to adapt the materials to skills, objectives and local curricula. The material can be used in a variety of contexts: traditional mathematics and science classes at both the high school and college level, independent projects, summer institutes, and community science clubs. The material will be field tested in classes and refined through workshops with teachers. A newsletter and a video about amateur astronomers is planned.
The Hansen Planetarium proposes the creation, writing, and production of a 50-minute star theater program, From The Earth To The Stars, and educational chart aimed at informally educating over a million individuals regarding the exploration of our planet, the planets of our solar system, and the stars beyond. The further production of three interactive exhibits is planned to accompany the program. This program will be marketed and distributed at a nominal charge to 250 national planetariums, with 50 additional production packets planned for loan. In this fashion, top-quality, accurate, and timely science education can be guaranteed to a large selection of audiences. In America today there is growing awareness and concern surrounding the serious deficit our society will soon experience in the fields of science and technology. The Hansen Planetarium's goal is to stimulate learning and interest in astronomy and other sciences for students of all ages across the country. Exploration is, perhaps, the human activity in western culture which can most provoke debate, excite intense interest and stimulate scientific and cultural growth. The utilization of expert consultants, in conjunction with Hansen Planetarium staff, will insure this program presents the most current information available about the past, present, and future of exploration. Its interactive format is designed to stimulate a proactive approach to problem solution on the part of the audience as a stimulus to the learning process. The star show format, with its dynamic special effects, will enhance the learning of science in America today.
ASTRONOMY - HOW DO WE KNOW? is a 4100 sq. ft. exhibit and program package for Discovery Place that will: 1) interpret the physical and chemical nature of astronomical bodies in the Universe, highlighting the scientific processes used in their discovery, 2) interpret, through interactive exhibits and programs, the basic technologies of the scientific study of astronomy, and 3) function as the complementary exhibition area to the new Spitz Space Voyager Planetarium system and its multi-dimensional program capabilities. ASTRONOMY - HOW DO WE KNOW? will make the science of astronomy more accessible to the public by demonstrating the above objectives through the fundamental concepts of Gravity, Light, Motion and Distance. Visitors will leave with a greater understanding of the process of learning about the Universe. Discovery Place will utilize the formative evaluation process in developing these exhibits to assure a product that will not only appeal to a broad audience, but will also meet a variety of identified needs within that audience. The exhibit and program package will open in October, 1992, with an anticipated yearly attendance of 700,000. The exhibits will be a permanent part of the museum and will be renewed through the general operating budget of the museum.
The Challenger Center for Space Science Education located in Alexandria, Virginia, a nonprofit organization with a mission to increase the number of youth interested in science and space, is requesting $303,170 over two years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a new scenario for its Challenger Learning Centers. Located in science centers. museums and schools around the country. Learning Centers house equipment and educational programming for hands-on training during a simulated mission. Scenarios use mathematics, science and problem-solving skills to provide participants with simulated experiences of working in a space laboratory and a "Mission control" laboratory. Challenger Center requests assistance and partnership from NSF to develop, field test, implement and evaluate a new scenario on the environment, "Mission to Planet Earth" scenario. This project will involve collaboration of expert scientists, educators, Challenger staff, and science museum professionals. Annually more than 180,000 students and between 10,000 and 15,000 adults will participate in the scenario at Learning Centers, using space as a format for learning about environmental issues. Challenger is working on the preliminary planning stage between June and December 1991. Two years of funding are requested from NSF beginning in January 1992.
George Awad, an artisan noted for his superb architectural models turned his talent to pursue his personal fascination with science and astronomy. The results was a preliminary prototype of a stunningly detailed and beautiful exhibit called "Model of the Universe by Powers of Ten". A special showing of the exhibit by the Planetary Society drew rave reviews from an audience of noted scientists and science educators. Preliminary showings at the Montshire Museum of Science and at the Smithsonian's Experimental Gallery demonstrated its unusual appeal withthe general public, and a second modified and larger version has been created by Mr. Awad. Montshire Museum of Science proposes to collaborate with the Maryland Science Center and with Mr. Awad to 1) further refine the two existing prototype exhibits, 2) develop companion interpretive materials to more fully convey the astronomical and mathematical concepts implicit in the exhibits, and 3) display the two prototypes at the two collaborating museum sites and evaluate their effective with the public. This work is intended to guide the proposed creation (not part of this proposal) of a permanent and much larger-scale "Universe" exhibit designed to be circulated among major science museums.