The California Academy of Sciences will develop, evaluate and disseminate exhibits and programs designed to communicate to public audiences the results of research including a biotic inventory of the amphibians and reptiles of Myanmar. Using innovative trading cards for kids, updates to current research exhibits, a poster highlighting research, a pocket guide to venomous snakes of Myanmar and a posting of research -related materials on the CAS website, the project will inform the public about biotic inventory research and conservation in Myanmar. Designed specifically for target audiences of children and adults, the exhibits and programs will serve several hundred thousand CAS visitors annually.
Assessing the Impact of a Visit to a Zoo or Aquarium: A Multi-institutional Research Project will create a functional taxonomy of zoo/aquarium visitors' entering knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. This taxonomy, in conjunction with data about the specific experiences visitors have during their visit, will enable investigators to understand and predict the contribution of zoos and aquariums to the public understanding of animals and their conservation. The results will clarify the role of zoos and aquariums as centers of informal learning and point to ways to strengthen their educational impact. The AZA convened a national advisory committee that commissioned and completed a thorough review, confirming a critical need to conduct more research, particularly research that attempts to ask broad questions, collect data systematically, and includes sufficient number and types of institutions to permit community-wide generalizations. Twelve AZA institutions of various sizes, geographic regions and types will participate in the study. The net result of the study will be a descriptive model of zoo and aquarium visitor learning experiences and development of a set of diagnostic tools to help zoo and aquaria staff understand and enhance the nature and extent of their public impact.
Partnering with National Musical Arts, the Science Museum of Minnesota seeks to develop BioMusic, a 4,000 sq. ft. traveling exhibition that explores the origins of music in nature and the connections between music and sound of living things. This project is based on planning grant ESI-0211611 (The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music) awarded to NMA. The project is based on the emerging interdisciplinary research field of biomusic, which includes musicology plus aspects of neuroscience, biology, zoology, environmental science, physics, psychology, math and anthropology. The exhibit sections -- "Humanimal" Music; Natural Symphonies; Ancient Roots; Music, Body and Mind; and World of Music -- use both music and natural sound to explore biodiversity, cultural diversity, the physics of sound and the brain. BROADER IMPACT: The exhibition is expected to travel for at least six years, reaching some two million people in 18 communities. It is to be accompanied by a six-part radio series (Sweet Bird Classics) for young children. Because of the connection to music and many other areas of public interest, this exhibition has the potential to attract and engage new audiences to science museums and stimulate their interest in STEM.
The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) is a partnership of 13 institutions (Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Howard University, North Carolina State University (affiliate), Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of New Mexico, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Washington) that provides multi-faceted, interdisciplinary, and broadly-accessible infrastructure supporting both near-term and long-term needs identified in the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The partnering facilities are open laboratories providing outstanding service to the external user, comprehensive training and staff support, and support of interdisciplinary and emerging areas of research, with openness to new materials, techniques, and applications.
SoundVision Productions is developing and distributing a series of ten, hour-long public radio documentaries that will explore the turbulent boundary between science and the humanities, capturing the present moment of tremendous scientific and scholarly ferment with the unique and intimate power of radio. By introducing the radio audience to the thoughts and voices of some of the world\'s most accomplished scientists, in conversations with the counterparts in the humanities, the series will look at recent developments in science including physics, molecular and cell biology, environmental science, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and the multiple disciplines of the life sciences reflecting the increasingly subtle and widespread application of evolutionary theory. In each program, a careful account of new scientific ideas and discoveries will be placed within the context of historical and contemporary thought about the human and natural worlds. Barinetta Scott, the Executive Producer, has most recently been the Executive Producer for the highly regarded NSF funded NPR series, "The DNA Files." In developing this project, she will work closely with an advisory committee that includes: John Avise, Research Professor, Dept. of Genetics, University of Georgia Samuel Barondes, Professor and Director of the University of California San Francisco\'s Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry Terrence Deacon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Boston University Anne Foerst, Professor of Computer Science and Theology, St. Bonaventure University Ursula Goodenough, Dept. of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis William Irons, Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University Gordon Kane, Professor of Physics, University of Michigan Jim Miller, Senior Program Associate for the AAAS Program of Dialogue Between Science and Religion W. Mark Richardson, Episcopal Priest, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, General Theological Seminary Holmes Rolston, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University Michael Ruse, Professor of the Philosophy of Biology and Ethics, at Florida State University Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion at Bucknell University Dorothy Wertz, Senior Scientist; Social Science, Ethics, and the Law; The Shriver Center.
Flip It, Fold It, Figure It Out! is a 1500-sq. foot traveling mathematics exhibition with companion take-home educational materials. There are two copies of the traveling exhibit: one for the members of the North Carolina Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative reaching over 500,000 visitors, and a second for travel nationally to science centers reaching an estimated 750,000 additional visitors. Take-home activity kits were developed for visitors to continue informal mathematics explorations at home. The activities included expand and extend the exhibit themes, offering multiple levels to meet the needs of K-5 students and their families.
