HR: 0800h
AN: ED21A-0054    [Abstracts]
TI: Communicating Earth System Science Through Exhibitions
AU: * Dusenbery, P B
EM: dusenbery@spacescience.org
AF: Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 United States
AB: The general public's knowledge of earth system science has lagged behind the extraordinary discoveries that scientists are now making. And yet, as can be seen in the daily news, we are constantly confronted with the impacts of Earth's systems. Enhancing the public's understanding of earth system science is vitally important. The Space Science Institute is a national leader in developing space-themed exhibitions. One of its exhibit projects, still in the development stage, is called Interactive Earth. The major goal of the exhibit is to introduce students and the public to the complexity of the interconnections in the earth system, and thereby, to inspire them to see the world in new ways. The exhibit will be divided into five areas: Spaceship Earth, Water World, Rock and Roll, Web of Life, and Earthworks for Kids. This division allows the exhibit to address major components of the earth system: the geosphere (Rock and Roll), hydrosphere (Water World), biosphere (Web of Life), and atmosphere, which pervades every area. Each area lends itself to opportunities to illustrate interconnections between the exhibit areas. This report will focus on the front-end evaluation results that were conducted several years ago for the project. These results will then be compared to other evaluation studies (both formal & informal) in order to paint a more thorough picture of how best to communicate this important but difficult science to the public.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting