My Sky is a joint project between Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). This three-year project was supported by NASA’s NRA/ROSES 2011 (NNX12AB91G) program, and resulted in the creation of My Sky, a 1,500 sq. ft. traveling astronomy exhibit designed for adults and children, ages 5 – 10. My Sky emphasizes authentic experiences that encourage the development of skills and content foundational to later appreciation and understanding of astronomical science. My Sky includes interactive explorations of objects and phenomena visible in the sky, encouraging families to “look up” not only when they visit the exhibit, but as a practice they might adopt in their everyday lives. This is all punctuated by real NASA data and assets, including a 5’ diameter model Moon created using the latest Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measurements; and high-resolution images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite. This project also developed a series of public programs, museum staff training programs, and family workshops, all utilizing NASA resources and existing curriculum.
My Sky is a NASA funded project, which developed a traveling exhibition on astronomy. Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) created the exhibition in collaboration with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). Formative and remedial evaluations were conducted at BCM while the summative evaluation took place at the first two venues following BCM: Stepping Stones Museum for Children (Stepping Stones) in Norwalk, CT and The Providence Children’s Museum (PCM) in Providence, RI. Formative evaluation of the My Sky exhibit was conducted between April 2013 and June 2014 to ensure that the components
The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) engaged Rockman et al (REA) to conduct a summative evaluation of the museum’s Journey to Space (Space) exhibit. Space is a large-scale traveling exhibition that simulates a journey to the International Space Station (ISS), allows visitors to explore the physical properties of low gravity environments, and introduces some of the engineering and technology that makes it possible to live and work in space. This exhibit is a collaborative project led by SMM, the California Science Center and the three other members of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative
Flying Higher will develop a permanent hands-on exhibit that conveys the fundamentals of flight, technology, materials science, and NASA’s role in aeronautics for learners ages 3-12 years and their parents/caregivers and teachers. The exhibit, public programs, school and teacher programs, and teacher professional development will develop a pipeline of skilled workers to support community workforce needs and communicate NASA’s contributions to the nation and world. An innovative partnership with Claflin University (an historically black college) and Columbia College (a women’s liberal arts college) will provide undergraduate coursework in informal science education to support pre-service learning opportunities and paid employment for students seeking careers in education and/or STEM fields. The projects goals are:
1) To educate multi-generational family audiences about the principles and the future of aeronautics; provide hands-on, accessible, and immersive opportunities to explore state-of-the-art NASA technology; and demonstrate the cultural impact of flight in our global community.
2) To provide educational standards-based programming to teachers and students in grades K–8 on NASA-driven research topics, giving the students opportunities to explore these topics and gain exposure to science careers at NASA; and to offer teachers support in presenting STEM topics.
3) To create and implement a professional development program to engage pre-service teachers in presenting museum-based programs focused on aeronautics and engineering. This program will provide undergraduate degree credits, service learning, and paid employment to students that supports STEM instruction in the classroom, explores the benefits of informal science education, and encourages post-graduate opportunities in STEM fields.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Julia Kennard
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Understanding the Sun Through NASA Missions. The Maryland Science Center (MSC) initiative is targeted to rural educators and library patrons in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The Maryland Science Center is lead partner collaborating with Prince George’s County, Maryland Public Schools and its Howard B. Owens Science Center, and with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to develop Educator Workshops and library exhibits for the Maryland counties of Cecil, Kent and Washington and NASA Wallops Visitor Center (Virginia) and NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Center (West Virginia). The project will make participants aware and better informed of NASA Heliophysics science and NASA missions studying the Sun. Participants in the programs will come to a better understanding of the Sun, space weather, and the Sun’s far-reaching influence on our planet and the rest of the Solar System. Educators will be better prepared to teach students using NASA-developed hands-on materials demonstrated and provided in the workshops, as well as Sun Spotters and Solar Scopes to examine solar surface features, helping to engage them and their students in better understanding our closest star. Rural libraries patrons will encounter NASA mission science, and MSC visitors will acquire better comprehension of the Sun. All participants will come away with a renewed appreciation of our Sun and how it works, its variability, its ongoing effects on our planet, the nature of the scientific study of the Sun, and how and why NASA is exploring the Sun with its current missions.
