Environmental Literacy Grant_View from Space_VfS 2009

Environmental Literacy Grant VfS 2009
Tech Museum (Friess & Camargo) Page 1 2/21/2015
(i) Objectives & Outcomes
The primary goals of this energy & environmental literacy (EEL) project are to:
! increase the capacity of the Tech Museums gallery docent and educational program
staff to use the spherical display system to inform the public about the environmental
challenges and choices they will be confronted in the 21st
Century;
! increase the environmental literacy and awareness of student groups, families and
educators visiting the museum’s galleries;
! increase the library of datasets and media programs to use in gallery floor shows, public
demonstrations and public performances for tour groups;
! increase use of spherical display system at The Tech among school groups and general
public tour groups;
! increase the environmental literacy of museums visitors and VfS exhibit attendees
! articulate and align programs to CA science standards and Tech Challenge (a series of
engineering design challenges that make up part of the educational programs at The
Tech).
From an informal education perspective, the expected annual outcomes for this environmental
literacy project are note below:
Goals for Grant Sources Frequency
Progress Check
Due dates
Goal 1—School Site Outreach
Metric A –Increase by 50% number of
partner sites attending EL programs Event Attendance rosters Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Metric B—Increase by 50% number of
teachers & ASP professional trained in EL
Event Attendance rosters Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Metric C—Increase by 100% number of
coaches/mentors engaged
Event Attendance rosters Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Goal 2—After-school Programs & Partner Outreach
Metric D—Enroll 10 ASP partners in EL
programs
Partner commitments Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Metric E—Engage 10,00 ASP & Partner
participants in Hands-on floor shows &
demonstrations
show enrollments;
attendance rosters; post-
event surveys
Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Metric F—Increase ASP & Partner
attendance to EL labs around Green-by-
Design: Solar Engineering Event attendance rosters Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Goal 3—Student Engagement
Metric G—Offer training to 15,000 K-12
students via EL programs Event registration day-of
survey; post-event survey
Day-of
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Metric H—Increase Title 1 student
participation in EL demonstrations &
performances by 100%
Team register form; post-
event survey
Day-of & Post-
event
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
Metric I—Survey 20% of annual View from
Space performance attendees (n=5,000)
Surveys and evaluations Monthly
1 Dec 2010/11
1 May 2010/11
(ii) Description of Proposed Activities

During the period of this grant, The Tech proposes to develop two gallery and educational
programs around the theme of the Environmental Challenges & Choices confronting the planet
making use of the VfS spherical display system installed with an earlier NOAA grant in 2005,
and to augment gallery floor programming with rich EEL-content.
We plan to deploy one program per academic semester of the grant period:
1) View from Space: Dynamic Planet
Type of Project: Demonstration
Target Age: 8 and older
The Tech Museum of Innovation (TMI) recently installed an exhibit called “View from Space”
which uses technology developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) (the “Science on a Sphere” display system), along with in-house customization for a
user-driven data kiosk.
The goal of the proposed demonstration is to use this exhibit to familiarize the audience with the
history of the earth through animation of the plate tectonic history of the earth and incorporation
of basic but important concepts in plate tectonics. TMI has already developed several pre-
recorded floor shows as well as several live-demonstrations that focus on topics such as climate
change, atmospheric dynamics, and planetary geology. This demonstration would add another
topic to their selection.
Elements of the Demonstration—The demonstration will cover three main learning points:
1. The surface of the earth is made up of plates that are actively moving towards and away
from each other, but very slowly. There are features of the continents, such as
mountains, and events, such as earthquakes and volcanoes, that are the result of this
slow plate movement.
2. We can use different characteristics of rocks to tell us where plates have moved in the
past. These include the magnetic orientation of minerals in rocks, particularly the
seafloor; fossil evidence of historically adjacent landmasses, and the dating of rocks
deposited during mountain building.
3. Using this information we can reconstruct and visualize changes in earth’s surface. This
is important for understanding rock, mineral, and oil formation as well as patterns of
evolution through time.
These points will be illustrated by focusing on the history of North America through time but
may incorporate useful examples from other parts of the world, such as the building of the
Himalayas with the collision of the Indian subcontinent into Asia, and the opening of the
Atlantic along the mid ocean ridge.
Requirements: imagery to be projected on the sphere—A number of datasets that may be
projected on the sphere are available through NOAA and distributed with the Science on a
Sphere technology. Datasets that would be appropriate for this demonstration include:
• ETOPO2 datasets: detailed topography and bathymetry of the earth
• Earthquake datasets: occurrences and their magnitudes over one week and over 15
years
• Plate tectonics and plate animation: animation showing the changing continental
configurations through the last 750 million years of earth history. These are datasets

that are available commercially through NOAA but must be purchased separately from
the materials supplied by NOAA1
.
Requirements: additional imagery—Includes imagery that could be projected on video
screens around gallery. Maps may be more effective if projected on the sphere, but such
datasets may not be available as readily as flat imagery. For a number of these categories, GIS
data may be available for making custom maps2
.
• Map of plate boundaries3
• Illustrations showing different kinds of plate boundaries4
• Map of alternating magnetic anomalies on ocean floor5
• Map of the age of ocean floor based on magnetic anomalies6
• Photographs of key fossils useful for paleobiogeography, particularly those that have
been used to recognize areas that were once adjacent to one another but are now
separated due to continental drift. A historically relevant example is that of the
Glossopteridales7
, a group of seed plants that existed around the time of the Permo-
Triassic mass extinction (250 million years ago)
• Maps showing current fossil localities in comparison to maps of those localities on
paleoreconstructed maps
• Geologic time scale
Evaluation I—Because such a demonstration would require purchase of the plate animation
dataset, a front-end evaluation will be conducted to assess whether there is enough visitor
interest to warrant purchase and development of a script to support the animation.
Evaluation II—If TMI considers the results of the front-end evaluation to be sufficient
justification for purchase of the datasets, development of the script can begin. Evaluation of the
script will include performing the demonstration for
museum visitors followed by written surveys. Written surveys are suggested over interviews
because the size of the gallery is more conducive to larger audiences rather than individual or
small-group demonstration. Evaluation will require two personnel: one to give the
demonstration, the other to take notes of people’s reactions and body language as well as
questions posed by the audience. One or both personnel may administer the written survey.
2) View from Space: Renewable Energy
Type of Project: VfS Demonstration
Target audience: 8 and older
Major Concepts:
Among the many issues surrounding renewable energy, we are interested in promoting the
following three concepts:
• First, we would like to express the idea that there are many different sources of energy.
1
Contact information is available on NOAA’s Science on a Sphere website
(http://VfS.noaa.gov/datasets/Land/paleo.html).
2
See for example, GIS datafiles for plate boundaries are available at
http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/plates/index.htm#data. Investigation of appropriate usage of copyrighted
materials may be required. Licensed GIS software maybe required.
3
See http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/plates/pt.info.htm for an example.
4
See http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/Vigil.html for an example.
5
See http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/ofr-99-0132/ for more information.
6
See http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/96mgg04.html for example.
7
See http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/pteridosperms/glossopterids.html for a brief description.

• Secondly, different sources of energy have different levels of impact on the environment
(i.e. clean energy vs. fossil fuels).
• Thirdly, the level of impact that our energy usage has is called our Ecological or Carbon
Footprint.
What we are calling renewable energy must be understood within the framework of these three
concepts. The principal questions surrounding these three concepts include: What is energy?
What does it allow us to do? What are the common forms of energy that we use now? What are
alternative forms of energy that impact the environment to a lesser extent? How is energy
stored? A clear connection must be made between energy sources all coming to the same end,
but through different means. In other words, the demonstration must somehow visually depict
the connection between what sources of energy allow us to do and how they get us there in
different ways.
Demonstration descriptions:
The following are proposed demonstrations for further research:
1) One possible demonstration would involve allowing the children to interact with and
determine their Ecological Footprint. That way they can go home with something
concrete about their everyday lives. What sort of activities would visually allow children
to understand the notion of an ecological footprint? Perhaps we could have a series of
little mini-demos about differences between levels of impact. For instance, if we have
three little versions of that idea that have to do with children’s every day lives, they will
be able to take those ideas home with them and apply them at home. Take home
message: We can leave a smaller footprint on the earth by making simple changes in
our daily lives. They could make a “footprint” to take home with them- a visual metaphor.
2) Another idea representing the “Clean Energy” notion would be to show how different
sources of energy emit various levels of toxins into the atmosphere. If we can utilize
three different energy sources such as oil, coal and steam we could show the children
the amount of residue differences emitted by each source. This way the children can
have a visual comparison. Take home message: Some energy sources impact the earth
less than others. Renewable energy takes a lot less time to renew itself than non-
renewable energy sources.
3) We could generate a turbine from different sources. This way we could discuss all three
principal concepts at once and address the question of energy. The visually
comparative demonstration will allow students to understand the idea of how different
sources of energy allow us to do the same thing and get us there in a different ways.
Take home message: They could also see the “cleanliness” of each source of energy.
Explanation
As part of any version of a demonstration we must be prepared to answer the following
questions:
• What is energy? Energy is the ability to do work.
• What does it allow us to do? It allows us to live our busy lives: go to school, watch
television, play video games, take the bus, etc.
• What are the common forms of energy that we use now? Coal, gas, oil
• What are alternative forms of energy that impact the environment to a lesser extent?
Solar, wind, water, geothermal
• How is energy stored? This website answers most of these questions:
• http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/whatsenergy.html
Energy is the Ability To Do Work

