This proposal requests matching support to create a dynamic science, engineering, and technology careers museum exhibit--SET Careers, for distribution to science museums and technology centers. The exhibit kiosks with related career graphics surrounds, incorporate multimedia platforms, using MacIntosh authoring software to dreate information landscapes' computer motion programs like Quicktime, and Cd-1 or DVI videodisc technology. Yound museum visitors (teens and Preteens) will be invited to enter into an exciting interactive exploration of thirty self-narrated video profiles of people in science and engineering, try our animated/reality video simulations of a work experience in these fields, and obtain additional information from a database of over 200 more science and math-based professions. The videodisc profiles, database, and a personal interests component will also be developed in alternative media formats (video, audio, print, computer disc) for broad distribution to community and youth education networks, schools, and libraries. Specific emphasis in this project is being placed on reaching and attracting female, minority, and disabled youths.
The Museum will develop an interactive traveling exhibition entitled "Our Weakening Web: The Study of Extinction" that will explore the process of extinction and examine the current role humanity is playing in that process. Is humanity accelerating the rate of extinction by modifying the global environment? The goals of the exhibit are 1) that visitors discover that extinction is a natural process, 2) that visitors explore the many ways humanity is modifying the world,s environment, and 3) that visitors understand how their actions are related to the world's environmental problems and how they can make changes in their lifestyles to help protect the environment. Three size versions (8000 sq. ft., 4000 sq. ft., and 1800 sq. ft.) of the exhibit will be created in order to maximize the number of museums that are able to accommodate the exhibit. After its opening in Cincinnati in 1994, it will travel to approximately twenty-eight museums during the next three to four years. Each venue will have the exhibit for about four months. Complementary activities will be developed and manuals describing these as well as sample materials will accompany each exhibit. These activities will include a teacher's guide, local resource guide, on- floor demonstrations, short theater presentations, and an adult lecture series. Sample press kits and copies of all promotional materials will be included in the exhibit package as well.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Susan SchultzChristopher BedelSandra Shipley
The Computer Museum in Boston, MA is requesting a SGER of $49,000 to support preliminary research into the use of virtual reality as a tool for informal science. Using a virtual reality environment of the human cell, they will test to determined: 1) if people gain a physical understanding of the human cell, including a sense of scale, the shape and location of elements, and the physical relationship between elements, and 2) if people gain an understanding of the concept of a system by interacting in the virtual world of the human cell. The PI will be David Greschler, Exhibit Developer at the Museum. He has developed two major exhibits at the Museum, has worked at the MIT Media Laboratory, and has taught educational software design at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Eben Gay will be co-PI and will have oversight for the software development of the virtual reality. He has been Principal Engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation since 1980 and has been building virtual realities since 1982.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will develop a series of "experiment benches" that are to be an unique feature of "labworks," a major new hall of physical science and technology. The small bench-top laboratory exhibits will allow visitors to create their own experiments and to become informally but directly involved in the experimental process. The target audience is junior highschool students, especially those who come as individuals and who are repeat visitors. Selected students will be trained as interns and will be paid to act as mentors for visitors. The project will include a published report, "a recipe book" for dissemination, and a subsequent conference of exhibit developers from other science museums.
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum proposes to design and construct a traveling exhibit on energy. The proposed exhibit will have two goals: one, to produce an imaginative exhibit that will stimulate interest and cognitive growth in understanding about geometry; two, to develop a related education program that will reach out to underserved audiences in Michigan and beyond, including minorities, children and citizens who live far from science centers, and audiences of small- and medium-sized science centers and children's museums in the state.
The museum of Science proposes to travel a 3,000 square foot exhibit entitled "Bogs". The exhibit will introduce a poorly understood habitat, acidic wetlands, in an interdisciplinary way. the peculiar physical features of bogs has led to a popular view of them as fearful and unhealthy places. This view has led in turn, to their destruction. To show the value of bogs, the exhibit will display their unique natural history. In addition, the exhibit will explore the relationship between people and bogs in modern and pre-historic times. in Europe and in North America. The exhibit will debut at the Museum of Science, and then tour to other museums in North America.
The Brooklyn Historical Society is planning a new exhibit that will focus on the development of penicillin in Brooklyn. In order to get information about potential visitors' knowledge of and interest in the topic, a survey of 40 people was conducted. The exhibit team's desire was to find out how much people know about penicillin; what they want to know about it, and what their misconceptions might be.
