Collaborative Research: The Trail of Time: A Geoscience Exhibition at Grand Canyon National Park

在这个合作项目中，新墨西哥州大学（UNM）和亚利桑那州立大学（ASU）将与国家公园管理局合作，沿着大峡谷南缘建造一条3公里长的人行道。 “时间的轨迹”将被标记为一条时间线，一米对应于一百万年的地球历史，沿着有解释性的路边展品。 这个以大峡谷为沉浸式环境的地质科学展览旨在帮助游客了解地质时间的大小，以及该地区地质演化中的关键过程和事件。 还将开发一个在线“虚拟时间之旅”和印刷材料，“时间之旅”将接触到每年参观大峡谷的四、五百万人中的很大一部分，其中包括许多不太可能参加科学博物馆展览的人。 它还提供了新的解释方法，有可能影响到大型国家公园服务系统内的许多其他网站。 在这种自然环境中学习的评估应该增加我们对户外解释的知识，以及如何最好地传达深时间的概念。

In this collaborative project, the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Arizona State University (ASU) will create a paved 3-km long walking trail along the south rim of Grand Canyon in partnership with the National Park Service. The "Trail of Time" is to be marked as a time line with one meter corresponding to one million years of Earth history, along with interpretive wayside exhibits. This place-based geoscience exhibition using Grand Canyon as an immersive environment is designed to help visitors gain an understanding of the magnitude of geologic time, as well as key processes and events in the geologic evolution of the region. An online "Virtual Trail of Time" and printed materials will also be developed.The "Trail of Time" will reach a large percentage of the four to five million people each year that visit the Grand Canyon, including many who would be unlikely to attend an exhibition at a science museum. It also offers new methods of interpretation, with the potential to impact many other sites within the large National Park Service system. The evaluation of learning in this natural setting should add to our knowledge of outdoor interpretation, as well as how best to communicate the concept of deep time.