All of these sources provide us the energy we need to live our busy lives.
To find out more, click on the Energy Source areas below.
• Renewable energy: an energy source that can be replenished in a short period of
time
• Nonrenewable energy: an energy source that we are using up and cannot recreate in
a short period of time.
• Renewable and nonrenewable energy sources can be used to produce secondary
energy sources including electricity and hydrogen.
Evaluations
We will evaluate the feasibility of these demonstrations on the floor of TMI. After the
demonstration, an evaluator will ask participants what parts they enjoyed most, areas of
improvement and other questions. A separate evaluator will also gauge the audience reaction
to this demonstration while it is being given.
Connection to TMI Exhibits
These demonstrations are designed to go complement the TMI exhibits on earth sciences,
especially Green-by-Design exhibits.
Educational Objectives based on National Science Standards:
• Describe the effects on society of scientific and technological innovations (e.g.,
antibiotics, steam engine, digital computer).
• Analyze the interaction of resource acquisition, technological development and
ecosystem impact (e.g., diamond, coal or gold mining; deforestation).
• Identify advantages and disadvantages of natural resource conservation and manage-
ment programs.
• Analyze how specific personal and societal choices that humans make affect local,
regional and global ecosystems (e.g., lawn and garden care, mass transit).
(iii) Target Audience
Target audiences for this project are both public and professional audiences. The public
audience comprises both schools and tour groups; while professional audiences are made up of
educators and museum professionals & staff. The Tech has over 600,000 annual visitors and
1/6th
of them visit the lower galleries and take part in the Science on a Sphere presentations, or
View from Space (VfS). From an addressable gallery audience of 100,000 visitors, another

25% participate in floor programs and education demonstrations scheduled 5 times during the
day. From the 25,000 participants who will experience the EL demonstration projects, we hope
to survey 5,000, or 20% of attendees using both formative and summative assessment tools to
be developed for this demonstration. A smaller subset of museum member-visitors will be
asked to complete a brief online questionnaire via SurveyMonkey to ascertain the overall
efficacy and impact of the exhibit’s ability to increase the EL of visitors (n=250 members, or 1%
of addressable sample).
The primary audiences will be K-12 students and educators during the week, and families and
K-8 kids on weekends. Each year, The Tech welcomes over 200,000 students through its
doors, and from among these about 34,000 visit the VfS exhibit, from these 10,000 will
participate in EL programs. Accompanying these student groups are around 1,100 educators
and instructional aides in K-12 or OST programs, who will participate in these VsF-EL programs.
(iv) Institutional Capacity
Currently, we have deployed over 15 datasets as noted below, and if funded we plan to
implement and further develop the titles listed below as “desired” over the 2 years of the grant.
Animated
2005 Hurricanes in house –used in presentations and kiosk
Sea Surface Temps in house –used in presentations
3D Topography night lights in house –used in presentations
Sea Current Simulation in house –used in presentations and kiosk
CO2 Temp Simulation in house
XRAY Sun in house –used in presentations
NASA Blue Marble in house –used in presentations and kiosk
SeaWiFs in house –used at Kiosk
Atmosphere
NOAA’s Carbon Tracker desired
Carbon Flux desired
Aerosol Optical Thickness desired
Carbon Monoxide in 2000 desired
Acars flight Track and Wind Data in house –used at Kiosk
Intl Space Station Track desired
GUPS in house –used at Kiosk
Real-time Infrared Sat over land desired
Land
Plate Tects and Paleo Animation desired ($200k licensing?)
Earth Topography in house –used in presentations
Earth at Night in house –used in presentations and kiosk
Cumulative Earthquakes 80 – 95 desired, ASAP
Age of Sea Floor desired, ASAP
Global fire maps in house (different than what NOAA offers)
Ocean
National Climatic Data Center, NCDC,
Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly Data in house –used in presentations
Extent of Harmful Human Influences
on Global Marine Ecosystems desired
Depth of 26° C Isotherm (Year 2005) in house – used at kiosk
Ocean Conveyor Belt desired
Indian Ocean Tsunami Model, n house – used at kiosk
Worldwide Buoy Locations in house – used at kiosk
Sea Ice Concentration desired
Sea Ice Concentration and Snow Cover desired
Greenland Melting Trends desired
Models/Simulations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change –
Temperature Change from 1870-2199 desired
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change –