The Hansen Planetarium proposes the creation, writing, and production of a 50-minute star theater program, From The Earth To The Stars, and educational chart aimed at informally educating over a million individuals regarding the exploration of our planet, the planets of our solar system, and the stars beyond. The further production of three interactive exhibits is planned to accompany the program. This program will be marketed and distributed at a nominal charge to 250 national planetariums, with 50 additional production packets planned for loan. In this fashion, top-quality, accurate, and timely science education can be guaranteed to a large selection of audiences. In America today there is growing awareness and concern surrounding the serious deficit our society will soon experience in the fields of science and technology. The Hansen Planetarium's goal is to stimulate learning and interest in astronomy and other sciences for students of all ages across the country. Exploration is, perhaps, the human activity in western culture which can most provoke debate, excite intense interest and stimulate scientific and cultural growth. The utilization of expert consultants, in conjunction with Hansen Planetarium staff, will insure this program presents the most current information available about the past, present, and future of exploration. Its interactive format is designed to stimulate a proactive approach to problem solution on the part of the audience as a stimulus to the learning process. The star show format, with its dynamic special effects, will enhance the learning of science in America today.
The American Museum of Natural History and the Environmental Defense Fund will produce a major exhibition on global warming. The prospect of global warming is viewed by many with increasing attention and concern, but conflicting reports have resulted in public confusion about predictions of climate change. Thus, a need exists for education on this timely subject, particularly in the direct and vivid way that only an exhibition provides. Wide-spread awareness of the significance of potential climate change will lead to making informed decisions and taking necessary actions regarding this complex and serious problem. Visitors will learn about the forces that drive climate change, the sources and properties of greenhouse gases, how scientists study climate, and debates on the accuracy of global warming predictions. The exhibition will also focus on potential environmental, social, and economic consequences of global warming and what choices individuals and nations can make to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Visitors will be able to explore these topics in depth and integrate the information with personal experience. The exhibition will present scientific data objectively, clearly distinguishing between what is known and what is predicted. The American Museum and EDF will produce scientific symposia, educational programs, and publications for greater outreach to general visitors, schools and the media. Consultants will monitor and evaluate the content and design, from planning through fabrication and display, to ensure the educational effectiveness of the exhibition.
Field Museum requests $1,033,456 from NSF for the geological and biological science portions of the new, 14,000 square-foot multidisciplinary exhibit on Africa. This $3.45 million permanent reinstallation will capitalize on Field Museum's extensive African collections. We intend to use these collections and other presentational strategies, broad scientific and community input to develop a sensitive and appealing exhibit that will advance central scientific themes in anthropology, geology, ecology, and conservation. A variety of techniques will be used to appeal to the individual interests, needs and learning styles of our diverse audience. Project director will be Michael Spock, Vice President for Public Programs at Field Museum. Co-developers will be Karen Hutt and Fath Ruffins. Exhibit consultants and advisors include Field Museum scientists and educators, and experts in the fields of biology, zoology, and conservation from outside the Museum. An estimated 14 million children and adults will be reached by this ehibit over the next 20 years, and extensive documentation of the exhibit development process will serve as a model for development of other comprehensive exhibits throughout the world.
The Staten Island Children's Museum requests support for an interactive exhibition for children on the topic of water. WATER WATER EVERYWHERE will open in April 1991 and remain on view for three years; a smaller replica of the exhibition will be ready to travel in the Spring of 1992. The first year will allow an initial evaluation period during which both design and content can be improved. The exhibition has dual goals: to provide family audiences, focusing on children, with the materials and context that encourage experimentation and learning, and to educate visitors about an essential and widespread constituent of our world. WATER will present different aspects of this varied subject in six sections: the many forms of water in our world; the properties of water; how living things use water; how water works for us; experiments with water and local water issues. The exhibition will engage children imaginatively, inform, provide opportunities to experiment and learn, and stimulate creativity. Museum public programs and activities will be offered in conjunction with WATER to both extend and enrich the project. WATER will contribute to both children's and inter- generational learning. Its desired outcomes include further development of the Museum's critical thinking skills program, expansion of our renewed Informal Science Education Program, extension of our community service programs and heightening our participation in community issues, such as the environment, through the ecological aspect of the exhibition. By touring the exhibition and producing educational materials based on WATER, the Museum will extend its impact in learning skills, science education and environmental awareness to a scale that is potentially national.
ASTRONOMY - HOW DO WE KNOW? is a 4100 sq. ft. exhibit and program package for Discovery Place that will: 1) interpret the physical and chemical nature of astronomical bodies in the Universe, highlighting the scientific processes used in their discovery, 2) interpret, through interactive exhibits and programs, the basic technologies of the scientific study of astronomy, and 3) function as the complementary exhibition area to the new Spitz Space Voyager Planetarium system and its multi-dimensional program capabilities. ASTRONOMY - HOW DO WE KNOW? will make the science of astronomy more accessible to the public by demonstrating the above objectives through the fundamental concepts of Gravity, Light, Motion and Distance. Visitors will leave with a greater understanding of the process of learning about the Universe. Discovery Place will utilize the formative evaluation process in developing these exhibits to assure a product that will not only appeal to a broad audience, but will also meet a variety of identified needs within that audience. The exhibit and program package will open in October, 1992, with an anticipated yearly attendance of 700,000. The exhibits will be a permanent part of the museum and will be renewed through the general operating budget of the museum.