Amazon Adventure Summative Evaluation Report

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Amazon Adventure is an Innovations in Development project directed by Pacific Science Center in partnership with: SK Films; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Embodied Games; and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Tangled Bank Studios. The project deliverables produced during the grant period include a giant screen film, live stage presentation for use at informal science education (ISE) institutions, and educational resources.

The centerpiece of the project, the Amazon Adventure film, is a 45-minute giant screen film shown in both 2D and 3D flat screen and 2D dome formats. The film is based on the true story of Henry Bates’ 11-year journey through the Amazon in the 1850s, focusing on his quest as a young man to find evidence of species change.

As part of the NSF funding for the project, the independent evaluation firm, Knight Williams Inc., conducted a summative evaluation of both the immediate and longer-term impacts of the film on a general audience of adults who self-selected to view Amazon Adventure at one of four science center or museum theaters in 2017-2018: Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA; Museum of Discovery & Science in Fort Lauderdale, FL; Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC; and Museum of Science in Boston, MA.

The evaluation assessed the film’s impact with respect to audience knowledge of Bates’ scientific quest, mimicry, and species change, as well as perceptions of scientist attributes; engagement with the biographical story of Henry Bates and Bates as a film character; and experience of spatial presence with the giant screen format.