Precipitation Anomaly from 1870-2199 desired
(v) Educational Partners
Emerging Local Partner Commitments & Curriculum Seeding:
• City of San Jose, Recreation Dept. Afterschool Program: committing to bringing 1,000
students, 25 site directors to museum to learn about design challenge; committing to enroll over
50 teams for Tech Challenge 2009-10 and beyond.
o Projected repeat visits for FY-10: once per quarter
• Third Street Community Center: committing to bringing 30 low-income Latino students to
museum for design challenge workshops and afterschool labs; committing to forming 2 teams for
Tech Challenge 2009-11.
o Projected repeat visits for FY-10: bi-weekly during academic year
• East Valley YMCA: committing to bringing over 2,400 students on a monthly basis to museum for
afterschool labs & design-challenge workshops; committing to enroll over 200 teams for Tech
Challenge 2009-11
o Projected repeat visits for FY-10/11: quarterly
• Girl Scouts: committing to aligning CA troop programming with Tech Challenge and design-
challenge curriculum; exploratory discussions w/ regional planned for November
o Projected repeat visits for FY-10/11: quarterly
• Tech Bridge: committing to incorporating design challenge curriculum into Tech Bridge
programs, and enrolling 5 all-female teams.
o Projected repeat visits for FY-10/11: twice a year
• MESA: committing to embedding design-challenge curriculum and learn-by-doing workshops into
MESA afterschool programming.
o Projected repeat visits for FY-10/11: monthly
Additionally, via the Afterschool Science Coalition and the Tech Museum we have a network in
place to bring the STEM aspects of the products and prototypes into curricula and exhibits for a
larger audience.
(vi) Benefit to Partners & VfS Network
All content and data will be shared with public and VfS Network partners at workshops and
online. Additionally, Tech Museum staff will be happy to assist anyone seeking to implement
similar programs at their VfS sites across the network. We welcome sites visits from Networks
members and could even foresee sponsoring a training event, if we get funded and are able to
secure additional funds for a Network event, in a subsequent grant request.
(vii) Equipment & Resources ($29,400)
! Computers: the higher-end, the better. We need five computers plus a spare. Six total, at
$2000.00 each is $12k.
! Projectors: the higher-end the better. We need four projectors plus a spare. Five total, at
$1800.00 each is $9k.
! Projector bulbs: sixteen bulbs (four plus, plus one spare per month per year) sixteen total, at
$400.00 each is $6.4k.
! $2k for misc. supplies such as cabling, power supplies, keyboards, monitors, etc.
(viii) Additional Funding to be solicited
We are currently in initial discussions with both corporate and foundation partners around
securing funding for a gallery upgrade and renovation for all Earth Science exhibits at the
museum. We are currently planning a $5 Million renovation over 5 years to upgrade content at
all Earth Science exhibits in the museum, around the theme of “Environmental Challenges &
Choices.” We are targeting Chevron Corp., Packard Foundation, Moore Foundation and the

Goldman Foundation each for a $1 Million donation. We are still in the early stages of planning
this capital campaign, but have garnered interest from regional players, but it is to early to spell
out the overall gallery plans as of yet. We can have further details for you at an interim
reporting period.
(ix) Dissemination & Replication of Project Results
Findings from our work will be both published online on our website and will be presented at
informal sector conferences both by Mike Drennan at the annual NOAA-SOS Boulder Network
sessions, and by Alysia Caryl at educator forums and venues, in particular, the Out-of-School
Time Conference and the ASTC convention. Additionally, curriculum and instructional aides will
be shared with educational partners and among OST practitioners in Northern California.
(x) Evaluation & Impact Assessment
During school fieldtrips and hands-on lab workshops, assessment will prove most
comprehensive and systematic via 1) pre-event training tool focusing on task-vocabulary &
concept maps, 2) formative assessment to measure awareness & use of pre-event materials by
teachers and students, 3) a second in-class formative assessment to measure comprehension
of key concepts & methods via concept & prediction mapping, and finally 4) a summative
assessment via exit-survey/quiz to measure concept consolidation and integration.

