Here are some possible Scenarios for our Project:
Michaela and her Father, Terry, come to the CDM on a Saturday Afternoon. The museum is very crowded. Michaela is a regular at the CDM, and she visits several times a year with her parents.
As soon as she walks in, she realizes that a new exhibit has opened up. The man behind the front desk hands both her and her father an RFID badge that says “Scientist” on it. The man says that the tag will help unlock some special features of the new exhibit.
She doesn’t recognize the large skeleton in the middle of the floor. She runs over to it pulling her father behind her. She asks, is this a dinosaur skeleton? Her father sees a “question station” next to one of the mammoth feet. They walk over to the question station and are instructed to hold their badge up to the board and ask a question. Michaela asks, “is this a dinosaur skeleton?” As she speaks, her question is converted to text in front of her eyes. She is told that there are several other questions stations throughout the exhibit, as well as a THEORY MAP.
She walks over to round exhibit in the corner that is about mammoth food. Michaela realizes that this is a mammoth and not a dinosaur. She sees another question station and asks, “Are mammoths like elephants?”
Her father then sees a large ticker display off to a different side. The ticker display reads, “Are mammoths like elephants?” He gets excited and points the question out to his daughter. “That’s your question!”
They walk over to the Ticker display, and beneath it is the THEORY MAP. It is a large table with large plastic buttons on it – one button for each question station. Her RFID tag helps the Map recognize her, and the Food Button, and the Skeleton Button both start blinking. She pushes the Food Button and hears her voice ask the question, “are mammoths like elephants?”
… She gets an opportunity to answer the question…
Michaela and Her father approach the new Lupe exhibit. Michaela knows that Lupe is a mammoth from a sign, but she is still very curious. She walks up to a large jaw bone and runs her hand along it. She says to her father, "it feels like a rock." Her father then feels the bone too, and agrees. They then walk over to a "Question Booth." They're not sure exactly what to do, but as soon as they walk under a bowl shaped speaker, they begin to hear the voices of children asking questions - questions about mammoths, archaelogy and more. Michaela's father then notices that they can record their own question. Michaela gets excited and pushes a big red "record" button. She says, "why do mammoth bones feel like rocks?" A voice then responds "great question! Can you make a guess about what an answer might be? Michaela looks at her father, and is a little confused. Her father says to make any guess at all. Michaela hits the record button again and says, "because the bones are old." A voice then responds again and says, "Great hypothesis! Scientists call guesses hypotheses. Go explore the exhibit some more to see if you can test your hypothesis. Come back later to ask more questions." Michaela then returns to the rest of the exhibit. Twenty minutes later, her father calls her over and says, "look, this exhibit shows how bones become fossils. Fossils are a kind of rock!" Michaela and her father explore the exhibit together.
... maybe michaela then returns to the question booth - pushes a button to hear her question again. She is then prompted to update her hypothesis. -should the questions booth be personalized? recognize visitors (rfid?)? -should there be a different/better reward for asking a question? more recognition? question board?
After looking at the various exhibits of Lupe, Michaela noticed a brightly-colored, futuristic-looking station that has a big question mark on top. It’s the “Question-Asking Station”! Intrigued by it, she approaches the station. She noticed that there is a mike and a video camera and a screen. On the screen are two big buttons – “Pose A Question” and “See What Others Asked”. Michaela realized this is a booth to pose your own questions about Lupe, or hear what other people’s questions. [Alternate idea: a button on contributing answers to existing questions; separate stations at the various sections of the exhibits]
As Michaela does not really have anything to ask about Lupe at this stage, she decides to hear what others have asked. After clicking that option, the screen refreshes to a new panel which shows individual snapshots of people. Presumably, each snapshot represents a video recording of a person asking a question. The name of the person, and the date and time the question was posed was shown together with the snapshot. Also, there is a mark that indicates whether any user has contributed an answer to the question. Michaela also notices that the questions displayed are the same as the ones shown on the huge electronic public questions display screen in the exhibit.
From the snapshots of questions, Michaela notices a familiar face, her classmate Lin! Lin has posed a question earlier the same morning! Michaela clicked on Lin’s snapshoot to hear Lin’s question “How old is Lupe?”
Michaela thought for a while and remembers that she read somewhere in the exhibit that Lupe is [x] years old. Michaela then thought, “Well, how do we know that?” She wonders how scientist know the age for Lupe, and as she notices there is no one else who posed this question, she decides to ask the question herself.
