The Effectiveness of Science on a Sphere Stories to Improve Climate Literacy Among the General Public

ABSTRACT

Engaging the general public on climate topics and deepening their understanding of key discoveries by the Earth science community requires a collaborative approach between scientists, developers, and museum educators to converge on the most effective format. Large Science On a Sphere (SOS) displays of Earth attract attention to global data at museums worldwide, yet just looking at raw data does not generally lead to new insights by the public. Working closely with the Maryland Science Center, the EarthNow project realized the time limitations of the museum staff and audience and began creating short, narrated videos for SOS. The videos introduce recent climate science findings on a variety of topics and can be used as part of live, facilitated programs or played while SOS is in its autorun mode. To measure the effectiveness of the delivery method, we developed a survey and tested several groups that saw a video within a live show compared to groups that saw it in autorun without a live program. We also wondered whether adding a hands-on activity would enhance learning and how hearing the information while doing an activity would compare to watching and hearing the SOS show, so we tested two large groups using the activity with and without seeing Science On a Sphere. Overall survey results demonstrate the groups who saw an SOS show gained certain concepts better than the group that only heard the information while doing the activity. The live shows conferred a slight but not substantial advantage over the autorun shows. Playing short, narrated videos on SOS that include global Earth processes, such as atmospheric and oceanic circulation, seems to enhance understanding of certain concepts more than hearing the information while doing an activity. Ongoing communication with museums and their visitors is critical for ensuring that these stories are as effective as possible and make best use of the strengths of the Science On a Sphere exhibit to enhance the public's climate literacy.

Key words::

• informal education
• Science On a Sphere

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all those who have contributed to the EarthNow project, including the other team members: Dan Pisut, Margaret Mooney, Steve Ackerman, and Rick Kohrs, and the summer internship by Argyro Kavvada. Assistance with incorporating EarthNow into SOS shows at the Maryland Science Center was provided by Dave Beam, Rich Stein, and Jay Hilgartner. Students from Paul Public Charter School in Washington, DC, and McKinley Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia graciously agreed to participate in our survey and provided helpful feedback and comments. McKinley lead science teacher Julie Bolin is further appreciated for having her students take the survey again four days later to test their retention. Professional narration of the EarthNow climate feature was by Sam Kopper of Locomote Media. Support for the EarthNow project from the NOAA Office of Education through NA10SEC0080013 to the University of Maryland–College Park, and through NA10SEC0080015 to the University of Wisconsin–Madison is gratefully acknowledged. Comments from two anonymous reviewers greatly improved this manuscript.

Notes

⁵  EarthNow video “2012 Arctic sea ice minimum” is available online at http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/20121003.

⁶  EarthNow video “2012 Atlantic tropical activity” is available online at http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/20121029.

⁷  EarthNow video “How does the Arctic affect extreme weather?” is available online at http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/20130104.

⁸  EarthNow video “Effects of El Niño and La Niña on phytoplankton and fish” is available online at http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/20130315.

⁹  EarthNow video “Causes and effects of tropical widening” is available online at http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/20130715.

¹⁰  EarthNow video “What does fracking mean to you?” is available online at http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/20131024/.