Modeling partnerships between museums and schools

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Modeling partnerships between museums and schools
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Existing Partnerships

• Raymond Alf Museum
• Field collection
• Conservation
• Study of fossils using primary literature
• Present findings in museum exhibits

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Hands-On Biology

• 6 week program for diverse students grades 3-5
• Hands-On Museum provided material and technology
  to school, university students oversaw, teachers
  planned and designed
• Student-led research projects, experiments,
  games, presentations
• Student freedom allowed for increased interest
  and excitement about projects and level of
  challenge

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AMNH

• Collaborated with public high school sp. ed.
  Teachers and City College of New York teachers
  ed program
• Teachers modified exhibits using museum
  resources, documenting with cameras and video to
  alter exhibits for students needs

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A new model

• Potential for all grade levels
• Majority of education comes from classroom,
  museum utilized for open inquiry and for concrete
  examples to support lecture
• Model is scalable for many ages, different access
  to museum, but designed for college-level class
• Emphasizes benefits of different educational
  styles using lectures, small groups, object-based
  learning, hands-on learning, and student-directed
  investigation

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Week 1

• In the classroom The basics of fish anatomy are
• presented in lecture format
• Students are given a problem for small group
• discussion
• What changes need to be made to fish anatomy to
• enable colonization of land?
• Diagram changes
• Lecture about fish novelties bony fish body
  plan
• Changes in breathing aparati (pulmonary vein,
  atrium, internal nares)
• Beginning changes in ear
• Students compare their diagram to what they
  learned in lecture in 1 paragraph
• First museum visit
• How do we know what we know?
• Students go to fish exhibits where museum staff
  point out novelties from previous lecture on
  relevant specimens

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Week 2

• Lecture tetrapod evolution
• Example of change ear evolution
• Small group discussion
• How did tectonics influence these changes?
• Investigate the positions of the continents over
  time using books and
• Internet-relate climate,
• environment, topography, geography, etc.
• Lecture
• More changes appendicular skeleton
• Students write one paragraph on the relationship
  between tectonics, climate, and the tetrapod
  novelties

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Week 3

• Lecture Complete colonization of land
• Skeletal changes in Ichthyostega-girdle,
  astragalus, axis
• Small group discussion
• What challenges would animals encounter that were
  entirely land-bound vs amphibious verts before?
  Diagram changes using a process flow-chart
• Lecture Amniotic egg
• Skin
• Students write one paragraph on challenges
  encountered with
• being entirely land-bound, and how they were
  adapted for.
• Museum visit
• Look at earlyfossil amniotes and compare to more
  modern forms
• Discuss patterns with appendicular skeleton, ear,
  skull, feet, skin, egg
• Students write one question involving comparison
  between all three groups as move onto land
• In museum lab compare fish, frog and turtle
  skeletons, use books, staff, internet for
  investigating question