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.
Blackside, Inc. is producing a television series and an outreach component about minority scientists. The goals of the six-hour prime-time series, "Breakthrough: People of Color in Science," are to raise the consciousness of the general public that is largely unaware of the significant contribution of scientists of color and to provide role models that will encourage young people to consider science and engineering careers. The programs will feature the work of contemporary African-American, Latino and Native American scientists and engineers who are active in cell biology, astrophysics, applied mathematics and other fields of science. The stories of their scientific achievements will present both women and men, old and young, at different stages of their careers, and will explore the professional, educational and social worlds they live and work in. Viewers will have immediate access to a comprehensive follow-up effort that will connect them with local, regional and national opportunities in informal science education. Blackside will collect information from existing resources and institutions as well using source material from several extensively researched databases geared toward minority students. Using all of this information, Blackside will create a metadatabase that will connect teachers, parents, mentors, and students to a rich variety of educational programs: extracurricular classes, mentoring programs, national science contests, teacher training workshops, and a myriad of on-line services. To ensure immediate access and, where possible, to customize the information to viewers needs, Blackside will disseminate it through a variety of means: an 800-number with a direct fax-back capability, an on-line service, a CD-ROM, and a printed packet delivered by mail. A principal target audience is gatekeepers in students' lives: parents, teachers, and scientists interested in becoming mentors. The target audience also includes students from fourth th rough twelfth grades. Joseph Blatt will serve a PI for this project and co-executive producer for the television series. His previous experience include serving as executive producer of "Scientific American FRONTIERS" and as a producer/director for several NOVA programs. He also has been executive producer for three television series/college credit courses in mathematics. Henry Hampton will be the other co-executive producer. He was the creator and executive producer of the 14-hour, award winning series, "Eyes on the Prize," about America's civil rights movement. The principal educational consultant will be Ceasar McDowell, assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Michael Ambrosino, the original executive producer of NOVA, will be the principal science television consultant.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joseph Blatt
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Exploratorium will develop an exhibit "Memory: A Biological Cognitive and Cultural Exploration" along with various complementary components. The primary objective of this project is to increase the public's awareness of the extent, importance, and nature of their everyday rememberings. Exploratorium staff will use an approach to memory, and cognition in general, that considers culture and cultural differences as essential to people's thinking and behavior. The exhibit area will be about 2000 sq ft in size and will consist of ten to twelve new activities and six revised interactive, interdisciplinary exhibits. Here visitors will have the opportunity to interact with the exhibits, researchers, scientists, artists, and other visitors, to explore the nature of memory and its effect on their lives. The exhibits will give visitors direct, experiential insight into the workings of their memories. Other major components of the project include multimedia presentations, printed materials, demonstrations, film programs and a symposium. A publication Memory and Perception will be a supplemental guide that can be used by teachers and students at the secondary level. It will address appropriate themes in the Science Framework for California Public Schools. Museum professionals, researchers, teachers, and evaluators will be invited to participate in a one- week symposium on Cognition in Science Centers. The purpose of the symposium is to develop a conceptual and practical model of what presenting cognition in an informal education setting means. A report will be published and broadly disseminated by professional museum organizations. It is estimated that the project will reach approximately 629,000 visitors annually which includes 69,000 students and 550 teachers.
The Calvert Marine Museum will develop an exhibit and complementary programming interpreting the Miocene Age marine life. Treasure from the Cliffs: Exploring Marine Fossils will use the world famous fossils of Calvert Cliffs as the basis for the exhibit. It is their intention to convey a strong sense of the personal process of discovery and the creative component of scientific inquiry to the exhibit visitors. In their words, "The overriding purpose of Treasure from the Cliffs is to model a new paradigm for natural history exhibits: to take a humanistic and holistic approach that recognizes the centrality of imagination to the scientific enterprise, and that engages curiosity and creativity -- as well as intellect -- in the process of science learning." Upon entering the exhibit, a visitor's interest will be peeked by seeing the large, dramatically lit, fossil Great White Shark Tooth. Visitors will get involved in the wonder and process of science at the beginning of the exhibit in the Paleontology Office/Lab and Fossil Identification area. They will then move on to see a replicated section of the Calvert Cliffs and cases illustrating how fossil deposits form. Two recreated Miocene dioramas one of which will include a full-size skeletal reconstruction of the giant fossil Great White Shark come next. Visitors will then be able to investigate on their own in a reading station and a video and demonstration theater. Visitors will exit the exhibit after a section that shows how the modern Chesapeake Bay was formed. This leads them seamlessly into the museum's next exhibit hall Estuary Patuxent: A River and its Life. The museum will develop a series of complementary programs in association with this exhibit to reach a wider audience that will include formal educators among others. They will organize a speakers service, develop a fossil field guide, and produce a video about the Great White Shark.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael GottfriedS. Curtis BowmanM. Lynne Warren
The Burke Museum at the University if Washington will develop Pacific Voices, a 5500 sq. ft. exhibit that will focus on the issue of cultural identity. It will encourage visitors to examine the definition of American cultural identity, the integration of diverse cultural elements within American communities, and questions regarding interactions between Native peoples and Euro- Americans. Four themes (Teachers, Elders, and Authority; Language; Oral Traditions; and Ceremonies) will be developed to help visitors understand cultural identify, tradition and change in the context of Pacific Region cultures. The extensive collections and professional resources of the Burke Museum will be used and the exhibit will be used. Building on established linkages between the Seattle school systems and the museum, the Burke staff will introduce new teacher/student guides and a varied menu of teacher training activities including for-credit courses and in-serviced programs that will address the social science literacy benchmarks of Project 2061. Other outreach activities will include traveling study collections, weekend family programs, a resource bank in the museum's Department of Education and locally and nationally disseminated radio and television news and feature programs related to the theme of Pacific Voices.
