HR: 11:00h
AN: ED12A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Mediating the Message: The Team Approach to Developing Interdisciplinary Science Exhibitions
AU: * Stauffer, B W
EM: stauffer@si.edu
AF: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 10th St. and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20013-7012 United States
AU: Starrs, S K
EM: starrss@si.edu
AF: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 10th St. and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20013-7012 United States
AB: Museum exhibition developers can take advantage of a wide range of methods and media for delivering scientific information to a general audience. But, determining what information to convey and which medium is the best means of conveying it can be an arduous process. How do you design an exhibition so a visiting fifth grade school group learns basic scientific concepts while an amateur naturalist finds enough rich content to warrant coming back in a few months? How much or how little media should be included? What forms of media are most appropriate? Answering these questions requires intensive and iterative collaboration and compromise among a team of educators, scientists and designers. The National Museum of Natural History's Forces of Change Program uses a unique team approach that includes scientific, exhibit design, and education experts to create interdisciplinary science exhibitions. Exhibit topics have explored the dynamics of a grasslands ecosystem, global impacts of El Nino, climate change in the Arctic, the functions of the atmosphere, and soil composition. Exhibition-related products include publications, scavenger hunts, interactive computer kiosks, educational CD-ROMs, animated cartoons, web sites, and school group activities. Team members will describe the team process and the iterative discussions involved in developing these products so they are as scientifically sound and engaging as possible.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0815 Informal education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly