Arkansas Discovery Network Marks Its First Anniversary
Sept. 5, 2007
Dates Covered: Through September 30
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Kimberly J. Williams, travel writer
Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
Make learning fun. It sounds simple, but many have tried and failed. The Arkansas Discovery Network, comprised of seven museums and educational centers in Arkansas, tried…and succeeded. September marks the end of the network’s first year. A year of offering Arkansas’s schoolchildren a new way of learning – hands-on, interactive experiences at museums located throughout Arkansas.
Created after receiving a grant of more than $7 million dollars from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Arkansas Discovery Network debuted in September 2006. The network’s mission is to provide innovative, challenging and exciting educational opportunities to Arkansas’s schoolchildren, especially those in rural areas. With almost 500,000 schoolchildren in Arkansas, it became apparent early that the best way to offer museum experiences to children was to offer more than one museum. “This Network is the first of its kind in the nation,” says Diane LaFollette, Network Coordinator for the Arkansas Discovery Network. “Most museum networks that collaborate on exhibits and programs usually involve institutions from larger cities like Fort Worth, Boston and Minneapolis. The Arkansas Network is unique in that the partners are within one state and are small, rural museums.”
The Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, the Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, the Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, the Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro, the Texarkana Museums System and the University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education in Fayetteville were chosen as locations for the Arkansas Discovery Network. (The University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education will serve as the network’s location in northwest Arkansas until a permanent museum partner in the area is chosen.) Each of the locations offers inventive, interactive exhibits that connect with children of all ages – allowing the youngsters to have fun while learning. “Research has shown that students retain more of what they learn if they are actively involved,” states LaFollette. “Our exhibits are designed to encourage them to question and experiment with scientific principles.”
And learn they will – although they may not realize they are learning. One of the first exhibits offered by the Arkansas Discovery Network is Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body. The exhibit, based on a best-selling book, uses interactive components to teach children how the body works – from body odor to runny noses to passing gas. The exhibit is not for the faint-of-heart or those easily offended. It’s aimed at children and their unending, unexplainable amazement at everything gross. Grossology will be exhibited at the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover until Jan. 6, 2008.
Good Vibrations: Light, Sound and Motion is the second of the traveling exhibits offered through the Arkansas Discovery Network. Built especially for the network by the world-renown Exploratorium in San Francisco, Good Vibrations puts a fun spin on science. Students get the opportunity to experience sound, light, motion, weather and geology using hands-on learning techniques, such as the Seismograph, which uses a floor sensor that allows students to create their own “mini earthquake” by stomping on the floor. Good Vibrations will be on display at the Texarkana Museums System through Oct. 7. Beginning on Oct. 13, Good Vibrations moves to the Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, where it will be displayed through Jan. 13, 2008. According to LaFollette, “The goal of the network is to enhance science education across the state and strengthen the museum partners to better serve their communities. All of our exhibits and programs are aligned with the Arkansas Education Frameworks and we supply follow-up lesson plans for the teachers to use in the classroom after the students have experienced the exhibits.”
In their quest to reach students in the rural areas of Arkansas, the Arkansas Discovery Network offers a museum on wheels – a 40-foot traveling truck that brings their brand of interactive learning to schools unable to travel to the participating museums. The Race for Planet ‘X’ is a self-contained exhibit that allows students to explore a new “planet.” The Race for Planet ‘X’ was designed using the Arkansas Science Education Framework for 6th grade and offers 10 interactive exhibits that let students “gather” information about Planet ‘X.’ The student “explorers” will take geological samples, map the planet’s surface and search for Nostradimium, an element used in high-tech equipment. But the students must work quickly – the evil Dr. Nogood is traveling to Planet ‘X’ in hopes of capturing all the Nostradimium to use in his evil missions.
The Arkansas Discovery Network also offers scholarships to schools with limited travel budgets, allowing local schools monetary help to bring the students to one of the partnering museums.
“In the first six months, over 100,000 children and families visited a Network exhibit or program,” says LaFollette. “Our plan is to design and build four innovative exhibits over five years. Once all of the exhibits are in the museums we anticipate that we will reach over 375,000 students per year.”
The Arkansas Discovery Network Web site offers more information on the partnership, as well as games and fun activities for children. At their site, you can check on upcoming exhibits and events at the partner institutions. While there, you can enroll your youngster as a member of Kids’ Quest, a special club offering fun e-newsletters, a t-shirt, invitations to special exhibit parties and more. And it’s free. You can visit their Web site at www.arkansasdiscoverynetwork.org. For more information on the Arkansas Discovery Network, you can contact Diane LaFollette, Network Coordinator, at the Arkansas Museum of Discovery in Little Rock at (501) 396-7050 ext. 119.
