| NSF Org: |
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 29, 2008 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 18, 2011 |
| Award Number: | 0755125 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Rachel Walker-Kulzick
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2008 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2013 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $720,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $864,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2009 = $240,000.00 FY 2010 = $309,753.00 FY 2011 = $74,247.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4765 WALNUT ST STE B BOULDER CO US 80301-2575 (720)974-5888 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
4765 WALNUT ST STE B BOULDER CO US 80301-2575 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
AERONOMY, SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL, GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION, MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS, AISL |
| Primary Program Source: |
01000910DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001011DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001112DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 04000809DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04000910DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001011DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
This project will develop a comprehensive Space Weather Outreach program to reach students, educators, and other members of the public, and share with them the discoveries from this scientific discipline. The Space Science Institute will capitalize on its prior successes and the success of other education programs to develop a comprehensive and integrated program that has the following five components: (1) the Space Weather Center website that includes online educational games; (2) Small Exhibits for Libraries, Shopping Malls, and Science Centers; (3) After-School Programs; (4) Professional Development Workshops for Educators, and (5) an innovative Evaluation and Education Research project. Its overarching goal is to inspire, engage, and educate a broad spectrum of the public and make strategic and innovative connections between informal and K-12 education communities. Partners include UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory; the American Library Association; Macerich: a mall developer with nationwide impact; and the Math, Engineering, Science Achievement program. The project brings together a creative collaboration between exhibit designers, graphic artists, formal/informal educators, and research scientists. The project spans a full spectrum of science communication strategies (formal, informal, and public outreach).
The evaluation part of the project will examine how well the project elements work together and a pilot research study will explore the efficacy of online digital games for communicating complex space weather content. Results will be published and the findings presented at professional meetings and online. The three-year project is expected to impact well over two million people, including exhibit and website visitors and outreach visitors at various venues such as libraries and malls.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The NSF funded Space Weather Outreach Program included a traveling library exhibition (Discover Space), professional development including educator workshops, outreach, a public website and an extensive evaluation effort. The project was led by the National Center for Interactive Learing (NCIL) at the Space Science Institute (SSI). Below is a description of the outcomes and results of this project.
- Discover Space - The Discover Space exhibit toured 9 libraries across Colorado. These libraries ranged from very rural (Rocky Ford) to Suburban (Louisville) to urban (Denver Public Library). Each library who received the exhibit conducted programming related to the exhibit topics. The success of the pilot Discover Space exhibition program led to the development of the current STAR Library Education Network program (www.starnetlibraries.org), which brings museum quality STEM exhibitions and programming to libraries across the country.
- Space Weather Center redesign and mobile app development - TheSpace Weather Center website (www.spaceweathercenter.org) was redesigned and translated into Spanish, to bring the activities and resources (including "A Family Guide to the Sun" to a larger audience. Space Weather Center games have also been disseminated through BrainPop (with more than 75,000 loads of our games coming from BrainPop). The Space Maze game is now available as an app on apple and android phones and tablets.
- Professional Development Activities - NCIL hosted a "Space Weather and Human Space Flight" workshop for educators in the 4-Corners states. Educators learned about space weather, exploring the solar system, the effects of radiation on astronauts (and Earth) and received free resources and educational activities. NCIL has also presented at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific annual meeting and American Geophysical Union annual meeting on the role libraries play in bringing cutting edge scientific knowledge to underserved communities.
- Research and Evaluation - Formative evaluation on the "Space Weather Experience" (an interactive on the now defunct table version of the Microsoft surface) was conducted at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine how well users could interact with and understand the table, if the table enabled more social use of the interactive, and if the nature of the table helped visitors better understand the complex space weather visualizations. Informal evaluation was also conducted at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Visitor Center. Results from these two evaluations showed that touch table interactives are a great "attractor" piece, and with the right supporting text, may be a better way than traditional computer interactives to educate guests on complex topics such as space weather.
Last Modified: 10/17/2013
Modified by: Paul B Dusenbery