Appendix 1:
EEL Program Goals, Outcomes, and Evaluation Methodology
Integral to our mission, The Tech is committed to delivering high-quality, standards-based
science education that teaches students key scientific concepts that will help them through their
academic and professional careers, motivates them to pursue further study and innovation,
while increasing awareness of careers in scientific disciplines. The Year-round Second
Classroom program speaks to those essential goals and seeks to:
• Increase student interest and participation in mathematics, science, technology and
geography.
• Increase student knowledge about careers in mathematics, science, engineering and
technology.
• Increase student ability to apply mathematics, science, technology and geography concepts
and skills in meaningful ways.
• Increase the active participation and professional growth of educators in science.
• Increase family involvement in children’s learning.
While we have been successful in reaching these goals, to date, The Tech sees an opportunity
to provide our community enhanced, targeted services by understanding precisely what
students and teachers take away from our education programs. By capturing, tracking, and
analyzing key data, we can customize our curricula plans around actual needs, along with
California content standards, and build our education programs in a progressive academic
succession leading from elementary school through high school to provide educational
experiences that resonate with students and keep them engaged and excited about learning
science.
To accomplish this, The Tech will administer program-defined pre- and post-visit surveys and
tests at given intervals to measure short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes of our programs.
These surveys and quizzes will capture both qualitative and quantitative data through subjective
and objective assessment methodologies, and will be administered to three primary groups on
the Museum visit day:
• School groups who visit The Tech’s galleries will receive post visit surveys to consider
effectiveness of galleries’ exhibits, handouts and exhibit tools, docent presentations, and
pre-visit tools provided to teachers. All group participants, including teachers, students, and
chaperones will be asked for feedback.
• School groups who take a Hands-on lab will be asked to take a pre- and post-visit survey
(as described above) if they visit the galleries as well as take various objective assessment
quizzes or tests prior to and after the Hands-on labs to measure comprehension of key
concepts and vocabulary.
• Students, and their families as applicable, who participate in a Tech After-school or
weekend programs will be asked to take pre- and post-workshop surveys to measure
comprehension of key concepts taught during the workshop. After-school/partner site
instructors or aides and/or parents (depending on program) will have an opportunity to
provide feedback for these particular classes and will be encouraged to provide the Tech
feedback throughout the school year to gauge their student’s or child’s educational
progress.

Currently in development, the assessment tools will measure short-term if The Tech’s galleries,
workshops, and labs challenge students with new learning material, improve knowledge or
understanding of a topic, build upon primary school lessons, and further engage students in
science-related topics back in the primary class setting or outside of school as well as examine
the effectiveness of our instructors. We will also look at the frequency and effectiveness with
which teachers use pre-visit guides and online lesson plans and activities.
For longer-term assessments, The Tech is working with our partner organizations to establish
control groups, including sample groups from underserved populations, who we will track for
one year. We have also contracted with a third-party agency to administer and analyze the
survey outcomes. The Tech will work with these control groups over the course of an academic
year, and administer surveys a month after their Museum visit and then again at the end of the
year. These surveys will reveal student interest in and actual pursuit of STEM subjects and
overall educational improvement versus similarly graded students who were not in the control
groups (data will be acquired and compared with relevant county and state statistics).

