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Posts tagged: Students

Learning As They Lead

Monday, January 31 12:54 pm


MEEPer Hannah Sherman and Museum Member Gabrielle Dolinsky in the Discovery Room. Photo: © AMNH/R. Mickens.

“Batman! Superman! Spiderman!” shouted a crowd of young campers, eager to share the names of their favorite superheroes, as guide Michael Malave kicked off his “super power” tour through the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life and the Akeley Hall of African Mammals.

“When you look around the hall, you can see many animals, and each of them has an ability that helps them to succeed and survive,” explained Malave to the pack of superhero enthusiasts. “This is much like how superheroes use their powers to win and beat the bad guys.”

Malave, who studies applied math at Marist College, was one of 32 students selected for last year’s Museum Education and Employment Program (MEEP), a summer internship that trains college-age students from the New York City area to develop and lead free themed tours for camp groups who flock to the Museum’s halls each weekday. In 2010, MEEPers, as the student guides are affectionately known, led more than 580 tours in a span of six weeks — an average of more than 20 tours a day.

Part of the Museum’s science education pipeline, a slate of programming that extends from early childhood courses to programs for undergraduates, MEEP is also one of many youth initiatives supported by New York Life Foundation. “The Museum is a leader in providing science education, and MEEP offers college students a valuable opportunity to both learn about and get work experience in this important field,” says Christine Park, president of the New York Life Foundation.

MEEPers spend their first month training with Museum staff to learn the content of the Museum’s halls while crafting original 45-minute tours based on personal or academic interests. Once staff and supervisors approve the tours, which cover topics that range from deep-sea creatures to shamanic practices, MEEPers have the rest of the summer to perfect their presentation. Their challenge: to be ready to improvise on the spot depending on their audience, which could be three-year-olds one day and college or even graduate students the next. Read more »

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Category: AMNH News

Museum Hosts Middle School Science Expo

Friday, June 11 10:19 am


The 2010 science expo for Urban Advantage, a pioneering middle-school education initiative led by the American Museum of Natural History, takes place at the Museum on Saturday, June 12. © AMNH/R. Mickens

More than 700 public middle school students from all five boroughs of New York City will show off more than 250 of their best research projects during a major science expo that takes place at the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday, June 12, from 1 to 4 pm under the big blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. Students, teachers, and the public are invited to visit this event, which celebrates the conclusion of the spectacularly successful sixth year of Urban Advantage Middle School Science Initiative.

Urban Advantage is guiding teachers and students on how best to use the incomparable science resources and expertise of eight New York institutions:  the American Museum of Natural History, which spearheaded and leads the initiative; Brooklyn Botanic Garden; The New York Botanical Garden; New York Hall of Science; Queens Botanical Garden; Staten Island Zoological Society; and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium.

Hailed as a national model, this pioneering education program has helped thousands of 7th and 8th graders pursue investigations at science-rich New York City institutions and to complete their science exit projects, a requirement by the NYC Department of Education for advancement into high school.

And this year there is even more reason for celebration: a recent preliminary analysis by an independent evaluator, the Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University, has shown that Urban Advantage schools reported higher gains in student achievement in science than the citywide average.

Major public support for the Urban Advantage program is provided by the Speaker and the City Council of New York, and the New York City Department of Education. Additional support is provided by the Educational Foundation of America and the New York Community Trust.

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Category: AMNH News

Seeking Kids with a Passion for Science

Friday, March 05 4:39 pm


Biology teacher Bobby Habig discusses primate behavior with Lang Scholars. © AMNH/R. Mickens

The Lang Science Program is recruiting about 20 current New York City 5th graders this spring for an intense extra-curricular involvement in science over seven years. The program begins in July with three weeks based at the Museum and continues during the school year with meetings on two Saturdays a month and then again for three weeks in summer, with the option of additional after-school classes and, eventually, career workshops. Subjects include major areas of Museum research, including invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, genetics, evolution, geology, paleontology, physical anthropology, and astrophysics, some of which are tracked to temporary exhibitions at the Museum. The Lang Scholars meet and work with scientists behind the scenes, go on field trips, and design and carry out their own experiments.

Acceptance is merit-based, and scholarships are available based on need. Applicants are interviewed, as are their parents, and asked to submit both school transcripts and a “shoebox diorama” on a scientific theme. “We want kids who really have a passion for science, who can’t get enough of it,” says Bobby Habig, Lang Science Program coordinator and a full-time biology teacher in Middle School 12 in East Harlem.

Lang Scholars have been accepted to highly competitive New York City high schools, including Bronx Science and Stuyvesant High Schools. Those who successfully complete the program receive invaluable help in applying for college, including SAT preparation classes, and Lang alumni have gone on to colleges including Brown University, Cornell University, and Bard College. Lang Scholars have also won two Young Naturalist Awards, for studies of turtles basking in Central Park and earthworms in Prospect Park. Another Scholar, who studied parrots in Pelham Bay, was recognized as a finalist.

The Lang program began ten years ago with an initial $1 million grant from the Eugene M. Lang Foundation and a subsequent grant of $250,000 with a view to increasing participation in science by minority children and those from lower-income families. Eugene M. Lang is a businessman-turned-philanthropist who gained national attention for his 1981 promise to 61 sixth graders in East Harlem to personally pay their college tuition if they stayed in school.

A version of this story appears in the March/April issue of Rotunda.

A Lang Scholar bones up on comparative anatomy. © AMNH/R. Mickens

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Category: AMNH News

Young Naturalist Program Accepting Essays

Thursday, January 21 11:55 am


YNA-2008-GroupThe American Museum of Natural History invites students in grades 7 to 12 to tackle questions about the natural world just as a scientist would—by formulating hypotheses, planning investigations, gathering data—and to write about their findings for the 13th Annual Young Naturalist Awards, a nationwide essay contest for students presented by the Museum and supported by Alcoa Foundation.

Contestants are invited to plan and conduct research about the natural world stemming from their personal interest. Entrants share their data, conclusions, and experiences in essays that describe their observations and findings. Last year’s winners’ research included such diverse topics as the feeding preferences of birds in the Red Oak Nature Center in Aurora, Illinois, the effects of controlled prairie fires on invasive plants in southern Michigan, and the microbes living in coral mucus collected in Hawaii.

Each of the 12 winners, chosen for their insight, originality, and accuracy in observation and research as well as creativity in writing and documentation through illustrations and photography will receive a free trip to New York City, a behind-the-scenes tour at the Museum with working scientists, and a cash award ranging from $500 to $2,500. In addition, winning contestants will have their essays published on the Museum’s website.

“The Young Naturalist Awards is a unique program offered by the Museum that acknowledges young people for their engagement in scientific research,” said Rosamond Kinzler, Director of the National Center for Science, Education and Technology. “In addition to the recognition provided for the 12 winners, every student that enters the contest receives a letter with feedback from the Museum’s expert panel of scientists and educators about their work. And for teachers, the program is a powerful tool they can use to provide their students with direct experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics areas that are essential for standards-based science education.”

The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2010.  To learn more about the program, visit the Museum’s Young Naturalist Awards Web site, and for more information, email yna@amnh.org or call (212) 496-3498.

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2009 Young Naturalist Awards winner Alexandra Day kayaks in Chesapeake Bay conducting research in nutrient pollution. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Day.

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Category: AMNH News