She clicks on the “Pose A Question” button, and a voice projected to ask her to scan her RFID tag – which was given to her earlier at the beginning of the visit – under the scanner. Michaela follows the instruction, and then a voice greets her by her name, and asks her to record the question using the mike and looking at the video camera. Michaela proceeds with her question.
After recording her question, the screen refreshes to a new display, suggesting Michaela to answer the question by looking for evidence around the exhibits. The station then prints out a barcode with a number [identifying Michaela’s question]. [This printout represents a question posed by the visitor; this printout will be used to unlock the information from the other evidence-stations in the exhibit by barcode scanning (for example)] Michaela’s dad notices that Michaela’s question is shown on the public electronic display. At the same time, Michaela’s dad notices a small notepad, pencil, measuring tape and a map [showing all the stations with evidence to gather and analyze]. They picked one set and began their investigation.
[At each station, they gather the evidence, read and understand what they mean, in relevance to the question Michaela posed. The question printout will be used to unlock some of the information from the evidence station, after which staff manning the station may make a mark, or stamp something on the notepad. Michaela and her dad are encouraged to take notes [by staff manning the individual stations, or by the information panels displayed], draw diagrams, make measurements. Many of these activities require participation by both Michaela and her dad, or by Michaela and other fellow “kid scientists”. The map helps them to identify potential evidence-gathering stations – e.g. the Baby Teeth, Wall of Bones, Geologic corner etc - and they could mark on the map to indicate the ones they have investigated.
After getting a good idea of the evidence available, and what they revealed, Michaela felt confident to record her answer. She proceeds to the “Tell Your Own Discovery/Answer Station” to make a video recording of her investigation process and her “answer’.
(Alternate idea: intuitive software that allows Michaela, with assistance from her Dad, to create a storyboard of their own discovery about Lupe.)
After the recording, a certificate is printed with her name and a picture of her as a scientist (ID tag or lab clothes) indicating that she has successfully embarked on a mission and process in investigating a question about Lupe. The certificate has a signature by a “scientist-in-residence” as well. At the same time, Michaela’s answer recording is also uploaded to the database and linked with her question at the Question-Asking Station, so that others can also watch and hear her contribution. Michaela also gets to keep her personalized notepad – officially endorsed and signed by CDM staff – and the map, while dropping the measuring tape and pencil to the recycling collection bins on their way out.
At the end of everyday, staff at CDM can also collate the questions posed by the visitors/kids at the station. These questions would be useful in gaining insights into what kids are curious about, and help to inform the exhibits’ design and content regularly.]
- like the encouragement you get after asking a question - what type of reward can kids get for asking a question? sticker, card, certificate, social recognition - what is a scientist's/ archaelogists reward? - buttons that allow you to post a question, hear an answer - notepad to explore question with? a way to keep the question relevant as the family explores - video for the questions could be good. another way to record the questions - written? - could be an addition to the "record your own discovery story" corner - could be multiple question stations incorperated into different exhibits - ability to answer other people's questions could be fun - how can we make it "cooler" - to be a fun experience on its own? - can the station seem like something that a scientist would use? - encourage more collaboration? - physical embodiment of inquiry process. you carry a "question ball" - take it to the discovery zone and exchange it for a piece of evidence... take the evidence to the lab and exchange it for an idea.
Michaela and her father arrive at the CDM. The tend to visit a few times a year, but they haven’t been in a while and Michaela is eager to see the new exhibit. She doesn’t know that much about it but she has heard it has something to do with animals so she is sure that she will have fun—she loves animals (especially reptiles).
Michaela and her father walk through the entrance and immediately she sees a huge mammoth replica. She runs over and asks her dad what it is. Together they read the informational placard next to the replica and learn that this mammoth’s name is Lupe and that she was found close by. Michaela wonders to herself how long ago the mammoth was found and how long it has been dead. She imagines what it would be like to discover a mammoth in her own backyard!
