Lifelong Learning Success Stories

When 100 of the world’s most eminent scientists and thinkers were asked to identify the most important explanations of anything, ever, the most common answer was Darwin’s Natural Selection. That challenging concept is one of the two tenets at the core of biology and is absolutely essential to understand for anyone wanting to figure out how the fascinating, natural world really works. The lifelong learning goal of Amazon Adventure is to increase science literacy, specifically the public’s understanding and acceptance of the phenomenon of Natural Selection [...]

The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made Dream Big the center piece of their museum programming in 2017 to motivate a new generation of engineers by demonstrating engineering’s impressive impact on our world and lives. A pillar of Carnegie Science Center’s mission is to inspire children and adults, particularly under-represented groups, to explore careers in STEM. Additionally, they aim to provide teachers with profession learning opportunities to share and promote hands on instructional experiences in their classrooms. “Our Chevron Center for STEM Education and Career [...]

The multifaceted educational program extends the film into each corner of the museum and has inspired children to now want to be an engineer when they grow up.  MacGillivray Freeman Films (MFF) partnered with The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) on Dream Big: Engineering Our World to inspire children to pursue a career in engineering, and show the world how engineers impact all of our lives. The multifaceted educational program extends the film into each corner of the museum and has inspired children to now [...]

"Pairing the lecture with a similar film topic can promote deeper learning in the content area presented." When the Census 2000 data was released, Wendy Grant, the Fleet Science Center’s Director of Marketing and Communications, noted the projected rise in the senior population. Knowing that a significant portion of seniors live on a fixed income, Grant felt that it was important to make the museum financially accessible to seniors on a regular basis. “But we wanted to provide more than just discounted admission, “says Grant. “We [...]

"The Omnimax theatre is our largest single venue, so the potential to reach a large audience with a single activity is greatest in that space.” America Wild: National Parks Adventure is an exciting and inspiring film. But as a Canadian science center, Science World British Columbia in Vancouver wanted to show some of the nature, history, and adventure that its visitors could experience in Canada’s own national parks. Science World just happened to be welcoming an outreach team from Parks Canada into the building for the [...]

  Pacific Science Center (PSC) in Seattle is breaking down silos that have isolated science center departments in the past, and the giant screen film A Beautiful Planet (IMAX) was one of their early cross-departmental efforts. PSC’s work resulted in a museum-wide effort to develop a wide range of activities to support the film and provide related lifelong learning experiences throughout the science center. Program Elements Brainstorming sessions with representatives from a variety of departments, managed by one point person—the Director of Science and Education—drove the [...]

Maryland Science Center’s comprehensive educator workshop to support the film Flight of the Butterflies (SK Films) was instrumental in building awareness of the film among teachers and the general public, encouraging monarch-related citizen science efforts, and providing film viewers with additional information and resources to extend learning well beyond the science center visit and film screening. Program Elements The NSF-funded Flight of the Butterflies program featured a series of 13 day-long educator workshops, four conducted at the Maryland Science Center (MSC) and nine at National Science [...]

The award-winning giant screen film Flight of the Butterflies (SK Films) was the perfect programming complement to the butterfly garden at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa, Florida, US, and “Butterfly Boogie” was the perfect educational program to go with it. Program Elements The 45-minute “Butterfly Boogie” program, which was made available to school groups either before or after the film, took place in MOSI’s butterfly garden so students could experience monarchs and the butterfly life cycle not only in the movie, but [...]

Theater Name: IMAX Theater at World Golf Hall of Fame Location: St. Augustine, Florida Contact: Lauren Alleva, lalleva@wghof.org Film: Galapagos 3D: Nature’s Wonderland, (nWave Pictures Distribution)   The World Golf Hall of Fame (WGHOF) IMAX Theater’s goal with the Galapagos 3D: Nature's Wonderland Educational Event was to educate the community as well as promote the theater and the film. They want the community to know they offer educational films for the entire family, and they want to offer exciting events like this one to entice the [...]

Theater Name: Omniversum Location: The Hague, Netherlands Contact: Alexandra van der Zee, az@omniversum.nl Film: D-Day: Normandy 1944 (N3D Land Productions, 3D Entertainment Distribution) Omniversum's program for D-Day: Normandy 1944 was winner of the 2015 GSCA Best Educational Program. Pictured at left is Omniversum's Alexandra van der Zee  (holding award) with N3DLand Productions' Catherine and Pascal Vuong. Omniversum's interdisciplinary program includes history, philosophy, social studies, geography and environmental studies. The program contributes to the realization of social engagement and responsibility. In compiling the program, Omniversum used the [...]