The purpose of the Lenses on the Sky project is to create diverse skywatching-related experiences for youth across Oregon with a special focus on underserved Hispanic, African American, Native American, and rural communities. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will create and implement the project in collaboration with Portland’s Rose City Astronomers amateur astronomy club, Rosa Parks Elementary School in Portland, the Libraries of Eastern Oregon (LEO), and ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in southern Oregon. The goals of the project are for participants to 1) understand the “big idea” that “humans have used observational tools and techniques across culture and time to understand space phenomena”, 2) recognize the relevance, value, and scientific achievements of NASA missions, and 3) be inspired to learn more about topics related to space science, STEM careers, and NASA. Audiences will explore these topics through three main “lenses” or frames: a NASA lens, a tools lens, and a cultural lens. The project will result in 1) a small, permanent, bilingual (Spanish/English) exhibition in OMSI’s free, public spaces adjacent to its planetarium, 2) three observational astronomy events held in Portland, Southern Oregon, and Eastern Oregon, 3) hands-on activities conducted at partner museums/libraries and shared with other educational institutions, 4) an Educator's Guide including lesson plans aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and 5) over 150 email communications to hundreds of recipients featuring space news updates.
From Our Town to Outer Space will inform, engage, and inspire new public audiences (library staff and patrons) by sharing NASA’s missions, challenges, and achievements. FOTOS is led by the Space Science Institute’s (SSI) National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL). NASA mission staff will be invited to participate as active members. NCIL is partnering with Evaluation & Research Associates (ERA) to provide formative and summative evaluation services. FOTOS is a standards-based, informal education program that will reach a broad audience of librarians, library patrons, and other members of the public with a special focus on underserved and underrepresented audiences. The 3-year pilot program includes: 1) a hands-on, museum- quality library exhibit (called Discover NASA: the science and engineering of tomorrow) and tour (to 7 libraries across the country), 2) the development and broad dissemination of active learning activities for different age groups, and 3) library staff training (online and in-person) that introduces them to the STEM content of the exhibit and guides them in developing complementary programming. The project will also develop resources for the existing STAR Library Education Network (STAR Net) community of practice (CoP) whose members include librarians and STEM professionals.
Discover NASA is the Discovery Museum’s endeavor to engage students in grades K through 12 as well as members of the general public in innovative space science and STEM-focused learning through the implementation of two modules: upgrades to the Challenger Learning Center, and the creation of K through 12 amateur rocketry and spacecraft design programming. The programming will be piloted at the Discovery Museum and Planetarium, and at the Inter-district Discovery Magnet School and the Fairchild-Wheeler Multi-Magnet High School, with an additional strategic partnership with the University of Bridgeport, which will provide faculty mentors to high school seniors participating in the rocketry program. Through these two modules, the Discovery Museum and Planetarium aims to foster an early interest in STEM, increase public awareness about NASA, promote workforce development, and stimulate an interest in the future of human space exploration. Both modules emphasize design methodologies and integration of more advanced space science into the STEM curriculum currently offered by Discovery Museum to visitors and public schools. The Challenger Learning Center upgrades will enable the Museum to deliver simulated human exploration experiences related to exploration of the space environment in Low Earth Orbit and simulated human exploration of Moon, Mars, and beyond, which will increase public and student awareness about NASA and the future of human space exploration. The development of an amateur rocketry and spacecraft development incubator for education, the general public, and commercial space will stimulate the development of key STEM concepts.
Virtual Missions and Exoplanets (vMAX) will develop and test a three-dimensional, virtual world environment that will engage middle school students and educators from high-poverty schools in NASA-related exoplanet mission simulations. The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science will serve as the lead institution, in partnership with the following institutions: U.S. Space and Rocket Center, New York Hall of Science, Chabot Space & Science Center, and Sci-Port: Louisiana¹s Science Center; Aimee Weber Studios will be responsible for virtual exhibit fabrication, and WestEd will serve as the project¹s formative and summative evaluator. The overall goal of the project is to create a NASA resource on exoplanet astronomy that will engage students, educators, and the general public in NASA¹s search for worlds beyond our own. The project aims to increase underserved students¹ engagement in STEM, knowledge of exoplanet missions, and awareness of NASA-related careers; and advance the growing body of knowledge on the use of virtual world technologies to provide opportunities for students to participate in NASA Mission-related science teaching and learning. The project will result in the development of vMAX world, a virtual world with simulations related to exoplanet astronomy designed for use as the core content of a 30-hour out-of-school learning experience for middle school students. An Educator Implementation Guide will be developed and made available online for download by secondary school teachers and science museum educators. In addition, an interactive, multiuser exhibit kiosk, utilizing the simulations created for vMAX world, will be developed and made available to interested Visitor Centers, museums and planetariums.
