Youth EXPO: Youth Exploring the Potential of Virtual Worlds was a proof-of-concept study to determine if an immersive, 3D virtual environment is an effective medium to increase high school students’ understanding of current climate change research and motivate interest in learning more about climatology-related careers. The project was conducted by the Miami Science Museum in partnership with Goddard Institute of Space Sciences and Goddard Space Flight Center, and implemented with high school students in Miami. The overall goal of the project was to develop a prototype cyber resource to promote awareness of climate change and careers in climatology, in support of NASA’s role in helping youth understand how Earth’s global climate system is changing. YouthEXPO explored the extent to which 3D virtual learning experiences can increase high school students’ conceptual understanding of complex scientific issues related to climate change. This was accomplished through the development of a series of virtual exhibits, YouthEXPO Island, and pilot testing of the exhibition with high school students as part of a broader climate change curriculum. Youth EXPO Island is a series of simulations in an immersive, 3D virtual world environment designed to increase high school students’ understanding of current climate change research and motivate interest in learning more about climatology-related careers. Modules include EarthLab, IceLab, VolcanoLab and SpaceLab, four environmental simulations where avatars can analyze the relationship between global temperature change and a variety of climate factors, learn about remote sensing and field sampling techniques, and explore related careers.
The Dynamic Earth: You Have To See it To Believe It is a public exhibition and suite of programming designed to educate and excite K-8 students, teachers, and families about weather and climate science, plate tectonics, erosion, and stream formation. The Dynamic Earth program draws attention to the importance of large-scale earth processes and the human impacts on these processes, utilizing real artifacts, hands-on models, and NASA earth imagery and data. The program includes the exhibition, student workshops, family workshops, annual professional development opportunities for classroom teachers, innovative theater shows, lectures for adults by visiting scientists, and interpretive activities. The Montshire Museum of Science has partnered with Chabot Space and Science Center (CA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (NH) on various components. The project has broadened our internal capacity for providing quality earth science programming by greatly expanding our program titles and allowing us to create hands-on materials for use by our educators and to loan to schools in our Partnership Initiative. Programming developed during the grant period continues to reach thousands of students and teachers each year, both on-site and as part of our rural outreach efforts.
The NASA Science Research Mentoring Program (NASA SRMP) is an established mentoring program that presents the wonders of space exploration and planetary sciences to underserved high school students from New York City through cutting-edge, research-based courses and authentic research opportunities, using the rich resources of the American Museum of Natural History. NASA SRMP consists of a year of Earth and Planetary Science (EPS) and Astrophysics electives offered through the Museum’s After School Program, year-long mentorship placements with Museum research scientists, and summer programming through our education partners at City College of New York and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The primary goals of the project are: 1) to motivate and prepare high school students, especially those underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, to pursue STEM careers related to EPS and astrophysics; 2) to develop a model and strategies that can enrich the informal education field; and 3) to engage research scientists in education and outreach programs. The program features five in-depth elective courses, offered twice per year (for a total of 250 student slots per year). Students pursue these preparatory courses during the 10th or 11th grade, and a select number of those who successfully complete three of the courses are chosen the next year to conduct research with a Museum scientist. In addition to providing courses and mentoring placements, the program has produced curricula for the elective courses, an interactive student and instructor website for each course, and teacher and mentor training outlines.
Beginning in 2010, Thanksgiving Point Institute leveraged its one-of-a-kind assets to deliver NASA and space-related programming. Informally referred to as NASA BLAST (Bringing Light and Space Together), the program included three exhibitions and a multitude of informal learning opportunities including field trips, camps, classes, and family programming. During the two-year program, Thanksgiving Point achieved its goal of increase the public’s knowledge and awareness of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Thanksgiving Point incorporated unique space-related messages in each of its venues and provided educational lessons to 554,873 guests. Thanksgiving Point did this through three exhibitions: a light exhibition at the Museum of Ancient Life featuring exhibitions from San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a space garden at Farm Country, and walk able version of the solar system at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. In addition, Thanksgiving Point hosted a number of youth programs, day camps, and field trips centered on these exhibitions.
