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The article presents a study of The Discovery Room of the California Academy of Sciences. The research assesses visitor’s reactions to the interactive natural history exhibit in order to gather useful information for planning future interactive exhibits. The philosophy of Janet Nickelsburg, a former docent, teacher, and naturalist who first conceived of the exhibit, are explained. Behavioral observations of active exploratory learning, as well as interviews and surveys are analyzed.

The article presents a study which looked at the way in which families behave when they are touring a science museum. The way in which the actions of museum visitors were researched is mentioned. Actions which the study found that visitors were involved with while at the museum are discussed, including visiting exhibits throughout the museum for short periods of time.

The article examines the impact of the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco, California on students' social development, their attitude toward science and their interest in science. The Exploratorium has hired teenagers to serve the museum in an unusual role. Chosen only for their enthusiasm and diversity, the students have been given the most difficult task in the museum. The students' job is to explain exhibits on physics, perception, and biology, and to answer questions from many visitors each year.

The article focuses on the Wonderwise 4-H, a project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation designed to encourage young girls to pursue scientific careers. It cites a review of related literature. The design, development and dissemination of Wonderwise 4-H are explained. The components of the evaluation plan for Wonderwise 4-H are discussed. It reports on the findings on the effectiveness of Wonderwise 4-H.

The current study explores patterns of informal science experiences among youth in urban and rural middle schools by gender and socioeconomic status. Data come from surveys in two Midwestern middle schools, one in a mid-sized city, and the other in a rural-remote town. We asked about participation in informal science activities (e.g. visiting zoos or museums, or watching shows about science) and if youth had participated in science-focused clubs in the last 12 months (e.g. after-school science clubs, 4-H, scouts). Rural youth reported lower rates of participation in after-school science clubs and a greater desire to participate in after-school science programming than urban youth. Latino/a youth tend to have fewer informal science experiences than non-Latino/a youth, particularly in urban areas. There were few differences in informal science experiences between boys and girls, but in urban areas, girls report more science experiences than boys. Reported science experiences are overall higher in urban areas, yet youth with fewer resources (i.e. books in the home) have fewer informal science experiences overall. This study sheds new light on how socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, and geography interact with one another to shape youth science exposure and interest.

In the United States, girls and boys have similar science achievement, yet fewer girls aspire to science careers than boys. This paradox emerges in middle school, when peers begin to play a stronger role in shaping adolescent identities. We use complete network data from a single middle school and theories of gender, identity, and social distance to explore how friendship patterns might influence this gender and science paradox. Three patterns highlight the social dimensions of gendered science persistence: (1) boys and girls do not differ in self-perceived science potential and science career aspirations; (2) consistent with gender-based norms, both middle school boys and girls report that the majority of their female friends are not science kinds of people; and (3) youth with gender-inconsistent science aspirations are more likely to be friends with each other than youth with gender normative science aspirations. Together, this evidence suggests that friendship dynamics contribute to gendered patterns in science career aspirations., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Although microbes directly impact everyone's health, most people have limited knowledge about them. In this article, we describe a museum and media public education campaign aimed at helping diverse audiences better understand emerging knowledge about microbes and infectious disease. Funded primarily by the Science Education Partnership (SEPA) program of the National Institutes of Health, this campaign involved crosscutting programs designed to extend impacts throughout a broad public audience.