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Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201, (501) 682-7606
E-mail: info@arkansas.com
May be used without permission. Credit line is appreciated:
"Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism"
Dates Covered: Through September 30
****
Kimberly J. Williams, travel writer
Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
Make learning fun. It sounds simple, but many have tried and failed. The Arkansas Discovery Network, comprised of seven museums and educational centers in Arkansas, tried…and succeeded. September marks the end of the network’s first year. A year of offering Arkansas’s schoolchildren a new way of learning – hands-on, interactive experiences at museums located throughout Arkansas.
Created after receiving a grant of more than $7 million dollars from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Arkansas Discovery Network debuted in September 2006. The network’s mission is to provide innovative, challenging and exciting educational opportunities to Arkansas’s schoolchildren, especially those in rural areas. With almost 500,000 schoolchildren in Arkansas, it became apparent early that the best way to offer museum experiences to children was to offer more than one museum. “This Network is the first of its kind in the nation,” says Diane LaFollette, Network Coordinator for the Arkansas Discovery Network. “Most museum networks that collaborate on exhibits and programs usually involve institutions from larger cities like Fort Worth, Boston and Minneapolis. The Arkansas Network is unique in that the partners are within one state and are small, rural museums.”
The Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, the Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, the Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, the Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro, the Texarkana Museums System and the University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education in Fayetteville were chosen as locations for the Arkansas Discovery Network. (The University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education will serve as the network’s location in northwest Arkansas until a permanent museum partner in the area is chosen.) Each of the locations offers inventive, interactive exhibits that connect with children of all ages – allowing the youngsters to have fun while learning. “Research has shown that students retain more of what they learn if they are actively involved,” states LaFollette. “Our exhibits are designed to encourage them to question and experiment with scientific principles.”
And learn they will – although they may not realize they are learning. One of the first exhibits offered by the Arkansas Discovery Network is Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body. The exhibit, based on a best-selling book, uses interactive components to teach children how the body works – from body odor to runny noses to passing gas. The exhibit is not for the faint-of-heart or those easily offended. It’s aimed at children and their unending, unexplainable amazement at everything gross. Grossology will be exhibited at the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover until Jan. 6, 2008.
Good Vibrations: Light, Sound and Motion is the second of the traveling exhibits offered through the Arkansas Discovery Network. Built especially for the network by the world-renown Exploratorium in San Francisco, Good Vibrations puts a fun spin on science. Students get the opportunity to experience sound, light, motion, weather and geology using hands-on learning techniques, such as the Seismograph, which uses a floor sensor that allows students to create their own “mini earthquake” by stomping on the floor. Good Vibrations will be on display at the Texarkana Museums System through Oct. 7. Beginning on Oct. 13, Good Vibrations moves to the Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, where it will be displayed through Jan. 13, 2008. According to LaFollette, “The goal of the network is to enhance science education across the state and strengthen the museum partners to better serve their communities. All of our exhibits and programs are aligned with the Arkansas Education Frameworks and we supply follow-up lesson plans for the teachers to use in the classroom after the students have experienced the exhibits.”
In their quest to reach students in the rural areas of Arkansas, the Arkansas Discovery Network offers a museum on wheels – a 40-foot traveling truck that brings their brand of interactive learning to schools unable to travel to the participating museums. The Race for Planet ‘X’ is a self-contained exhibit that allows students to explore a new “planet.” The Race for Planet ‘X’ was designed using the Arkansas Science Education Framework for 6th grade and offers 10 interactive exhibits that let students “gather” information about Planet ‘X.’ The student “explorers” will take geological samples, map the planet’s surface and search for Nostradimium, an element used in high-tech equipment. But the students must work quickly – the evil Dr. Nogood is traveling to Planet ‘X’ in hopes of capturing all the Nostradimium to use in his evil missions.
The Arkansas Discovery Network also offers scholarships to schools with limited travel budgets, allowing local schools monetary help to bring the students to one of the partnering museums.
“In the first six months, over 100,000 children and families visited a Network exhibit or program,” says LaFollette. “Our plan is to design and build four innovative exhibits over five years. Once all of the exhibits are in the museums we anticipate that we will reach over 375,000 students per year.”
The Arkansas Discovery Network Web site offers more information on the partnership, as well as games and fun activities for children. At their site, you can check on upcoming exhibits and events at the partner institutions. While there, you can enroll your youngster as a member of Kids’ Quest, a special club offering fun e-newsletters, a t-shirt, invitations to special exhibit parties and more. And it’s free. You can visit their Web site at www.arkansasdiscoverynetwork.org. For more information on the Arkansas Discovery Network, you can contact Diane LaFollette, Network Coordinator, at the Arkansas Museum of Discovery in Little Rock at (501) 396-7050 ext. 119.
Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201, (501) 682-7606
E-mail: info@arkansas.com
May be used without permission. Credit line is appreciated:
"Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism"
Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-682-7606
E-mail: info@arkansas.com
May be used without permission. Credit line is appreciated:
"Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism"