Pathways: From The Lab To The Neighborhood: An Interactive Living Exhibit For Advancing STEM Engagement With Urban Systems In Science Museums

这项倡议是由马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校、马萨诸塞州伍斯特的生态陶罐科学博物馆、马萨诸塞州克拉克大学和洛杉矶洛约拉·马里蒙特大学的其他科学家和教师以及新英格兰和加利福尼亚州的其他六家博物馆合作完成的。该项目寻求开发和研究一种模式，将关于城市系统的科学研究整合到科学博物馆的展品和计划中，从这个阶段开始，在生态博物馆的一个新的“城市科学”展示空间。目标是学习如何帮助公民进行决策，并为他们的社区塑造一个可持续的未来。这项工作建立在NSF/SBS资助的城市长期研究区域探索(ULTRA-Ex)网络上，该网络是NSF/SBS和NSF/BIO在城市生态领域的一系列奖项之一。展览(包括四个部分：社区设计；土地利用和土地覆盖；城市生物多样性；城市热岛效应)将包括与城市的“替代未来”有关的活动，将随着这项研究的新结果的产生而更新，并允许参观者回答研究人员将使用的关于他们城市环境的调查问题。交付成果还将包括将原型展品与NSF资助的K-12城市生态课程(来自洛约拉·马里蒙特大学的联合PI)整合，该课程已经与自然中心完成，现在将扩展到科学博物馆。这项工作的意义包括对城市中人/生态相互作用的新研究日益重要，以及这项研究在公众参与科学研究(PPSR)和地方决策和选择方面的应用。它是由目标受众(S)所在城市的未来愿景驱动的。伍斯特的工作将专注于接触服务不足的观众，这是伍斯特市大部分地区的特点，并将包括与当地学校和社区团体的合作。

This initiative is a collaboration of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the EcoTarium science museum in Worcester, MA, other scientists and teachers at Clark University in Massachusetts and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, along with six other museums in New England and California. The project seeks to develop and study a model that would integrate the science research on urban systems into science museum exhibits and programs, starting in this phase in a new "City Science" exhibit space at the EcoTarium. The goal is to learn how to assist citizens in decision-making and shaping a sustainable future for their communities. The work builds on the NSF/SBS-funded Urban Long-term Research Area Exploratory (ULTRA-Ex) network, one of a set of awards by NSF/SBS and NSF/BIO in the area of urban ecology. The exhibit (with four sections: neighborhood design; land use and land cover; urban biodiversity; urban heat island effect) will include activities related to "alternative futures" of cities, will be designed to be updated as new results from this research are produced and also to allow for visitors to respond to survey questions about their city environment that will be used by the researchers. Deliverables will also include an integration of the prototype exhibits with an NSF-funded K-12 urban ecology curriculum (co-PI from Loyola Marymount University), which has already been done with nature centers and would now expand into science museums. The significance of this work includes the growing importance of new research on human/ecology interaction in cities coupled with applications of this research to Public Participation in Science Research (PPSR) and local decisions and choices. It is driven by the future vision of the cities in which the target audience(s) is located. The work in Worcester will focus on reaching underserved audiences, which characterizes much of the city of Worcester, and will include partnerships with local schools and community groups.