The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is developing an innovative exhibit and teaching laboratory called INTERACTIONS. The unique feature of INTERACTIONS is the combination of an exploratory, interactive natural science exhibit with an adjacent live-insect-rearing laboratory. The exhibits will give the visitors some of the exploratory tools and experiences of the scientist and involve them in the process of scientific discovery. The laboratory will provide visitors with direct experience with scientists and involve them in the scientific process. Ecological in scope, INTERACTIONS will communicate environmental issues. The museum's plant and insect halls, designed over thirty years ago, will be renovated totally. In their place, a single, large exhibit and teaching laboratory will be created focusing on the interactions of insects and plants. The exhibits, videos, computer stations, and adjacent insect rearing laboratory will invite visitors to participate, question and examine. This combination of exhibits, hands-on activities, video, and laboratory will increase the retention of information, stimulate interests in natural science, and give vitality to the museum experience. The total cost of renovation, modernizing, exhibit construction and installation is $1,340,000 with $1,000,000 raised by a vigorous capital campaign. This request is for the balance of $340,000 to complete the exhibit construction.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dennis PowerCatherine WoolseyNorman IkedaJohn Torkington
Interactive science exhibits will be designed, developed, and installed in the Brookings Interpretive Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Brookings Interpretive Center is a new educational facility attached to the Climatron, a geodesic dome greenhouse. The exhibits will be installed in one of five theme areas: Tropical Rain Forest Biome, Tropical Rain Forests at Risk, Global Ecosystem, Desert Biome, and Temperate Biome. In addition to the science exhibits, the project will develop a series of science demonstrations to be used in the Brookings Interpretive Center and will allow for additional signage and audio effects to be added to the Climatron.
The Exploratorium proposes to create a multidimensional exhibition on the theme of navigation. The exhibition proper will contain approximately 20 new interactive exhibits dealing with topics of human orientation, wayfinding/exploration, the importance of time in navigation, maps and navigation traditions. Alongside the exhibits we will display real navigational artifacts borrowed from other museums. We have identified approximately 40 existing exhibits which, while not in the main show, will receive textual modification to show their relation to navigational topics. In addition to the exhibition of artifacts and interactive exhibits, we will present a series of lectures, theme weekends, and demonstrations of navigational techniques. During the run of the show we will host a Symposium On The American Encounter wherein we will hold an open forum of lectures and discussion of historical, anthropological and social consequences of cultural encounter on the North American Continent. We will produce both a brochure and a high quality catalog for this show. In addition we will create written "pathways" of organization of this museum-wide show to bring to focus different features and approaches to navigation. Our education departments will play a leading role in creating more formal programs for our visitors. The physical show will be reproduced in a travelling version to tour nine venues in the three years following its opening at the Exploratorium. We will collect the results of our researchers in a dissemination package to be made available to others in the field.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Thomas HumphreyPeter RichardsMichael Pearce
The Museum of Science and Industry seeks to facilitate the establishment of a network of Independent science clubs. Located in Chicago's south side, the Museum operates an in-house science club which has over many years developed a large investory of activities. The members themselves, drawn from a broad socio-economic base, have contributed much of the content and character of this hands-on program. Now, in response to chicago's pressing local need for strong equity programming in science and technology education, the Museum proposes to "package" this club such that local chapters can readily be sent up throughout the city land region, especially in community centers, churches and Park District recreation centers. The club "package" will include: Modules of learning activities for various ages with supporting materials and equipment; Museum-coordinated trips to research and industrial sites; gatherings at the Museum; training of club facilitators; and adaptable organization format with an accounting system; recruitment of volunteers as helpers and role models; substantial help with fund-raising. NSF support is sought for the establishment of the modules and system, and the Museum commits itself to on-going maintenance and coordination of the network. The Science Club Network will draw extensively on existing programs, community networks and support systems. The Museum has already elicited many commitments of financial and other support for local chapters.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Roger MitchellMark WagnerSheridan Turner
Through the proposed project, approximately 555,000 youth and adults will improve their knowledge of the basic sciences and mathematics, and learn to integrate and apply these disciplines, by analyzing local environmental problems using remote sensing imagery and maps. Faculty from the Cornell laboratory for Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing (CLEARS) and Cornell Department of Natural Resources will train county teams of teachers, museum and nature center educators, community leaders, and Cooperative Extension agents from throughout New York State to conduct educational programs with youth and adults in their communities. Previously developed CLEARS educator enrichment workshops and training materials will be enhanced and revised based on the interactions among Cornell Faculty, informal and formal science educators, and students during this program. A facultative evaluation focusing on the workshops, training materials, and educator teaching skills, and a summative evaluation focusing on student learning and attitudes, program delivery in the various community education settings, and the effectiveness of the county educator teams will be conducted. The results of the evaluation will be incorporated into a program handbook and used in nationwide dissemination of the program.
Girls Inc. will develop a national model summer program for girls aged 12 to 16 to encourage their interest in science, their enrollment in science courses in high school, and their interest in science careers. The recruitment of girls from low-income and minority families as participants will be a high priority. The program will represent a synthesis of Operation Smart, an afterschool science and mathematics program, and Eureka Teen Achievement Program, which introduces science and mathematics in summer programs through sports. The program will be developed and field- tested in five diverse Girls inc. sites around the country and to other interested groups. Substantial formative and impact evaluation is planned.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Libby PalmerHeather Johnston Nicholsonellen wahl
In the mid-1980's, Denver Audubon Society developed a model Urban Education Project. The Project engages thousands of 8-12 year olds and trained volunteers in hands-on investigations of neighborhood plants, animals, and ecological relationships each year. With NSF support, we have helped seven other cities establish similar projects and have proven that the project model is highly successful and adaptable. This proposal requests funds to develop a kit of strategies and materials that will enable us to further disseminate the model in a time-and cost-efficient manner. The dissemination kit will be tested as experienced project leaders from established projects help eight new cities start local projects. Their feedback will direct us in revising the kits. By 1993, the completed dissemination kits will give experienced project leaders the tools necessary to help parents, informal education institutions, and concerned citizens across the country establish similar ecology education projects in their communities.