Appendix 2
Today’s Environmental Literacy Crisis
Since 1997 social scientist Jon Krosnick, of Stanford University, has tracked Americans’
awareness, understanding, and opinions about global warming through periodic random
surveys. Between 1997 and 2006, he observed a steady increase in public concern about the
issue, which spiked sharply upward between 2005-06. He reported, “A vast majority, 85 percent,
believes global warming probably is occurring, up slightly from 80 percent in a 1998 poll. But
fewer than four in 10 are very sure of it, a level of uncertainty that reflects broad and continued
belief that scientists themselves disagree on whether or not it’s happening.” He notes that, in
2006, 64 percent of Americans perceived “a lot of disagreement” among scientists about
whether global warming is happening (Krosnick, 2006). Krosnick’s findings are independently
supported by Georgetown University Professor Thomas Brewer, who synthesized the results
from a variety of surveys conducted between 1989 and 2006 (by ABC/Washington Post, Gallup,
ORCA, PIPA, and PPIC) to measure public awareness, understanding and opinions about
climate change. Collectively those surveys reveal a consensus among Americans that global
warming is happening, and that they are worried a “great deal” or “fair amount” about it (Brewer,
2006). And yet Brewer too notes that there is a disparity between Americans’ concerns about
global warming and their perceptions of uncertainty and disagreement among climate scientists.
In fact, there is no such disagreement among climate scientists. We recognize and
acknowledge that there is always some uncertainty in all branches of science, including
climatology, among even the most well established theories. We assert that, in scientific terms,
“uncertainty” is not the same thing as “doubt”; nor is uncertainty, by itself, a cause for
disagreement. Earth's average temperature has risen by at least 0.5°C over the last century,
climate modelers predict the globe will continue warming through the course of the 21st century,
and human emissions of greenhouse gases are major cause of the warming trend—each of
these statements are empirically observed, reproducible facts that are not questioned the peer-
reviewed climate science literature (IPCC 2007). Where does this mistaken public perception
come from? Considering most Americans get most of their science information from TV news
and other news media, could such news media inadvertently be misleading the public?
Communications research shows that the quality and style of news reporting significantly
influences readers’ / listeners’ understanding and perceptions about global warming (Corbett
and Durfee, 2004). Journalists are trained to “balance” their reports by presenting both (or all)
sides of a given issue. Though noble in its original intent, this practice, ironically, sometimes
introduces the potential for bias in reports about climate change research. A recent review of the
climate science literature reveals no evidence of controversy among climate scientists about
whether the globe has warmed by at least 0.5°C in the last century, nor whether humans are
substantial reason for the warming due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions (Boykoff
and Boykoff, 2004). Whereas there may be little or no disagreement among the science
community about the fact that the globe is warming and humans are largely the cause of it,
journalists continue to seek out dissenting or alternative views to preserve their notion (or at
least the appearance of) balance in their reports. Such journalistic practice tends to distort
climate science in the minds of non-scientists by fomenting the false impression that there is
more uncertainty among scientists than there really is (Corbett and Durfee, 2004). And worse,
such journalistic practice lends a disproportionate voice in the mass media to lobbyists and
policy analysts who may be more interested in advocating or defending a given political, social,
or commercial agenda than educating the public about climate science. “Reality must take

precedence over public relations,” the late, great physicist Richard Feynman once observed,
“for nature cannot be fooled” (Feynman, 1986).
Environmental Literacy and Democracy
Generally speaking, “science literate” people have a basic understanding of how
biological, chemical, geological, and physical systems work in the natural world. Such people
understand the nature of science and scientific inquiry, they understand the processes and
methods for gathering the knowledge, and thus they have some ability to assess the validity and
relevance of scientific information. However, since no one can know everything, who is to say
what set of facts a person needs to know to be deemed truly “science literate”? We
acknowledge and commend AAAS Project 2061, which has published a detailed definition and
learning progression maps of what citizens should know in order to be science literate (AAAS,
2007).
Scientist Jean Mayer once opined that science literacy isn’t a measure of what one knows,
but rather is a measure of one’s skill at gathering information about a given subject together with
one’s ability to distinguish credible from non-credible sources. Not everyone is concerned with
promoting science literacy; there are many agendas driven by social, political, and commercial
interests and therefore “spin” abounds. This fact carries serious implications for the quantity and
quality of the information available via the Internet today. Given that the Internet places
exponentially greater information at the public's fingertips than was previously available,
‘discernment of credible sources’ is an essential skill for the science literate person.
We believe that science literacy matters because science and democracy go hand in
hand. Science engenders democracy by evolving how people think, and by enhancing how they
interact (Kuhn, 2003). Science is a uniquely human endeavor (as far as we know) which
promises to improve our understanding of the natural world and, hopefully, to improve our
quality of life. The public, therefore, has a say in whether and what science will be supported
using public tax dollars, and whether and how the fruits of science should be integrated into
society in applied ways. The more scientifically literate the citizens, the likelier they are to
understand news reports about a given science subject, to effectively participate in public
dialogues about that subject, and to vote according to their views regarding science policy
decisions. “Climate science literacy” in particular, requires citizens to understand three basic
concepts: (1) climate scientists operate under the assumption that Earth’s climate system is
understandable, and therefore predictable; (2) the field of climatology is progressive and
cumulative, and understanding of Earth's climate system is still evolving; and (3) climate
scientists rely upon empirical evidence—which can be reproduced and validated through peer
review.

