The Hidden World of Permafrost

这个项目由阿拉斯加大学和俄勒冈州科学与工业博物馆的团队进行，将让公众参与永久冻土的性质和流行程度、其在地球上的规模以及它在全球气候中的重要作用。它建立在50年的非正式教育和推广在阿拉斯加永久冻土隧道附近的费尔班克斯，AK，其中，自20世纪60年代以来，一直是全国唯一的地下设施研究有关永久冻土和气候。 该项目有四个组成部分：（1）一个全国分布的2,000平方英尺的巡回展览;（2）展览和节目增强在隧道的学习机会;（3）节目，桌面展览和27个阿拉斯加土著村庄的口述历史研究;和（4）教育研究。 将在工作过程中对其中每一个组成部分进行评价。 通过升级隧道的显示器，并将旅游项目带到那些村庄，这项工作将扩大整个阿拉斯加的隧道体验。 在那些村庄，研究小组将收集有关气候变化的故事，沿着还将收集真实的古代冰和永久冻土的样本。 这些故事和材料将用于巡回展览，预计每年在三个博物馆展出八年。 该计划的研究部分将建立在迄今为止的观察基础上，即隧道为数千名游客提供了一个地下沉浸式环境，他们在那里了解正在进行的科学研究并接触气候敏感材料（例如，永久冻土，楔形冰，冻结的淤泥，更新世的骨头）使用他们所有的感官。 已经证实，他们的学习经验是通过与真实的与复制的对象进行交互来增强的。 由于博物馆通常包含更有可能包含复制和/或虚拟对象和环境的展品，因此了解这些不同类别的对象对学习的影响非常重要。利用这两种材料，该项目将调查它们在与气候变化有关的非正式科学学习机构中的功效差异。 真实的物体被假定具有以下属性，这些属性刺激更充分的参与;它们是（1）凭借其质地、气味和维度等特征而信息丰富的;（2）在现实生活中的规模;（3）真实的，即，原始对象;以及（4）通常是唯一的，即，具有内在价值。 研究问题将探讨这些和相关特征对学习的潜在影响。 所采用的方法将是观察，视频和公众访谈，特别关注游客谈话，解释和阐述有关永久冻土，临界点，气候变化和地质时间。

This project by teams at the University of Alaska and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry will engage the public in the topic of the nature and prevalence of permafrost, its scale on the earth and the important role it plays in the global climate. It builds on 50 years of informal education and outreach at the Alaskan Permafrost Tunnel near Fairbanks, AK, which, since the 1960s, has been the Nation's only underground facility for research related to permafrost and climate. The project has four components: (1) a nationally distributed 2,000 square-foot traveling exhibition; (2) exhibit and program enhancements to the learning opportunities at the tunnel; (3) programs, table-top exhibits and oral history research in 27 Native Alaskan villages; and (4) an education research study. Each of these components will be evaluated over the course of the work. By upgrading the displays at the tunnel, and by taking traveling programs to the villages, the work will extend the tunnel experience across Alaska. In the villages the team will collect stories about climate change, along with samples of real ancient ice and permafrost. These stories and materials will be used in the travelling exhibit which is expected to be at three museums per year for eight years. The research component of the initiative will build on the observation to date that the tunnel has provided thousands of visitors with an underground immersive environment where they learn about the science research being conducted and engage with climate-sensitive materials (e.g., permafrost, wedge ice, frozen silt, Pleistocene bones) using all of their senses. It has been conjectured that their learning experiences are enhanced by interacting with real vs. replicated objects. As museums often contain exhibits that are more likely to contain replicated and/or virtual objects and environments, understanding the impact that these different categories of objects have on learning is important. Using both types of materials, the project will investigate differences in their efficacy in informal science learning institutions related to climate change. Real objects are postulated to have the following attributes that stimulate fuller engagement; they are (1) information-rich by virtue of such features as their texture, odor, and dimensionality; (2) at real-life scale; (3) authentic, i.e., original objects; and (4) often unique, i.e., have inherent value. Research questions will explore the potential impacts on learning of these and related features. Methods employed will be observation, video, and interviews of the public with a particular focus on visitor talk with respect to explanations and elaborations about permafrost, tipping points, climate change, and geological time.