Green City Data is an after-school community service project. Teams of secondary students are trained to inventory urban natural areas selected by regional resource planning agencies to supplement their own data collection efforts. Representatives from seven agencies and educational institutions initiated this project to support development of a system of greenspaces within the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area. This consortium includes expertise in resource management, geography, biology, computer telecommunications, science education and community coordination. These and other community professionals tech students and volunteer team leaders (teachers or other adults) the basics of habitat identification and mapping in the context of regional planning. ***
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Gail WhitneyMichael HouckJames GillenJoseph PoracskyEllen Lanier-Phelps
Five small science museums will form "TEAMS (Traveling Exhibits at Museums of Science) Collaborative". The partners include the Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, VT; The Catawba Science Center, Hickory, NC; Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY; Discovery Center Museum, Rockford, IL; and the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Ann Arbor, MI. Each museum partner will develop a 1500 sq. ft. (140 m2) traveling exhibit that will include ten to fifteen interactive units and supporting graphics and will circulate to all members of the partnership. The exhibition topics are: AirPlay (Montshire Museum of Science, Dirt (Catawba Science Center), You Can Count On It (Sciencenter), Amusement Park Science (Discovery Center Museum), and Eureka Labs: Science from Head to Toe (Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum). Following the circulation among the consortium members, it is anticipated that the exhibits will circulate more broadly via the Association of Science-Technology Centers Traveling Exhibit's Program. In addition to developing these exhibits, the collaboration has an additional goals 1) focusing on the family audiences by working together to enhance the family science learning through the development of resources that can be used by families that are related to exhibition topics, 2) building institutional expertise in exhibit design, family programming, and evaluation; and 3) conducting research on family learning and sharing results with the field. Complementary materials and activities for teachers will also be developed for each exhibit.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
David GoudyCharles TrautmannSarah WolfMike SinclairJames FrenzaCynthia Yao
San Francisco State University is collaborating with MESA of California to replicate the Mission Science Workshop (MSW) model for informal science education to establish 10 self-supporting interactive Community Science Workshops (CSW's) throughout California. The overriding theme for activities at the CSW's is to let children and parents "be" scientists as they explore through the use of interactive exhibits, hands-on building/tinkering activities and content workshops, while at the same time ensuring they learn correct science concepts. Content to be presented is from the areas of Engineering, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Mathematics. The target audience is primarily African-American, Latino, and Native American children in grades K-8 and their families.
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 North Carolina Museum of Life and Science will develop two areas in a new 70 acre outdoor exhibit "BioQuest Woods: Linking Animals and Plans with Interactive Exhibits". This concept is to pair live animals and plants in their natural setting with science center-style interactive exhibits to communicate key ideas in biology and physics. Support will go to sixteen interactive stations in two four-acre theme areas "Catch the Wind" and "Down to Earth". "Catch the Wind" will assist visitors in the exploration air movement and learning about how plants and animals use air in specialized ways. For example, visitors will experiment with air thermals while observing the behavior of birds of prey and will learn how prairie dogs exploit the venturi effect to ventilate their burrows. In the "Down to Earth" thematic area, visitors, simulate the activities of field biologists, will track bears equipped with radio collars, examine living invertebrates, among other activities. Scientific instruments, including microscopes, in kiosks will aid on-the-scene study of live animals and plans. "BioQuest Woods" will help visitors, teachers and students gain the realistic experience of scientific inquiry in a natural setting. Education programming will highlight curriculum linkages and fulfills the goals of North Carolina's new science curriculum. It directly addresses the State's competency-based goals requiring understanding of natural systems and the interrelations of the basic sciences. Pre and post-visit materials will be developed along with teacher guides and enhancement activities. This project is being developed with the cooperation of the Austin Nature Center, the National Zoo, and the Indianapolis Zoo.
The Desert Botanical Garden will utilize its extensive collection to create a science learning center focusing on deserts and presenting fundamental science concepts applicable to all environments. The comprehensive desert exhibit created by this proposal will feature six thematic trails through 25 acres of the Garden, with the trails' themes ranging from basic characteristics of deserts to adaptions of plants, animals, and people to the desert. Emphasizing ecology and conversation, the trails will include conceptual signs, investigation stations for hands-on, interactive learning, and innovative written exploration guides. The proposal also includes educational programming which will extend the exhibit and encourage use of the Garden as an outdoor laboratory. An exhibit-based curriculum will be developed for use across the state, and an institute will be created to prepare teachers to use the exhibit and curriculum. A newspaper series focusing on key exhibit concepts will be disseminated across the state to reach out-of-school adults. The products of the proposal and the model created will be shred through various networks with a national audience. The local and worldwide population explosion in arid lands mandates an increased understanding of deserts. With this proposal, the Garden will be a catalyst for greater awareness and change.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Kathleen SocolofskyRobert BreunigJoseph McAuliffeRuth Greenhouse
The Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden aim to cooperatively and cost-effectively develop, evaluate, and produce three permanent exhibits (2600 sf at BCM, 1200 sf at BBG, and a 3600 sf outdoor Discovery Garden at BBG) and two copies of an 800 sf traveling exhibit in a project called Breaking Ground: Plants and People. When complete in 1996, these exhibits will teach 1.5 million annual public visitors about basics in botany, ethnobotany, and urban to ecology, promote an understanding of plants' importance to human life, and foster positive environmental ethics among children 6-12 years old. This project is important because collaboration with professional botanists will teach a leading children's museum how to effectively present in-depth science content, and allow a major public garden to experiment with interactive exhibits in a natural setting. Joint promotions using NSF-funded program materials will encourage children in culturally and economically diverse areas around New York City to return again and again to two important community resources for informal science education. This strategy will reinforce learning and promote lifelong appreciation for experiential exhibits in botanical gardens and for a meaningful depth of science in children's museums.