Appendix 3:
Educational Gallery Floor shows and programming in VfS-exhibit:
Globe/Media
(Subject)
Script Background Content
1. VfS Logo
(Introduction)
• Hi, My name is __. This is VfS. w/
projection system developed by
National Oceanic Atmospheric
Administration. Point out most
interesting information from
sidebar.
• Have you heard of global
warming? It’s being discussed all
over the place today. Earth
warming up is one part of climate
change. There’s a lot of other
things that happen on Earth
besides the temperature going
up! Scientists actually prefer the
climate change because it covers
all the different systems of Earth
and how they’re affected by
humans.
In this presentation we’re going to talk
about how one part of human activity
on Earth is affecting climate change.
• projection system using a
REAL sphere (not a
hologram)
• sphere is 5 1/2 feet in
diameter and hung from
wires above
o made from carbon
fiber, weighs about 60
lbs
• 4 projectors sending 4
different images to the
sphere
• run by a computer that takes
the information and feeds a
different image to each
projector projecting on to the
globe.
• the images represent data
collected by NOAA either
over a period of time or a
geographical area
2. Blue Marble
(Earth and
Atmosphere)
• Let’s talk about what “climate”
means and how that’s different
from weather. If I were to ask you
what the weather is today, what
would you do? (wait for
audience).
• Okay, so weather has to do with
what’s happening day-to-day: the
temperature, humidity and clouds
among other things. Climate, on
the other hand, refers to weather
that is measured over long
periods, like decades or
centuries.
• Scientists know that Earth goes
through normal cycles of warming
and cooling. BUT, they think that
• This dataset [NASA’s “Blue
Marble”] shows a typical
Earth day (w/o night).
• Made up of a year’s worth of
satellite images.
• Almost all life on Earth exists
in that 12 mile zone. This is
known as a biosphere.
• The water is 6 miles at the
deepest ( & generally only 1-
2 miles deep!).
• The atmosphere is limited,
only about 6 miles deep (on
this globe about the
thickness of a dime).

Globe/Media
(Subject)
we’re making our current warming
trend worse.
3. Slides:
Greenhouse
Effect [on a
spinning Blue
Marble?]
(CO2 &
Greenhouse
Effect)
• Scientists believe one
contributing factor to climate
change is the “greenhouse
effect.”
• The greenhouse effect is a
normal system where gasses in
the atmosphere act much like the
glass in a greenhouse. These
gasses trap some of the warmth
from the Sun in the atmosphere
and make Earth a livable planet.
• BUT! These days, we’re putting
more and more CO2 and other
gases in to the environment & it’s
changing Earth’s climate. Where
do you think that carbon dioxide
is coming from? Take guesses
• In the past a significant amount
of this heat went back into
space.
• Greenhouse gasses: water
vapor, methane, carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide, ozone.
• If people have a hard time w/
greenhouse effect, can bring up
our Moon & Venus as the polar
opposites of what can happen.
Moon: no greenhouse effect,
barren land that cannot sustain
life. Venus: very thick
greenhouse effect – can’t
sustain life either.
5. Lights at
Night
(CO2 Causes)
• Burning fossil fuels is the primary
source of CO2 production from
human activity.
• What do I mean by fossil fuels?
take examples
• Here’s one small example of
burning fossil fuels: the lights of
Earth at night. Thousands of
cities, and billions of people! 40%
of the world still gets their
electricity from coal burning
power plants.
• The last 100 years of human
activity match a dramatic
increase in temperatures and
greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere.
• If we’re using the one w/ wild
fires: also talk about slash & burn
farming in Africa. This is similar
to the burning of the rainforests in
South America – burning down
the very CO2 “sinks” that keep
our air clean.
• Point out other places in the
world. 51% of power in the US
comes from burning coal.
• Alternative energies: discussed in
exhibit next door. One thing to
remember, there are many pros
and cons when talking about
biofuels – some of them raise
nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbon, and
other emissions. Also, the
energy used to grow the crops
must be taken in to account.

