Revealing the Invisible Universe: from Nanoscope to Telescope

该提案是根据公共科学教育MPS实习（MPS- ipse）招标（NSF 02-064）提交的。该项目旨在通过突出人们感兴趣的科学领域来创建吸引公众兴趣的非正式科学节目，并通过向社区发送节目来扩大科学的受众。它将同时为本科生和研究生提供与公众交流科学的宝贵经验。这是弗兰德劳科学中心、材料科学与工程系、亚利桑那州立博物馆、科学与数学教育中心以及亚利桑那大学国家光学天文台共同努力的结果。该项目将为普通公众和中学团体创建三个模块化项目。这些项目将强调光学和电子束技术的使用，将人类的视觉扩展到宇宙的边缘，并进入材料的原子结构。第一个项目名为“未来与过去的电子侦探”，将研究如何利用电子显微镜为未来开发新材料，并了解古代美洲原住民如何使用材料。第二个项目名为“揭示看不见的东西”，将研究利用卫星上的红外探测器观测太空和地球上的考古遗址。第三期节目《巴基和纳米管》将讲述在基础天文学研究过程中意外发现巴基球的故事，以及它们在开发新材料方面潜在的革命性应用。程序设计将强调科学过程和人，并说明如何以及为什么最近取得了进展。这些发现的故事将伴随着科学演示以及幻灯片和视频图像。实践活动将伴随每个项目。该项目将开发吸引公众兴趣的科学描述节目。这些节目将突出对公众有吸引力的科学领域，并有望扩大科学的受众。该项目将同时为本科生和研究生提供与公众交流科学的宝贵经验。项目的广泛影响包括参与的实习生和他们所接触的受众。该项目将在科学和非正式科学教育方面培训一批不同类型的实习生（18名本科生、6名研究生和6名教师）。他们开发的项目将在赠款结束后继续提供给学校团体和科学中心的公众。亚利桑那州立博物馆也将提供一些模块，将科学编程的范围扩大到更广泛的受众。每年到科学中心参观的人数约为6万人，其中2.5万人是儿童团体。国家博物馆的相应数字是50,000和5000。探索箱将为教师和博物馆讲解员在课堂上使用，以补充这些项目。此外，节目脚本、图片和视频将通过互联网提供给其他科学中心进行改编和使用。该项目由MPS多学科活动办公室（OMA）支持。＊＊＊

This proposal was submitted in response to the MPS Internships in Public Science Education (MPS-IPSE) solicitation, NSF 02-064. The project aims to create informal science programs that appeal to public interest by highlighting scientific areas in which people are interested, and broaden the audience for science by sending programs into the community. It will concurrently provide valuable experience to undergraduate and graduate students in communicating about science with public audiences. This is a collaborative effort among the Flandrau Science Center, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Arizona State Museum and the Science and Math Education Center, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory at the University of Arizona. The project will create three modular programs for the general public and middle-school groups. The programs will highlight the use of optical and electron-beam technologies to extend human vision out to the edge of the universe, and into the atomic structure of materials. The first program, Electronic Detectives of the Future and Past, will examine the use of electron microscopy to develop new materials for the future, as well as to understand how Native Americans used materials in ancient times. The second, called Revealing the Invisible, will look at the use of infrared detectors on satellites to look both into space and back at archeological sites on Earth. The third program, Bucky and the Nanotubes, will tell the story of the accidental discovery of buckyballs during the course of basic Astronomy research, and their potentially revolutionary applications to the development of new materials. Program designs will emphasize scientific process and people, and illustrate how and why recent advances have been made. These stories of discovery will be accompanied by science demonstrations as well as slide and video imagery. Hands-on activities will accompany each program. %%% The project will develop descriptive programs about science that appeal to public interest. The programs will highlight scientific areas which appeal to the public, and are expected to broaden the audience for science. The project will concurrently provide valuable experience to undergraduate and graduate students in communicating about science with public audiences. Broad impacts of the project include participating interns and the audiences they reach. The project will train a diverse group of interns (18 undergraduates, 6 graduate students and 6 teachers over three years) in science and informal science education. The programs they develop will continue to be offered to school groups and the general public at the Science Center after the life of the grant. Some modules will also be offered at the Arizona State Museum extending the reach of science programming to a broader audience. Annual attendance at the Science Center is approximately 60,000, of which 25,000 are children in groups. Equivalent numbers at the State Museum are 50,000 and 5000. Discovery boxes will be created for teachers and museum docents to use in the classroom to complement these programs. In addition, program scripts, images and videos will be made available via the Internet for other science centers to adapt and use. The project is supported by the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA). ***