Treasuring Our Natural Heritage: Natural History and Environmental Science Education

9804614 Sommer珍惜我们的自然遗产：自然历史和环境科学教育是一个多方面的项目，将由爱达荷州自然历史博物馆开发。他们的目标是提高公众对生物多样性概念周围问题的理解。通过使用“自然经济”的比喻，他们将提出三个概念：生物多样性（包括关键物种的概念）、自然资本、灭绝债务和保护生物学。这种方法和隐喻的使用是基于展览前的研究工作，该研究表明，爱达荷州的农村居民将其理解为一种交换系统，每个物种拥有不同的“职业”，而各种职业对经济的健康至关重要。该项目将通过科学家的演讲，让参与者接触到科学研究的价值，这些科学家最近的研究成果将为他们周围的生命系统提供更深入的了解。来自爱达荷州印第安部落的长者的观点将被包括在内，以增加一个关键的人性维度。有了这笔奖金，他们将开发一系列的三个小型巡回展览，三部分的公共广播教育录像系列，以及三个多媒体科学包，供儿童团体使用，分别介绍上述三个概念。通过这种多方面的设计，预计该计划将覆盖爱达荷州120万人口中的50%。预计这些展品一旦在爱达荷州完成流通，就可以普遍使用。

9804614 Sommer Treasuring our Natural Heritage: Natural History and Environmental Science Education is a multifaceted project that will be developed by the Idaho Museum of Natural History. Their goal is to heighten an understanding of issues surrounding the concept of biodiversity among the general public. By using the metaphor " the economy of nature," they will present three concepts: biodiversity which will include the idea of keystone species, natural capital, and extinction debt & conservation biology. This approach and the use of this metaphor is based on pre-exhibit research work that demonstrated that rural Idahoans understand this as a system of exchange, where each species holds a different 'occupation' and a variety of occupations is critical to the health of the economy. This project will bring participants in touch with the value of scientific research through presentations by scientists whose recent research results will provide a deeper understanding of the living systems around them. Views of elders from Idaho's Native American tribes will be included to add a critical human dimension. With this award they will develop a series of three small traveling exhibits, three-part educational video series for public broadcasting, and three multimedia science kits for use by children's groups on each of the three concepts noted above. With this multifaceted design it is anticipated that this program will reach 50% of Idaho's 1.2 million people. It is anticipated that the exhibits will become generally available once they have completed their circulation in Idaho.