Museum Education in
Atmospheric and
Oceanic Hazards
Jon M. Nese
Chief Meteorologist
Franklin Institute Science Museum
Philadelphia, PA
Science Centers & Museums
• Contacted 100 members of ASTC,
Association of Science and Technology
Centers. 40% replied; searched 200 web sites.
• Very few have meteorologist or
oceanographer (notable exceptions: Franklin
Institute, Carnegie Science Center, Fairbanks
Museum, The Weather Museum - HOU).
• But most science centers/museums have
some weather-related exhibits or programs.
Exhibits
• Permanent -vs- traveling
• Collectives exist to share exhibits
(Science Museum Exhibit Collective (SMEC)
• Mix of high tech and low tech
• Not just panels on a wall: Interactive,
Interactive, Interactive
Traveling: Powers of Nature
• NSF-sponsored,
developed 1998 at TFI
(PHL) with assistance
from NOAA.
• Features real-time
data (from WSI and
Global Atmospherics)
• Visited other large
science centers in LA,
Ft. Worth, Boston,
Columbus,
Minneapolis.
Permanent: Nature’s Fury (OMSI)
• The Wave Tank: Watch rhythmic movement of waves
on a sandy beach within a 12 ft long aquarium.
• Tornado Chamber: Pass your hands through a
twisting vortex of air that simulates the wind dynamics
of a tornado - safely.
• Wind Tunnel: Place model buildings or yourself in a
wind tunnel, whose speed you control up to 30 mph.
• Earthquake Room: Puts you in the middle of an
earthquake of magnitude 5.5 (common to mix) .
Midwest Wild Weather Project
• collaboration among nine
science centers in IL, IN, IA,
and MI. Each site has a set of
eleven weather-related
interactives which also travel to
schools for weeklong visits
Lightning
• Boston Museum of Science - world’s
largest air-insulated Van de Graaff.
Hurricanes and Tornadoes
Gulf Coast Hurricane
MOSI, Tampa FL
Exploratorium
(San Francisco)
Flooding
Erosion or stream tables popular
Museums and TV / Radio / NWS
• Weather instrumentation often linked to local TV
(Weathernet, from AWS, in at least two dozen museums).
• Local TV station in Portland, OR, broadcasts weather
live from Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
• Carnegie Science Center (PIT) forecasts for local TV;
TFI, Fairbanks Museum (St. Johnsbury, VT), Weather
Museum (HOU) provide forecasts to local NPR.
• TFI does one-minute weather features for local PBS.
• NWS Coop sites: TFI, Fairbanks, STL Science Center
Weathernet
Live Weather
Stormy Weather Workshops (TFI)
• Museum/TV partnership
• NWS & Project Safeside
• Topics: Winter storms,
Tornadoes, Hurricanes
Ocean Exhibits
• Extreme Deep: BBH Exhibits in
collaboration with Woods Hole.
Highlights deep-sea exploration and
discovery
• Oceans Alive!: Boston Museum of
Science
• Poseiden’s Realm: Center of Science
and Industry (Columbus)
• Ocean Planet: Smithsonian
(travelling)
In the Works
• The Weather Museum -- project of the
Weather Research Center (Houston). Devoted
entirely to weather, with emphasis on hazards.
• MOSI Tampa -- Partnering with Institute for
Business & Home Safety to create
"Disasterville,” an exhibit that features wind
and water hazards and how to prepare for
them (hurricanes & tornadoes, floods)
To Think About
• Weather is hot topic in science centers,
especially hazards and extremes.
• Increasingly taking interpretation beyond
their walls (web, TV)
• Museums always looking for funding
opportunities and partnerships.
• Real-time data-driven interactives
To Think About
• There’s been some museum/university,
museum/professional society, and
museum/government partnerships, but
mostly consulting and transitory.
• Holes to fill: Exhibit on cycles (ENSO,
sunspots, NAO??), Omni films on
weather.
Museum Education in
Atmospheric and
Oceanic Hazards
Jon M. Nese
Chief Meteorologist
Franklin Institute Science Museum
Philadelphia, PA
-- By no means exhaustive or complete, from the perspective of someone who’s been in
museum world for only 3 years, might come out different if done by career museum person.
-- Became increasingly clear to me as I prepared this talk that it would be primarily about how
museums spread the word about atmospheric, as opposed to oceanic, hazards
-- El Nino in most cases is closest museum come to “oceanic” hazard. Actually allows me to
emphasize one of my conclusions, if there’s a topic out there waiting to be thoroughly,
thoughtfully, and accurately covered in a museum exhibit, I believe it’s El Nino (might be part
of a larger exhibit called “Atmosphere and Ocean cycles” or something like that).
-- Also this talk weighted toward TFI & meteo because that’s where I work and that’s my
expertise.
-- ASTC numbers about 550 members, zoos, Mus Nat history, botanical gardens.
WEATHER HAZARDS OFTEN LUMPED INTO SAME EXHIBIT AS EARTHQUAKES AND
VOLCANOES - ROOM FOR MISINTERPRETATION.
Great Lakes Science Center
Sick Earth: Sick Earth is a whimsical yet pointed exhibit, depicting our
planet in a hospital bed. A thermometer checks for global warming. A BandAid covers the Amazon Rainforest. Sunglasses protect the Antarctic from a
hole in the ozone layer. The hospital bed is surrounded by monitoring
equipment, allowing visitors to learn more about what ails the Earth. Near the
bed are get-well cards from the other planets. Designed to raise awareness of
past and present environmental problems, this exhibit encourages visitors to
personally help in the healing process.
Great Lakes Haunted House: This house isn't haunted by ghosts and goblins,
it's haunted by hands-on exhibits about toxic chemicals and pollutants.
Detergents, motor oil, fertilizers -- many common household items can
pollute our homes, as well as the outdoor environment. Now that's spooky!
http://www.lsc.org/lsc_info/press_releases/current/extreme_dee
ppr.html (extreme deep)
http://www.mos.org/oceans/ (oceans alive Boston)
The weather operations at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium owe their
tradition to the Museum's founder, Franklin Fairbanks. An avid amateur naturalist,
Fairbanks kept meticulous weather records at his family home in St. Johnsbury,
Vermont during the 1850's and 1860's. Shortly after the Fairbanks Museum was
built in 1891, the Museum started recording daily weather statistics for the newly
formed Weather Bureau.
Today, serving five commercial and public radio stations (including Vermont
Public Radio), with a listener base of over three million, plus regional ski resorts,
public utility corporations and private professional firms, the Northern New
England Weather Center, located at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, is one
of St. Johnsbury's most well-known and important assets.
Meteorologists Mark Breen and Steve Maleski have coordinated improvements in
gather information with Lyndon State College's Meteorology Department, Level
Nine, Inc., and the Connecticut River Valley Network
Permanent: Nature’s Fury (OMSI)
•The Wave Tank: Watch and listen to the rhythmic
movement of waves on a sandy beach within a 12 foot
long aquarium.
• Tornado Chamber: Pass your hands through a twisting
vortex of air that simulates the wind dynamics of a
tornado - safely.
• Wind Tunnel: Place model buildings or yourself in the
path of a wind tunnel, whose speed you control up to
thirty miles per hour.
• Earthquake Room: Puts you in the middle of an
earthquake of magnitude 5.5 (common to mix .