[Bioundgrd] Terrascope: an MIT Earth System Initiative

[Janice Chang]

>
>YOU ARE INVITED TO VISIT INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS BUILT BY STUDENTS IN 
>TERRASCOPE AS THE CULMINATION OF THEIR YEAR LONG STUDY OF ALASKA AND 
>THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.  WE HOPE YOU WILL ACKNOWLEDGE 
>THE HARD WORK OF OUR FRESHMEN BY VISITING THEIR EXHIBITS.  PLEASE 
>FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ANNOUNCEMENT ON TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE 
>INTERESTED!!!!!
>
>Students create interactive exhibits about Alaska and the Arctic 
>National Wildlife Refuge
>
>The Exhibits:
>
>Students in MITís new Terrascope program invite the MIT community 
>and the general public to visit interactive, museum-style exhibits 
>about Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). They 
>designed and built the exhibits as a semester-long project for MIT 
>subject 1.016, ìIntroduction to Earth System Engineering and 
>Science.î The exhibits include a simulated dogsled ride; a 
>planetarium-style display on the aurora borealis (northern lights); 
>simulations of Alaskan animal habitats; recreations of native 
>artifacts; and a walk-through exploration of the origin, extraction 
>and uses of petroleum.
>
>The official opening is Tuesday, May 11, from 3:30-6:30 PM. Exhibits 
>will be open during the day through Friday, May 14 (call (617) 
>253-4074 or e-mail daczel at mit.edu for hours). They are located in 
>MIT rooms 1-080 and 1-090 (in the basement of Building 1, near the 
>corner of Mass. Ave. and Memorial Drive; a map showing the location 
>of Building 1 is at: 
><http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=1&Buildings=go>).
>
>
>
>The Terrascope program:
>
>Terrascope, a program of the MIT Earth System Initiative, is a 
>unique learning community in which first-year students study 
>complex, real-world environmental issues that require innovative 
>solutions based in expertise from a variety of disciplines. This is 
>the second class of students to participate in the Terrascope 
>program.
>
>Students began their Terrascope experience in the fall, with subject 
>12.000, "Solving Complex Problems," in which they split into 
>self-managed teams to study the benefits and environmental costs of 
>extracting oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As part of 
>that project, they worked to develop the most 
>environmentally-sensitive plan possible for oil extraction and then 
>performed an analysis to determine whether the oil would be worth 
>the environmental cost of extracting it.
>
>Some students also participated in IAP (January-term) subject 1.991, 
>"Designing Museum Exhibits to Illustrate Earth System Science and 
>Engineering," an intensive, week-long experience in which they 
>visited local museums and science centers, worked with professionals 
>in the Greater Boston museum community and laid the groundwork for 
>exhibits to be developed in the spring semester. In the spring, in 
>subject 1.016, they split into teams to design, develop and build 
>exhibits that drew on their knowledge of Alaska and their 
>understanding of how non-specialists can learn about complex 
>scientific topics through museum-style exhibits. In the process, 
>they exercised and further developed the team-building and 
>project-management skills they had acquired during 12.000.
>
>As part of the Terrascope experience, during Spring Break the 
>students traveled to Alaska, where they attended lectures and 
>presentations by experts from around the state, representing a broad 
>spectrum of points of view about ANWR. (Speakers included 
>representatives from native villages, biologists from the U.S. Park 
>Service, oil-company executives, politicians and others.) They also 
>participated in outdoor activities (including a visit to Denali 
>National Park) designed to acquaint them with the Alaskan 
>environment. The trip served both as a capstone experience for their 
>work in 12.000, and as the basis for much of the information they 
>will present in their 1.016 exhibits.
>
>For more information, contact:
>Debra Gross Aczel
>daczel at mit.edu
>  (617) 253-4074
>
>Debra Gross Aczel
>Terrascope Program
>Building 16-177
>Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>77 Massachusetts Avenue
>Cambridge, MA  02139
>617-253-4074
>http://web.mit.edu/terrascope/www/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/bioundgrd/attachments/20040506/6032dffc/attachment.htm