1 / 14

Science Maps For Children

Science Maps For Children. What are the needs/challenges, how do we get there?. The Role of Science Centers. “Communicate the excitement of science and technology to museum audiences.” Informal vs. formal learning Target age group: middle school and caregivers

calla
Download Presentation

Science Maps For Children

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Science Maps For Children What are the needs/challenges, how do we get there?

  2. The Role of Science Centers • “Communicate the excitement of science and technology to museum audiences.” • Informal vs. formal learning • Target age group: middle school and caregivers • Employ many approaches to communicate scientific Ideas • Try to engage audiences, rather than just show them ideas. • Provide opportunities for discovery and inquiry—increasingly trying to provide “open-ended” or design-based experiences that allow for tinkering. • Find avenues for communicating increasingly complex scientific ideas data driven—eScience.

  3. Communicate the Excitement of Science • Provide experiences for audiences that spark their imaginations and give them insights into scientific ideas.

  4. Informal vs. Formal Learning • Technically informal learning is any learning that is not part of a curriculum or subject to assessment. • But we do professional development for teachers too.

  5. Middle School Age and Caregivers • Why middle school? • What does this mean cognitively?

  6. Employ Many Approaches • Science museums employ many different approaches to communicate science: • Labels • Artifacts • Interactives • Manipulables • Gestural interfaces, • Experiments • Design and building experiences

  7. Try to Engage Audiences • Most importantly, we try to engage audiences in scientific ideas rather than just show them things. This usually means some kind of hands-on experience

  8. Discovery and Inquiry “Open-Ended” • We also believe that kids learn best through making their own discoveries and coming up with their own questions that they can explore rather than just reading about the discoveries of others. • By providing them with experiences that are open- ended, rather than “canned” they can tinker with, and explore scientific ideas and try new things that they themselves come up with.

  9. Complex Scientific Ideas “eScience” • The problem with 21st century science • Data driven • Complex / multivariate • Skills or content? or both • Making connections: • Single phenomena >> systems • Short term >> long term • Individual footprint >> societal footprint • Local/community >> national/global • Now >> future generations • Personal action >> collective action

  10. Science Maps For Kids • Why is science mapping for kids a good idea? • What do children need to know about it? • How can we make connections between their local anecdotal experience to the large-scale statistical realm of science maps?

  11. Science Maps For Kids • What do kids know about maps now? • Are maps effective metaphors for middle schoolers to learn about relationships? • What do kids know about science disciplines and how they relate? How can science maps inform this, or vice versa?

  12. Exhibition on Science Mapping • How do we engage kids in science mapping? • Who is the audience? • What kinds of ideas, interactives, approaches can be used? • What kinds of prototypes could test this engagement? How should it be evaluated?

More Related