Columbus’s Great Experiment

September 15th, 1990 - May 31st, 1992 | PROJECT

The Lawrence Hall of Science proposes to develop a major public education program, including a traveling exhibition, two planetarium programs, a play, and a kit for schools entitled "Columbus' Great Experiment." Emphasizing science and technology, Columbus' first voyage is portrayed as an experiment aimed at testing the hypothesis (based on doubtful evidence) that sailing to the west was a more practical way of reaching the Indies than by sailing east around the Horn of Africa. As with many scientific experiments, the results were quite different from what the experimenter had in mind: instead of finding a sea route to the Indies, Columbus vastly expanded knowledge about our planet and spurred developments in science and technology. These events occurred within a social and cultural context that were critical to the development of modern science, and resulted in far-reaching changes in the population and ecology of the world which continue today. The National Endowment for the Humanities has recently awarded a grant for the development of the exhibits. The present proposal requests that NSF join with NEH to complete and expand the project, by funding: a) components of three additional copies of the exhibition to be constructed by other museums, thus expanding the public audience to 19 million visitors; b) two participatory planetarium programs; c) a play about the scientific aspects of Columbus' voyage; and d) school kits that will enable teachers to present the most important ideas embodied in the exhibition to students who are unable to view the exhibition at a science center. Interest in these programs will peak around Columbus Day, 1992, we anticipate that the materials will be sufficiently interesting, informative, and entertaining to be used for many years to come.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Team Members

Cary Sneider, Principal Investigator, University of California-Berkeley
Jennifer White, Co-Principal Investigator, University of California-Berkeley

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 9053778
Funding Amount: 409272

Tags

Audience: Educators | Teachers | Elementary School Children (6-10) | General Public | Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: General STEM | History | policy | law | Nature of science | Social science and psychology | Technology
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Exhibitions | Informal | Formal Connections | K-12 Programs | Media and Technology | Museum and Science Center Exhibits | Museum and Science Center Programs | Planetarium and Science on a Sphere | Public Programs | Theater Programs