| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 13, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 16, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1810778 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Toni Danstep
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,507,631.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,507,631.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $373,144.00 FY 2021 = $299,874.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2145 N TANANA LOOP FAIRBANKS AK US 99775-0001 (907)474-7301 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Fairbanks AK US 99775-7880 |
| 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): |
Polar Special Initiatives, AISL |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001819DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002122DB 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): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
With snow providing water for about 2 billion people worldwide and playing a major role in the Earth's climate through its high albedo and insulation properties, on-going alterations in global snow resources pose real and extremely expensive societal adaptation/mitigation problems. The project goals are to (1) create opportunities for the public to learn about the vital role that snow plays in climate, water resources, and human lives, and (2) produce a better understanding of how culture affects informal Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) learning. The deliverables include: (a) an outreach program in Alaska that will visit 33 remote native villages, (b) a 2000 square foot museum exhibit on snow produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and exhibited at two additional museums during the life of the award, and (c) learning research, which will examine how the wide variation of cultural relationships to snow impacts learning during museum exhibits. Each of these components will be evaluated over the course of the work. The travelling exhibit is expected to be shown at three museums per year for eight years, with an anticipated cumulative audience of over one million.
The focus on snow will highlight a fascinating yet under-appreciated part of the Earth system. The project aims to educate the public about snow and to produce a more informed and thoughtful public in the face of potential expensive and difficult snow-related societal decisions. Through informative displays, graphics, models, and other material, the project will engage traditionally under-served communities (at Native/remote villages) in Alaska, where a strong cultural connection to snow exists, as well as communities across the U.S. where the connection to snow can range from strong to weak. Across this cultural gradient, the project will explore through oral interviews and surveys the public response to various types and designs of informal science learning (ISL) displays, attempting to isolate and control for the effect of cultural vs. individual response to the materials. Informal learning theory specifies using front-end exploration of individual visitor-content relationships to guide exhibit design. This project's research goal expands that approach to include the effects of cultural engagement with a topic to develop more general tools to guide and improve the design process. The project is led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks in collaboration with OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), and the Lifelong Learning Group at COSI (Center of Science and Industry), which leads the research, and the Goldstream Group, the evaluators. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The project has co-funding support from the Office of Polar Programs.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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.
Our project had basically two goals, one of which focused on the public, and one of which was focused on academic research. The public focus was to inform and engage the public in understanding and appreciating the role snow plays in regulating the Earth’s climate and sourcing water for billions of people. To this end we: a) designed, built, and tested a 2000 square foot traveling museum exhibit on snow that was highly interactive and engaging, and b) designed, developed and fabricated hundreds of small and large science kits for distribution to classrooms, outdoor centers, and families. The kits had materials that allowed self-exploration of snow and its many properties and importance. Initially, the plan had been for us to deliver the kits to dozens of remote primarily Native communities in Alaska in person along with indoor and outdoor activities, but the COVID pandemic made that impossible through much of the project. So they were distributed in wide variety of ways including mailing and shipping during the pandemic. We also developed a website about snow (https://ourwinterworld.org/), and wrote and published a book, A Field Guide to Snow. By 2022, two-thirds of the way through project, we were able to travel to Alaskan villages again, and we returned to in-person deliveries with hundreds of children and adults across Alaska. We also continued to ship kits to the lower 48 states to dozens of outdoor centers as well. The academic research part of the project focused on understanding the cultural overlays that museum visitors bring with them into an exhibit. Everyone has such overlays based on who they are and how and where they were raised. The research was designed to tease apart what aspects of the overlays help connect visitors to a display, and which may get in the way. The problem is difficult and complicated one, but we made some progress in understanding this fundamental but tricky aspect of informal learning.
The traveling museum exhibit, Tiny Crystals-Global Impact, has been at 7 museums already and is booked through 2027. No firm numbers are available yet, but at least 50,000 people have attended the exhibit to date, with expectations that it will “touch” hundreds of thousands of people during its travels. Reviews of what visitors take away are extremely positive. Eight hundred and fifty kits containing over 20 novel snow demonstrations and experiments have been distributed, touching thousands of people, predominantly Native Alaskans. These too have garnered favorable reviews from the users. The kits are robust and will be in use, we hope, for years to come. Perhaps what is best about both the kits and the exhibit is that they skillfully combined the facts about climate change, which are worrisome with changes due to climate warming, with the marvel of snow as beautiful material and a critical part of our world in many ways.
Last Modified: 01/21/2025
Modified by: Matthew Sturm
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