Mission: Moonbase is an interactive lunar colony simulation designed to inspire and educate participants of all ages. Prominently situated in the largest children’s science center at the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), Mission: Moonbase engages the general public as an exhibition. It also serves as an immersive, team-based experience for thousands of students in area school districts, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc. Through the use of high-tech gaming technologies in a facilitated, immersive environment, participants are challenged to operate lunar colony while learning and applying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) knowledge and skills. Mission: Moonbase will continue to serve as an inspirational catalyst for students and families on the importance of STEM, NASA’s missions and career opportunities, and the value of space exploration in a fun, exciting way. Mission: Moonbase serves as an educational setting and dynamic experience for students and families with the support of educators and scientists with an eye on promoting a better future.
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) CP4SMP program, Methods of Increasing Awareness of Comparative Planetology and Climate Science with Science On a Sphere in Museum Settings, intended to educate our audiences about planetary exploration missions, illuminate climate science through comparative planetology, and produce new educational materials, interpretation techniques, and knowledge that facilitate more effective informal education on these themes nationally. DMNS was the lead organization on this program, but collaborated closely with other institutions involved in the Science on a Sphere® (SOS) user community. This program achieved its intentions to: (1) boost literacy in climate science, (2) build awareness of NASA’s space science missions and the relevance of NASA Earth observing satellites to contemporary issues of global change, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of different modes of employing the SOS system with diverse audiences. We capitalized on our unique combination of scientific expertise in planetary science and spacecraft exploration, our considerable experience in digital media development, informal science education, exhibit design, educational research, and museum evaluation. Over the duration of the project we: (1) developed visually exciting and compelling SOS programming on comparative planetology and climate science using NASA mission data; (2) tested different modes of presentation of SOS to determine how this technology can be best utilized in informal science contexts; (3) investigated how visitors perceive and understand scientific data presented on SOS; and (4) created teacher professional development workshops to reach K-12 formal educators both locally and nationally. The DMNS CP4SMP NASA grant created opportunities to positively impact climate literacy for millions of DMNS visitors over the five-year period.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott SampsonSteve LeeKa Chun YuEddie GoldsteinAndrea Giron
Laurel Clark Earth Camp was a set of interconnected programs for Middle and High School students and their teachers that help them develop new perspectives on global change. The project was a partnership of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Arizona Project WET at the University of Arizona, and the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. Project goals were to: I. Engage students in lifelong learning in STEM disciplines to inform their Earth stewardship practices, career decisions and capacity for innovation; II. Provide teachers with tools and experiences to inspire students to discover the real-world relevancy of STEM disciplines and apply this learning to the pursuit of STEM careers and technological innovation; III. Enhance public awareness of environmental change in the southwestern US and the importance of NASA satellites for recording, understanding and predicting these changes. Over four years, Earth Camp served 132 students and 42 teachers. Program participants understand more about Earth System connectivity and are more aware of their impacts on the environment and how to quantify and reduce these impacts. A post-camp online survey of alumni from previous years indicated that 75% of participants were felt that the camp influenced them to be more interested in STEM careers and 80% were more motivated to do well in their science classes. Teachers in the program were able to implement many of the project activities in their classrooms and most of them were exposed to satellite data for the first time; The project also created a public exhibit “Earth Change from Space” at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and an online tool that allowed students to explore, research and report on global change issues using Google Earth historical imagery.
