Protected: Math Momentum in Science Centers

This project built mathematical capacity in science centers through professional development of science center staff from diverse institutions nationwide.

Principal Investigators

Jan Mokros

Project Staff

Andee Rubin, Tracey Wright, Ricardo Nemirovsky

Summary

Science centers offer rich opportunities for visitors to engage in math. The mission of the Math Momentum in Science Centers project was to establish professional development resources for science centers to help them make the math in their exhibits and programming more explicit and accessible.

Impact

The project worked with a core group of thirteen science center partners who extended their own mathematical capacity through the development of a math-related project and who are served as hosts of one-day workshops. Work with these core sites informed the design of the project’s professional development tools.
Designed, implemented, and institutionalized one-day workshops and online materials focused on data, measurement, and algebra. The project’s one-day workshops, offered throughout the country, provided science center staff and their community partners with the opportunity to explore inquiry-based math in a science center environment.
Provided opportunities for a broader audience of science center staff, community partners, and math educators to explore the role of math in science centers.

Publication

The project produced a book, “Math Momentum in Science Centers,” including examples of projects that each of the partner museums carried out to highlight the math in their exhibits or programs. Hundreds of copies of the book were distributed free to science centers in the years after the project ended.