The Michigan Science Center (MiSci) Sunstruck! An Integrated Solar Education Experience project includes an interactive heliostat exhibit, Dassault Systemes Planetarium program for primarily middle school students and the general public emphasizing the sun and its effects on Earth and the solar system, a educational lobby kiosk, and educational materials for classroom use aimed at helping them understand the importance of understanding our nearest star and the ‘space weather’ that it creates. The Michigan Science Center is the lead institution, with the project led by PI Dr. Tonya Matthews, President/CEO and Co-PI Julie Johnson, Director of Education and Outreach, and science advisors representing University of Michigan College of Engineering Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, and in collaboration with the Ford Amateur Astronomy Club, the Detroit Public Schools Science Department and University Prep Science and Math faculty. The project Sunstruck! An Integrated Solar Education Experience will use the latest research and discoveries from IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph) and SOD (Solar Dynamics Observatory ) missions to engage the general public in the dynamics of our star, the Sun. The project will help the audience understand the Sun’s importance, it’s direct impact on our lives and the potential hazards such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections that we refer to as ‘space weather’. This project is scheduled to be completed in 2015 with testing of materials and the planetarium show to begin late 2014.
STEMtastic: NASA in Our Community is a two-year project designed to educate and inspire teachers, students and life-long learners to embrace NASA STEM content. The project will increase awareness of NASA activities, while educating and inspiring students to train for careers that are critical to future economic growth of the country in general, and NASA’s future missions in particular. The Virginia Air & Space Center (VASC) will partner with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc. to accomplish this project. VASC will deliver NASA STEM content through (1) STEMtastic Teacher Institutes and Education Modules: (a) a series of two five-day professional development institutes for educators which will result in the (b) development and dissemination of new education modules for grades 4-9; and (2) STEMtastic Exhibits and Demonstrations: new interactive exhibits to used for live demonstrations at VASC; those demonstrations will also be delivered to traditionally underserved schools in the region. All classroom and teaching materials—educator institutes, education modules, exhibit software and demonstration modules—will be developed using NASA content and shared with other institutions to promote the expansion of knowledge about best practices in providing STEM education in both formal and informal education settings. STEMevals, a robust evaluation plan, will be implemented to assess success in each project area. Adjustments will be made along the pipeline to increase effectiveness in reaching the target audience. The project has the potential to reach countless educators, students and museum visitors throughout the U.S."
Pipeline for Remote Sensing Education and Application (PRSEA), will increase awareness, knowledge and understanding of remote sensing technologies and associated disciplines, and their relevance to NASA, through a combination of activities that build a “pipeline” to STEM and remote sensing careers, for a continuum of audiences from third grade through adulthood. This program will be led by Pacific Science Center. The first objective is to engage 50 teens from groups underrepresented in STEM fields in a four-year career ladder program; participants will increase knowledge and understanding of remote sensing as well as educational pathways that lead to careers in remote sensing fields at NASA and other relevant organizations. The second objective is to serve 2,000 children in grades 3-5, in a remote sensing-based out-of school time outreach program that will increase the participant’s content knowledge of remote sensing concepts and applications and awareness and interest in remote sensing disciplines. PRSEA’s third objective is to engage 180 youth, grades 6-8, in remote sensing-themed summer intensive programs through which youth will increase knowledge of remote sensing concepts and applications and increase awareness and interest in educational and career pathways associated with remote sensing and NASA’s role in this field. The final objective is to engage 10,000 visitors of all ages with a remote sensing-themed Discovery Cart on Pacific Science Center’s exhibit floor. By engaging in cart activities, we anticipate visitors will increase their level of awareness and interest in the topic of remote sensing and NASA’s role in contributing to this field.