Journey into Space (JIS) is designed to improve student, educator, and general public understanding of earth/space science and its relationship to NASA goals and objectives through the use of a traveling GeoDome (inflatable planetarium) and engaging supporting programming at The Journey Museum. The Museum collaborates with area colleges, school districts, K-12 educators, youth serving organizations, astronomical affiliations, and others. The overall goal of JIS is to improve student, educator, and general public understanding of STEM and its relationship to NASA goals and objectives. JIS objectives are: 1) To increase student and public interest and awareness in STEM areas; 2) To increase student interest in pursuing STEM careers; 3) To improve teacher knowledge of NASA related science; 4) To increase teacher comfort level and confidence in teaching NASA related science in their classrooms; 5) To increase collaboration between informal and formal science educators; 6) To increase student and public understanding of Plains Indians ethno astronomy; and 7) To increase museum visitors’ interest and understanding of NASA related science. The Museum produced 2 films (“Cradle of Life”, “Looney Moons”) that are offered daily, 4 recurring monthly programs (Final Frontier Friday, Amazing Science, SciGirls that became Science Explorer’s Club, and Black Hills Astronomical Society meetings), summer robotics classes and teachers’ workshops, annual Earth Science Day, in addition to the GeoDome programming that has toured the region including presentations in the three poorest counties in the United States. The ethno-astronomy is underway in partnership with Oglala Lakota College and South Dakota Space Grant Consortium.
The Children’s Museum developed From the Blue Planet to the Red Planet: Exploring Planetary Science to provide opportunities for students in grades 4 through 8, teachers, and families to learn about Mars exploration. The Museum partnered with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) on four teacher professional development modules related to aspects of planetary science: soil and plant study, air pressure, robotic exploration, and the comparison of Mars and Earth. Teachers who attended free workshops could bring students to the Museum for classroom and planetarium experiences. The Museum received support from Central Connecticut State University and technical advice from Phoenix Project scientists at JPL. The Museum created a timeline of Mars exploration history with video clips of milestones and an accompanying quiz kiosk. CCAT created virtual Mars drive-through experiences with which visitors could explore the planet. The Travelers ScienceDome Planetarium staff wrote, directed, and animated a full-dome planetarium program about the future study of Mars that was finished in December 2012. For over two years the Museum has sponsored free, monthly Mars Madness programs during which the general public can visit the exhibit, see a Mars-related planetarium program, and test out some of the hands-on activities developed for the school groups. The Museum hoped to reach a diverse audience, especially, those people who might otherwise not afford admission. We have produced four teacher professional development guides with hands-on activities, an exhibit for our facility, a dedicated website, and a planetarium program.
Exoplanets Exploration is an interactive exhibition to explore exoplanets for the primary audience of students grades 5th through 12th with a secondary audience of younger children and adults. The exhibition is located in the astronomy wing of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery (Dayton, Ohio). The project goals are to provide a STEM base for visitors from which to explore exoplanet discoveries; for them to have a basic understanding of exoplanet missions, instruments used in the discoveries, and the science knowledge necessary to understand the discoveries; to learn about the exoplanet discoveries through hands-on tactile, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic interactive exhibition components; and to challenge visitors to contemplate the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. Aspects of the exhibition are integrated into space-related programming by linking to school visits, Distance Learning programs, summer Discovery Camps, FIRST LEGO league, and homeschool programming. Components of the exhibition addresse relevant Ohio Academic Content Standards for Earth and Space Science and will evolve to incorporate new Next Generation Science Standards. With the STEM career information presented along with scientific learning, students will be able to visualize the possibilities that NASA and space science represents.
Earth from Space highlights state-of-the-art NASA technology, in particular, the suite of Earth observing satellites orbiting our planet, the data they collect, and how people are using these data for research and applications. Participants learn how NASA EOS data is collected through remote sensing systems, recognize the connection between this data and the area in which they live, and recognize the relevance and value of NASA data for understanding changes in the Earth related to where they live. The project informs K–12 students and lifelong learners of our increasingly advanced technological society and prepare students to enter the STEM-related workforce with content in oceanography, geology, climatology, glaciology, geography, and meteorology. Content is presented through hands-on exhibits and dynamic demonstrations using spherical display systems at OMSI’s main museum location and through a travelling program at rural libraries, schools, and other outreach venues throughout Oregon.
Visitor Baseline Study of Science on a Sphere at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. This resource includes the Research Assistant Protocol, Observation Protocol, and Visitor Questionnaire.