Lincoln, Neb., Dec. 20, 2002--A project spearheaded by the University of Nebraska State Museum has won a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund exhibits and informal education packages on the topic of evolution.
Judy Diamond, professor and museum associate director for public programs, is principal investigator of the three-year Explore Evolution grant funded by the NSF's Division of Informal Science Education. Six museums in the middle and mountain west and six state 4-H programs are collaborating on the project. Each of the museums will end up with eight to 10 permanent exhibits on evolution.
Cooperating museums are the UNL State Museum; the Exhibits Museum of the University of Michigan; the Kansas Museum and Biodiversity Center at the University of Kansas; the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University-Bozeman; the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma; and the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Each museum will participate in development decisions, receive and display the exhibits, and disseminate the Explore Evolution activity kits through their educational programs and Web sites. The six state 4-H organizations participating in the project are in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
"We know that many people think of evolutionary theory as a series of static ideas," Diamond said. "They also think that new research in evolution 'proves' those ideas are wrong. In fact, research in evolution is a dynamic changing field. New ideas and observations are changing our thinking, adding to our theories about evolution. The concept of the project is to show the public that research on evolution, like research in all areas of science, continuously changes our ideas of how we think about the natural world.
"We want to show that scientific research strengthens evolutionary theory," Diamond said.
The partners have not confirmed the final exhibits for the project, Diamond said. One planned exhibit features recent research by two Princeton University scientists showing that evolutionary changes in the bill sizes of finches, one of Darwin's examples, occur rapidly in response to environmental changes. Darwin had posited that evolutionary changes only occur slowly and over long periods of time. New research shows that while that sometimes does happen, other changes can occur rapidly.
The exhibits and educational kits will be developed in accordance with national science education standards, Diamond said. Those standards, first promulgated in 1996 by the National Academy of Sciences, require learner-centered, inquiry-based presentations that allow viewers at all skill levels to come away from a presentation with some new knowledge.
The educational activities will be most relevant for grades five through eight, Diamond said, and will be modeled on the museum's successful Wonderwise educational kits. Those kits, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and NSF, are distributed throughout the United States and have been used by about 9 million youth.
Like the Wonderwise kits, which focus on individual female scientists in fields like veterinary medicine or geology, the Explore Evolution kits will focus on individual scientists and how they do their work. The kits will include activity books, stories about the scientists and their research, and experiments students can conduct with adult direction in any kind of setting, such as a 4-H meeting. The kits can be used as stand-alone tools; a visit to one of the museums hosting an Explore Evolution exhibit will augment learning but will not be required for users to benefit from the kits.
Planning begins this summer for the project, Diamond said. Once the topics are confirmed by the cooperating museums, the exhibits will be designed and built at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Public feedback on the prototype exhibits will occur in late 2004, and the exhibits will begin to be installed in 2005. Diamond said Morrill Hall's exhibits will be installed on the museum's first floor across from the current Darwin Exhibits. The African animals exhibits in the space will be relocated.
This project has developed from Diamond's dual professional interests--science education and research in the evolution of behavior.
"Issues about evolution come into the forefront in many of our exhibits at the State Museum," she said. "Natural history museums have a major role in teaching about evolution. We were looking for a project that would have major impact and benefit Nebraska. The topic is one of concern for many scientists, and this is a way this museum can play a more dynamic and public role in science. It really puts us on the cutting edge of science education and builds on groundwork and networks we've developed through Wonderwise."
Other individuals at UNL who are associated with the project include Amy Spiegel, research assistant professor in the Center for Instructional Innovation, who will coordinate the evaluation team; Sarah Disbrow, who will serve as writer and editor; Kathy French, who will help train 4-H educators to use the education kits; and Debra Meier, who will coordinate the installation of exhibits at Morrill Hall. Beth Birnstihl, associate dean of cooperative extension, will coordinate the involvement of Nebraska 4-H youth development in the project.
Local educators on the Explore Evolution Advisory Board include Brett Ratcliffe, curator of insects at the state museum; Norman Smith, professor and chair of the Department of Geosciences; Charles Wood, director of the Nebraska Center for Virology and 3M/Lehr professor of biological sciences ; and Mike Voorhies, curator of fossils at the State Museum.
CONTACT: Judy Diamond, NU State Museum, (402) 472-4433 (jdiamond1@unl.edu)
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825