The New York Hall of Science requests $829,312 over four years to develop and circulate a traveling version of "Hidden Kindoms - The World of York Hall of Science in April, 1991. The traveling version will consist of: an introductory panel; 16 Easy-View microscopes exhibiting living microbes; units dealing with size, scale and magnification; two interactive computer programs entitled "Understanding AIDS" and "How Your Body Fights Disease"; a video microscope for the Microscopic Life demonstration; units on virusesand bacteria; a mosaic of color transparencies of different microorganisms; one Optech (BYOB) interactive video microscope; three zoetropes illustrating mcrobial movement; and a mini-laboratory room containing all the equipment and materials necessary for maintaining the exhibit and presenting the MICROLAB workshops to students and teachers. The 1,500 square foot exhibit will travel to nine sites over three years. The new York Hall of Science will provide on-site training in estasblishing and maintaining the exhibit, a weekly shipment of microrganisms and supporting materials, an exhibit catalog, an 11-minute video featuring living microbes, pre- and post- visit materisla for schools with suggested activities , and programs for student and teacher workshops. A novel feature of this traveling exhibition will be the opportunity for the host museum to retain, on a cost-share basis, the mini- laboratory with its equipment and four Easy-View microscopes which can become the core of a microbiology program. Biology, Microbiology; Informal Science Education; Elementary, Middle and High School
The goal of the Science Minders project is to increase the interest and self-esteem of girls relative to science. Since many early adolescents seek economic independency by "baby-sitting," the Science Minders project will develop materials designed to permit early adolescents to teach science to small groups of young children. The materials will make the early adolescents' child-caring providing more successful and significantly enhance their attitudes and comfort with science. These materials will include a book containing informal science activities and activity resources, a child-development guide, first-aid and emergency procedures and child-care tips; and two training videos, one to demonstrate how to use the materials effectively with young children, and one to train adults to train adolescents as child-care providers. These materials will be nationally promoted and disseminated by a commercial publisher and through the national network of 400 YWCAs in 4,000 locations throughout the United States.
The Brooklyn Children's Museum (BCM) is requesting $242,753 from the National Science Foundation to introduce a traveling version of the Museum's award-winning, interactive science exhibit, ANIMALS EAT: DIFFERENT FEASTS FOR DIFFERENT BEASTS. ANIMALS EAT was designed to assist children in the formation of their concept of a living thing. The exhibition specifically focuses on familiar animals, and on eating in order to illustrate this complex idea. Throughout the exhibit, where appropriate, human parallels demonstrate the interrelatedness of all living things. The touring exhibit will incorporate the in-depth research, development and extensive evaluation that went into the installation at BCM. It will encompass approximately 2,000 square feet and will travel to at least ten locations over a perior of two-and-one-half years, offering hundreds of thousands of children and families a unique and exciting way to learn important natural science concepts. As part of the touring package, the Museum will also circulate Evi"Dents," a science curriculum kit developed for grades 3-5. Using activity books, natural science specimens and investigation tools, Evi"Dents" provides an interactive seven-week study of teeth for teachers and students that develops students' scientific and research skills. Through loans to local schools at the tour sites, Evi"Dents" will complement and extend the educational potential of the exhibition.
Boston Museum of Science seeks funds from the National Science Foundation for the development of a group of interactive exhibits and educational programs that will comprise the Museum's permanent TESTING THE THEORY activity center. The project is part of a new approach to exhibits that aims to make the experiences available to visitors closer to the actual process of scientific discovery. Visitors will carry out experiments in fields ranging from chemistry and cognitive psychology, to statistics, optics, and materials science. The focus will be on promoting specific experimental skills and scientific habits of mind, and on encouraging the transfer of these skills to everyday activities. The exhibit techniques developed during the prototyping and production of TESTING THE THEORY are expected to be of importance to science museums and others concerned with increasing science literacy.
In the Fall of 1994 The New York Botanical Garden will begin its second 100 years of commitment to science education with the opening of the Children's Adventure Garden and the Children's Adventure Trails. As two components of the Children's Adventure Project , these informal science education facilities will use participatory discovery to engage urban children and their families in learning botanical science, inquiry skills, positive attitudes towards science, and the methods of scientists. In the 1.5 acre Adventure Garden children will interact with living plants and fabricated exhibits to discover fundamental principles of plant biology; and in the one mile of Adventure Trails they will closely observe interdependencies of complex ecosystems using the framework of these fundamental principles. To expand visitor understanding of plant biology and the ways that scientists study it, Investigation Stations, integral components of each facility, will be placed so that visitors will handle, sense, and observe living plants in situ and interact with fabricated exhibits and scientific tools. The Project will be developed by NYBG staff educators and scientists with on-going participation of a broad spectrum of advisors and consultants, including exhibition designers, evaluators, community school teachers, and environmental education specialists.