Globe/Media
(Subject)
5. GFDL
CO2x4
(Future
Temperatures
due to CO2).
Start w/ 2000
locked then fwd
slowly to
~2150.
• Now let’s look at what scientists
predict might happen if we
continue burning gas, coal, wood,
and so on.
• This dataset assumes that we
increase CO2 levels at a rate of
1% per year (compounded) from
the year 2000 – 2140. At that
point, CO2 levels have
quadrupled. After that,
atmospheric CO2 levels remain
the same (we take out as much
CO2 as we put in the atmosphere).
Temperatures continue to increase
for a long time. This delayed
warming is due to the influence of
the world's oceans, which store
and release heat over very long
periods of time. The CO2 data is
from ice cores, tree rings, etc. The
temps up to 1800 or so are
estimated.
• The prediction starts in 2000 with
current temperatures in green &
yellow.
• You can see that in 2030, 2060 &
2090 red indicates ~ +5-10°F.
• By about 2150 temps have
increased in some places ~15°F.
• Scientists believe this will
happen with only 1°C of
average global temp rise:
Damage to coral reefs; losses
of crop yields in Africa of
around 10 per cent; extinctions
of species in tropical mountain
forests; dangerous floods in the
Himalayas; increased
frequencies and extremes of
flood and drought; malaria will
spread up mountains; dengue
fever will also begin to spread.
• One way scientists have figured
out the human connection is by
studying ice cores. The layers of
ice can tell us the different
amounts of gasses that were in
the air at different times in
history. They’ve figured out that
CO2 and temperatures actually
go side-by-side.
• Current ice core data allows us
to go back ~800k years.
7. Slides:
Charts of
• CO2 Put into
Air
• Ways to
Reduce CO2
[On a spinning
Lights at
Night?]
(CO2 in the Air)
• This chart indicates the amount of
CO2 that humans are putting into
the air. About 7 billion tons per
year and increasing!
• This is approx. the weight of 1100
Great Pyramids of Egypt every
year!
° Notice what will happen (increase)
if we take no action!
• Can we take the necessary actions • Changes: consumer having a

Globe/Media
(Subject)
8. Blue Marble
(Conclusion,
Learn More,
Take Action)
to protect our environment?
• Some of the things we can do are
related to the issues we’ve talked
about here:
•
1.More efficient use of electricity and
renewable energy sources like solar &
wind energy.
2.Transportation innovation: fuel
efficient vehicles
3. Reduce industrial CO2 & promote
recycling
• Californians have lead the
nation in a number of ways:
• We lead in clean air programs
& regulations going beyond
the federal government.
• In the last 20 years, We’ve
become tops in recycling –
48% of the 78tons of waste
(per year) in CA is being
diverted from landfills!
What do YOU think we can do to
change our culture so that we can
make a positive change on the
environment?
(Give some resources like
climatecrisis.net, realclimate.org, etc.)
voice, letting industry know.
• Smaller, independent
companies specializing in
environmentally responsible
products (Method – cleaners,
other solar cell companies, ZAP
vehicles, etc)
• Los Angeles air might still be
dirty, but it’s much cleaner now
than 30 years ago.
3.Industial innovation: more energy
efficient residential & commercial
buildings.
4.Building innovation: Conservation
programs & CO2 sequestering.
6.Goverment innovation. . Reduce
greenhouse gases from federal
buildings & transportation fleet.
Bibliography:
• Original VfS scripts
• An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore
• NOAA.gov, & Report to the Nation
• NRDC.org
• EPA.gov
• climatechange.gc
• environment.about.com
• Scientific American, Sept 2006
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS.gov)
• NASA.gov
• http://VfS.noaa.gov/new (gallery)
* Other Action to Talk About?:
Learn More about Global Warming.
Take Action:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Consume Less, Conserve More.
Get things that last, and are efficient.
Turn off Lights, etc. when not needed.
Reduce Heating and Cooling.
Leave the car at home; walk, use bikes & buses.
Support Renewable Energy Sources.
Encourage Others to help.
Encourage Elected Officials to Help.
Support Environmental Groups.
Keep Learning, Stay involved.

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