Founded in 1979, the Science Skills Center (SSC) is a non-profit community based program which encourages young minority and female students to pursue careers in science, mathematics, and technology. At its current two sites, located in Brooklyn, New York, approximately 400 students, ages six to eighteen, are enrolled in programs where they take accelerated courses in biology, chemistry, physical science, rocketry, oceanography, botany, and advanced mathematics. Classes, which are presented within the cultural and linguistic understanding of minority children, provide students with an opportunity to recognize the relationship of science, mathematics, and technology to their everyday lives. The SSC proposes to replicate its present programs, establishing three additional sites in the New York City area in three years. The SSC also proposes to establish a systematic replication program which would assist other communities, both regional and national, to establish their own SSCs. This project would require a resource person to guide communities in all aspects of program development. To assist in that effort, SSC proposes development of comprehensive educational and administrative manuals as well as the preparation of accompanying training and profile videos. Finally, the SSC proposes to develop a research module in software and manual form which would assess and track student learning, school performance, performance on standardized exams, career aspiration and selection, and student attitudes in a community based science program targeting minority students.
Ornithology is one of the few scientific disciplines to which amateurs can still make significant contributions. Whether they observe birds at a feeder, count birds for a national census, or conduct a simple experiment, their activities contribute greatly to our knowledge of birds. Furthermore, participants in bird study programs not only learn about birds, they also become more aware of environmental problems. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology exists to facilitate such amateur involvement and education. This proposal is aimed at strengthening our education programs and expanding them to include under-served audiences in the inner city. We propose to evaluate the extent to which our radio program, magazine, and Project FeederWatch appeal to various audiences and how effective these programs are at communicating information about birds and in stimulating involvement. Based on this evaluation, we will modify our programs, then evaluate them again. We are also proposing a brand-new volunteer-assisted data gathering program, which we call the National Science Experiment. In cooperation with other organizations, volunteers will look at the biology of pigeons in our cities, food preferences of winter birds across the United States, and the habitat requirements of neotropical migrant tanagers. The results of these studies will be of interest to both ornithologists and birders; furthermore, participants in the project will gain first-hand involvement with the process of science.
National Public Radio is seeking to expand its coverage of scientific issues in two ways: through the creation of a new Environmental Reporting Unit, and through the introduction of SCIENCE FRIDAY, a two hour call-in talk show dedicated to scientific issues. Each of these projects will be supported by an extensive outreach effort targeted at local schools, community groups, science museums, and nature centers. Through the Environmental Reporting Unit, NPR plans to produce eight to ten half hour documentary reports per year on critical environmental issues. Each of these reports will be available to listeners on cassette and will be accompanied by supporting documentation. The SCIENCE FRIDAY team will engage NPR's audience in a lively debate on questions ranging from nuclear physics to archaeology. In addition, SCIENCE FRIDAY will travel to high schools and museums across the country and engage in question and answer sessions with students, teachers, parents and school administrators. These "on the road" segments will be supplemented by live broadcasts from annual meetings of the National Association for Science (NAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Through these efforts, NPR will be able to draw listener attention to the need for improved science and mathematics education, while helping listeners make informed evaluations of current public policy in these areas.
Science-By-Mail is a mentorship program between scientists and youth whereby youth have a subscription for three scientific challenge packets each year, create solutions, and receive responses from a personal scientist. Science-By-Mail brings the excitement of science discovery into classrooms and homes of children around the country and provides them with positive, approachable role models of professional scientists. A grant of $622,088 over three years will allow us to strengthen and expand this program nationally, focusing especially on increasing participation by minority youth and scientists. Specifically, support is requested for the design and development of 12 new challenge packets; to increase participation to 47,900 youth, 4,500 scientists, and 26 regional chapters; promote increased corporate and other private-sector involvement in the program; and to conduct an annual evaluation. The AAAS will aid in the recruitment of volunteer scientists. In addition, we will work together with the National 4-H Council to pilot the program within that organization (with a membership of 5.4 million), focusing particularly on minority youth. Anticipated income form the expansion of Science-By-Mail will make the program self-sufficient at the end of the grant period.//
Future Scientists and Engineers of America (FSEA) is a structured after-school program to promote math and science through engineering applications among American youth, grades 4 through 12. FSEA has hands-on projects at increasing levels of complexity which provide student members with practical engineering applications of science and mathematics. Students advance through categories similar to the Scouts based on Satisfactory completion of projects. They enter as a technician and advance to levels of scientist and engineer. Chapters are sponsored by businesses, professional societies and community organizations which provided mentors and funding for FSEA projects. Each Project is conducted by a team consisting of a volunteer teacher and a volunteer mentor. A mentor must have a technical background in a scientific or engineering field. Mentors can be volunteers recruited from industry, retired scientists and engineers or engineering students. In less than a year, mentors and teachers have attended start- up workshops and 24 chapters have been successfully organized. Increasing demand for chapter development, with continuing emphasis on minority and female youth, has created the need for further development of projects kits, parent involvement and continuity among feeder schools. The proposal intends to develop the procedures, structure and organization that would enable FSEA to develop an additional 35 chapters in Southern California and become a national after-school program and expand to other states.