Michaela walks to the next part of the exhibit where she sees a mammoth tooth and learns about the kinds of foods Lupe ate when she was alive. Realizing the large quantity of food Lupe ate in a given day, Michaela is amazed. “Hmm…” she wonders aloud, “how many pounds of food do you think Lupe ate in a year?” As she asks her dad the question, he looks above and sees a sign with a giant question mark directing them to a question-asking station. Congratulating Michaela on her thoughtful and inquisitive question, they wander over to the Q station together and Michaela’s father encourages her to step closer to the large and colorful Q machine. She is welcomed to the Q station and encouraged to speak into the microphone and ask her question. “How many pounds of food did Lupe eat in a year?” she asks. “That is a great question… What do you think the answer might be?” Michaela is pleased with her creative question and excited about her interaction at the Q station. Together, Michaela and her dad attempt to make an educated guess and they return to the exhibit.
Michaela and her father arrive at the CDM. As they walk in, both her and her father are handed an RFID badge that says, "Scientist" on it. The museum staff person tells them that the badge will identify them at different exhibits and guide them interactively. They tend to visit a few times a year, but they haven’t been in a while and Michaela is eager to see the new exhibit. She doesn’t know that much about it but she has heard it has something to do with animals so she is sure that she will have fun—she loves animals (especially reptiles).
After looking at the various exhibits of Lupe, Michaela noticed a brightly-colored, futuristic-looking station that has a big question mark on top. It’s the “Question-Asking Station”! Intrigued by it, she approaches the station. She noticed that there is a mike and a video camera and a screen. On the screen are two big buttons – “Pose A Question” and “See What Others Asked”. Michaela realized this is a booth to pose your own questions about Lupe, or hear what other people’s questions. As Michaela approached this booth, her "scientist badge" identifies her to the exhibit and records her actions.
As Michaela does not really have anything to ask about Lupe at this stage, she decides to hear what others have asked. After clicking that option, the screen refreshes to a new panel which shows individual snapshots of people. Presumably, each snapshot represents a video recording of a person asking a question. The name of the person, and the date and time the question was posed are shown together with the snapshot.
From the snapshots of questions, Michaela notices a familiar face, her classmate Lin! Lin has posed a question earlier the same morning! Michaela clicks on Lin’s snapshot to hear Lin’s question “How old is Lupe?” projected from the audio dome over her head.
Michaela listens, and then decides to come up with her own question.
She clicks on the “Pose A Question” button, and a voice asks her to record the question using the mike and looking at the video camera. Michaela proceeds with her question. "how many pounds of food did Lupe eat in a year?" After recording her question, a voice tells her, "Great Question!"
After recording her question, the screen refreshes to a new display, suggesting Michaela to explore the question by looking for evidence around the exhibits. The screen now becomes an interactive map of the whole exhibit hall. The map is a "hyperbolic tree" (see http://mike-love.net/touchgraph/ for example) with each node of the chart being an exhibit. The lines show relationships and connections between the different exhibits. Because Michaela asked a question about food, the Map highlights all of the exhibits related to this topic. The map instructs her and her father that this is an "evidence pathway" and if they would like, they can follow this path of exhibits to explore her question.
The first exhibit on the path contains Lupe's actual tooth! Michaela and her father are really excited to touch this real mammoth tooth! She sees that it looks kind of like one of her own molar teeth, and isn't very sharp. She then sees that this shape of tooth is good for grinding plants.
Her father then remembers that the next exhibit on the evidence pathway was the big Lupe Skeleton in the middle of the floor. She learns about Lupe's weight and how big she may have gotten had she grown into an adult.
At each exhibit that Michaela visits, her RFID tag recognizes her, and tracks her discovery path through the exhibit. She sees another Question Station and walks over to it (there are 4 spread out on the floor). As she walks up, the station recognizes (through her RFID tag) that she has already asked a question and done some exploring. This time, the station prompts her to hear other pieces of evidence that other people have found, or to report her own. She describes her comparison of Lupe's molar to her own. She hits the play button to hear her report, and her father is impressed! The interactive map appears again and shows her some more connections between exhibits. She can also see the evidence pathway that she has taken so far - she can hear her original question and see where she asked it - she can see the exhibits that she visited, and she can hear her piece of evidence.
If Michaela wanted, she could visit more exhibits, and report her discoveries to another Question (should we call them something else?) station, but she is tired. She decides to go get an icecream cone with her father.
At the end of everyday, staff at CDM can also collate the questions posed by the visitors/kids at the station. These questions would be useful in gaining insights into what kids are curious about, and help to inform the exhibits’ design and content regularly.