The Genome Radio Project, through the Pacifica Foundation, will produce nine one-hour radio documentaries and a live two-hour Town Hall on current genome research. The goals of the project are: o to provide background information on the theories and techniques of human genetic science, o to raise the social, ethical, and legal issues and concerns associated with human genetic research, and o to provide an opportunity for the public to interact with the scientific experts and policy makers. The specific programs include: o DNA and Behavior: Is Our Fate in Our Genes? o Prenatal Genetic Testing: Better Babies Through Science? o Gene Testing; Do You Really Want to Know Your Future? o Gene Therapy: Medicine For Your Genes. o DNA and the Law o The Commercialization of Genetic Information o Eugenics, Past and Present o Race, Evolution, and Philosophy in the Age of Genetics o The Human Genome Project: Roadmap to the Human Body The radio programs will be supplemented by a variety of printed and electronic ancillary materials exploring the science, ethics, and social impact of human genetic research. The project will be under the Bari Scott who will serve as PI. She has most recently been Executive Producer for The Telecommunication Radio Project. The Co-PI's will be Mat Binder, an Independent radio producer and instructor at the University of California, and Jude Thilman, the Project Director/Host of The communications Revolution, the nationally syndicated, live series on new telecommunications technologies. The principal consultants responsible for the science content of the project will be Sylvia Spengler, Deputy Director of The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Human Genome Center and Lane Conn, Coordinator of the Human Genome Education program at the Stanford University Human Genome Center. The science consultants and production staff will work closely with approximately thirty genome scientists nationwide who have formally agreed to advise the project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Barinetta ScottJudith ThilmanMatt Binder
The Science Museum of Minnesota will develop "Buildings: A Traveling Exhibit and Permanent Installation with Education and Outreach Programs". This is a multifaceted project that includes a 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit that will explore the science, technology, and human perception of buildings. The exhibit will tell three stories: 1) buildings must obey physical laws to stay up, 2) buildings are complex operating systems, and 3) buildings reflect and shape the societies that create them. The exhibit will initially be developed as a traveling exhibit that will circulate among the member institutions of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (8 institutions) and then it will be reinstalled in the new SMM $77 million building. Additional partners collaborating on this project include the National Building Museum, the Society of Building Science Educators, Habitat for Humanity International, The ReUse Center, the Vital Signs Program and the Center for City Building Education. Special attention will be given to reaching girls and women and the physically challenged. A broad menu of public programming is planned and school-linked materials will be developed.
WGBH will develop, produce, and distribute a comprehensive project that will review science of the twentieth century. The major components of the project will be a series of five, two-hour, prime time documentary programs for PBS, an outreach campaign to involve the public through informal and formal science education institutions and organizations, material for use in formal classrooms, and a science museum component. The focus of the series will be to review the science of the twentieth century by telling the dramatic story of the struggle to understand ourselves and our world over the past 100 years -- a time when science advanced further than in previous eras combined and when scientific discipline underwent a revolution. However, because at the close of the century there is an ever-widening gap between what scientists know and what most of the public comprehends, the series will explore the century's most enduring scientific endeavors with each two-hour program probing several related fields of investigation and application: views of the universe and of matter; origins of the Earth and of life; health, medicine, and the human body; human nature and behavior; and technology and engineering. It will offer viewers an opportunity to view 100 years of scientific pursuits as a whole, to recast their perceptions of science and scientists, and to be intrigued and inspired by a view of science as a never-ending and deeply human quest for answers and solutions. The outreach component of the project include: Video-based Components - videocassettes of the series, video modules selected for classroom use, level one videodiscs, and a prototype for a CD-ROM for home learning. A Discovery Challenge Activity - a national campaign targeted primarily for girls and boys 11-14 years of age. The two-phase activities will be offered through middle school science and social studies classes; through youth groups such as Girls Inc., Family Science Programs, 4-H, and Girls and Boys Clubs; at museums and science centers; and through other informal education outlets. Activities will be designed so they can be undertaken by youth with a wide range of interests, learning styles, and skills. Print Components - teacher's guide, video module activity guide, videodisc guide, poster, and a companion trade book. On-line Component - an electronic bulletin board and e-mail center related to the project. Public access sites will be established in libraries, community centers, and schools throughout the country and members of the public with home computers will be able to connect to WGBH at no cost. Service and activities offered on-line will include the ability of viewers to critique programs, ask questions of the production team, download educational materials, and ordering project material. The bulletin board will provide an electronic forum for educators to exchange strategies and ideas as they use the project's resources and enable participants in the Discovery Challenge to tap into the on-line resources and share information. The on-line component will be managed and controlled at WGBH. Museum Component - consisting of a museum tool kit and activities to be incorporated Science-by-Mail. Paula Apsell, executive producer for NOVA and director of the WGBH Science Unit, will serve as executive-in-charge of production. Jon Palfreman will be executive producer and will head up a project team consisting of the executive editor, Thomas Friedman, a senior producer, and two producers. Outreach activities will be the responsibility of Beth Kirsch, Director of Educational Print and Outreach, and Simone Bloom, Outreach Manager.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Paula ApsellThomas FriedmanJon Palfreman
"Living on the Edge" will be the name of an exhibit in three editions that will explore multiple edges of boundaries between land and sea, air and sea, ocean bottom and overlying water, and differing water masses. Scientists have become increasingly fascinated by the study of these edges or fronts because of the new understanding it provides regarding such basic principles as the productivity of coast waters, migrations and feeding patterns of marine life, upwelling and downwelling, chlorophyll dynamics, and water quality issues, for example. The educational objectives are to bring an understanding of coastal ocean science and its social implications to broad audiences in museums and aquaria. It will consist of eight mulit-faceted interactive activity centers totally approximately 1500 square feet. Two editions of the exhibit will become part of the permanent displays at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography and the Museum of Science in Boston. The third will be a traveling version; the management of which will be handled by the Association of Science and Technology Centers. It will go to 12-15 venues during its three-year tour schedule. It is estimated that a total of 2.5 million will experience this exhibit. A suite of materials will be developed for use by formal educators with all three of the exhibits. These materials will include teacher training materials, exhibit-related modules for on-site interpretive programs, and traveling kits for in-class presentations.
The Arizona Mineral Museum and the Flandrau Science Center at the University of Arizona will use this planning grant to develop a new interpretive exhibit "Minerals, Mining, and Mexico: A Cultural Bridge to Science." The University of Arizona Mineral Museum is about to receive the Miguel Romero mineral collection which is one of the most complete collections of Mexican minerals that exists. It contains over 8500 specimens and this collection plus their present collection will bring into being one of the finest regional mineral collections available. With it they will develop exhibits and programming that explore minerals and mining of Mexico and the southwestern U.S. With this planning grant, they will explore the exhibition and programming opportunities to realize their vision of creating a "living and engaging museum that promotes an understanding of basic science principles and an appreciation for the beauty and economic importance of minerals in the context of the historical and cultural perspective of the New World." The planning activities will include meetings of the advisory committee, visits to other museums, and development of two prototype exhibits. At the end of the twelve-month planning period they will have an overall script for the exhibit and recommendations for individual exhibit units, a traveling exhibit version, and curriculum materials for use by formal educators.
The Field Museum will develop a 10,000 sq. ft. exhibit "Life Underground: Foundations of the Biosphere." This exhibit will introduce visitors to underground ecosystems and the importance of soil upon which we all depend. Visitors will be invited to explore the diversity of underground organisms and the vital processes in which they participate. It will consists of three main parts: 1) Underground Expedition, where things will be enlarged 100 times life-size; 2) Changes Over Time, which will highlight the dynamic nature of soil communities and forces of change, and 3) a World Tour, which will compare soil communities from a variety of ecosystems including forests, grasslands, deserts, tundra, among others. The exhibit utilizes ideas and research from all four of the museum's academic disciplines -- botany, zoology, geology and anthropology and will incorporate hundreds of specimens from the museum's botany, mycology, and zoology collections to illustrate the diversity of organisms in and around the soil. Complementary educational programming will be developed and the project is especially targeting rural and inner city residents. School and community programs will extend the exhibit into classrooms, vacant lots, and community centers. The materials developed for use in a formal education setting will be integrated with current objectives of the existing curricula. In addition, on-line access to the content of the exhibit and complementary educational materials will be provided. The scheduled opening date for the exhibit is May, 1998 and during the ten year projected life span of the exhibit and complementary programming, it is expected that more than eight million people will be introduced to "Life Underground."
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TEAM MEMBERS:
M. Frances Muraski-StotzGregory MuellerDebra Moskovits