In several primarily Hispanic, low socio-economic school districts of the southwest in partnership with local institutions of higher learning, this 48-month project will develop programs and materials to attract parents of children of all grade levels and make them active supporters of a system that promotes good mathematical learning for their children. These programs and materials will help them become aware of what is happening in their children's classroom; offer them occasions to take on leadership roles in working with teachers, administrators, and other parents; and provide them opportunities for in-depth experiences with school mathematics. The materials will be initially developed and piloted in the Sunnyside School District. After revision from the pilot project, the project will be implemented in several other school districts.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David GayMarta Civil
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) Center for Learning and Teaching (NCLT) would focus on the research and development of nano-science instructional resources for grades 7-16, related professional development opportunities for 7-12 teachers, and programs infused with nano-science content for education doctoral students. The Center would bring together educators and scientists from several areas of nano-science and engineering research to collaborate with science teachers and doctoral candidates in education on both the development of the resources and research on their efficacy. The PI has prior experience as director of the Materials World Modules project, an NSF-funded curriculum currently in use in several secondary schools across the country. Lead partners in the proposed Center are Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additional partners include Argonne National Laboratory, West Point Military Academy, Alabama A & M University, Fisk University, Hampton University, Morehouse College and University of Texas at El Paso. The additional partners will widen the geographic range of the project, expanding opportunities to reach a diverse and currently underrepresented population of graduate students, teachers and ultimately students. STEM and Education faculty and researchers from the partner institutions would participate in interdisciplinary teams to address the Center's mission: Provide national education leadership and resources for advancing NSEE Create and implement professional development programs in NSEE Use innovative ideas in learning to design instructional materials for grades 7-16 Conduct research relating to integration of NSEE into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
R. P. H. ChangThomas MasonNcholas GiordanoJoseph Krajcik
Explore Evolution is a three-year project that uses a combination of traveling exhibits and activity kits to introduce the concept of evolution to museum audiences and 4-H groups. Six museum partners will collaborate on the development of eleven interactive exhibit modules on the following topics: disease in humans, eye development in animals, fruit fly diversity, sexual selection, hominoid development and extinction. The museum consortium includes the Kansas Museum and Biodiversity Center, Museum of the Rockies (MT), Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Science Museum of Minnesota, University of Nebraska State Museum and the Exhibits Museum of the University of Michigan. The inquiry-based activity kits will be modeled after the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's "Wonderwise" kits, funded in part by NSF, and designed for middle school audiences. An "Explore Evolution" website will be launched to support the exhibits and activity kits. Dissemination will occur through museum education programs as well as a consortium of 4-H programs in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Michigan, Nebraska and Wyoming. It is anticipated that more than 1.8 million museum visitors and 800,000 4-H members will participate in this project.
Math in the Garden is a collaborative project between the University of California's Botanic Garden and 17 organizations around the nation that work with underserved urban youth, as well as rural communities. The project will create a series of five (5) guidebooks with activities that bring adults and children together in the garden to learn the mathematics inherent in the nature of gardening. The materials and activities will teach mathematical concepts and skills, feature plants, flowers, and fruits as math manipulatives, promote active learning, and support NCTM and National Science Standards. The guides will organize activities into clusters for various times of the year and contain appropriate activities for elementary through middle school-aged youth. Partner organizations will coordinate a trial test. Afterwards, the formative evaluation will guide the revision and finally, national distribution of the guides will be in conjunction with Dale Seymour Publishers. A national Advisory Committee of mathematicians, botanists, science educators, math educators, botanical garden staff, and leaders working in community gardens has been established. The entire project will be evaluated at every stage of development for its ability to increase math skills, garden knowledge, and to encourage young people to engage in active, inquiry learning.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katharine Barrett
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will partner with The Exploratorium and with three smaller science museums that have strong connections to rural and Spanish-speaking populations in Texas: Discovery Science Place, Loredo Children's Museum, and Science Spectrum to develop TexNET, a four-year project modeled on the Exploratorium Network for Exhibit-based Teaching (ExNET). TexNET builds on lessons learned from past exhibit outreach models and addresses the needs of small, rural partners for exhibits and capacity-building workshops. Each small museum partner will host a set of ten exhibits for one year. Exhibit topics are 1) motion, 2) weather and 3) sound. Workshops focus on inquiry learning techniques, science content, programming and workshop design, as well as the institutional needs of each partner. Based on feedback from formative evaluation, the project added three additional partners in its final year, the Children's Museum of Houston, the Austin Children's Museum, and the Don Herrington Discovery Center, and focused its remaining year on building institutional capacity around tinkering. Inverness Research Associates will conduct the project evaluation. They will examine the success of this project by looking at the effectiveness of the TexNET model, the success of the individual exhibit elements to engage rural communities, the effectiveness with which this project has enhanced the abilities of local rural communities to sustain their own educational improvements and the effectiveness of the training components in increasing the capabilities of the local museums to serve their rural audiences.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlie WalterSamuel DeanJoe HastingsRobert Lindsey
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) is a five-year collaborative effort between the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and King's College London. The purpose of the Center is to study the intersection of informal science learning that takes place in museums and science centers and formal learning that takes place in schools, and to prepare leaders in informal science education. Through the efforts of the center, new doctoral level leaders will be prepared who understand how informal science learning takes place and how informal institutions can contribute to science education reform. A Ph.D. program will be offered to 16 individuals at King's College London (two cohorts of eight) and a post-doctoral program to six scientists interested in issues of learning and teaching in informal settings. A doctoral program is planned at the University of California at Santa Cruz for 24 students, 12 whose interests are primarily in education and 12 who come from the sciences. In addition to doctoral level training, there will be a certification program for existing informal science professionals to better enable them to support teachers, students and the general public. That program will provide 160 informal science educators 120 hours of professional development experiences, and an additional 24 informal science educators with a master's degree in informal science education at UC Santa Cruz. A Bay Area Institute will be developed to serve as a central focus for all CILS activities. It will bring together researchers and practitioners; it will offer courses and workshops for graduate students; and it will provide a central location for reporting research findings and methodologies that focus on how informal learning institutions can best contribute to science education reform.