This summer, Digital WAVE is all about what we can do – what we can do for our environment, what we can do in our homes and schools, and how we can create a better future. Through our virtual world, students met with Martin Keeley, Education Director for the Mangrove Action Project. Students’ avatars and Mr. Keeley’s avatar were all together at our virtual campfire, even though students were in the Museum’s computer lab and Martin was in his office in the Cayman Islands. Martin has lived and worked in East Africa, Asia, Alaska, Canada, Central and South America, as well as the US, as a teacher, photo-journalist, and environmental educator, and has founded award-winning wetland education projects. Students learned from Martin all about the importance of mangrove environments – they are vital marine and coastal habitats and also protect coastal communities from storm surges. Martin shared his unique career path, showing that all you have to do is follow your passion in life, work hard at what is important, and you can make a difference in the world. You just might have to put up with your feet getting a little bit muddy.
Climate change is a global problem, and will take global collaboration between nations and innovative “green” technologies. But what can we do about it as individuals in our own homes, schools, and communities? This summer, Digital WAVE students have been figuring that out. The goal was to create a 3D virtual house that would be the “greenest house in Miami,” powered by renewable energy sources like water, wind and the Sun. First, students had to learn more about energy, and where better to do that then with the Energy Tracker exhibits at the Museum? After interacting with Museum exhibits about wind turbines, hydroelectricity, and solar power, students investigated these energy sources more, by building their own Snap Circucits with batteries, voltmeters, and mini windmills, water wheels, and solar panels. How much power can you get from these energy sources? How can using these technologies make our lives better and our future cleaner? Based on their experience with Museum exhibits, the circuits they built, and their own research, groups of students decided what they wanted to build in their 3D virtual house to make the most environmentally friendly and energy efficient in Miami (even if it’s virtual Miami).
Scientists gather all the time at conferences and meetings to share ideas, research, and discoveries. But how often do high school students get to actively participate in these meetings – especially ones with global consequences? This week, scientists and world leaders met at the Rio+20 Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to discuss environmental protection and sustainable development. And youth from around the world were there too, through a global videoconference that was the culmination of the SCEnaRioS (Science Centers Engagement and the Rio Summit) project. During the Summit, youth from TechnoMuses (Canada), Museo Interactivo de Economia (Mexico), Museu da Vida (Brazil), Madatech (Israel), and of course the Miami Science Museum, gave presentations to the world about their concerns for their respective environments.
Each presentation was the result of a team project between science centers around the world, so in addition to those science centers that presented live, lots of others were involved in this global collaboration – including Chabot Space and Science Center (California), SciPort (Louisiana), Experimentarium (Denmark), Museo Nazionale della Scienza (Italy), Kankhomba Secondary School (Mozambique), Questacon (Australia), Macau Science Center (Macau, China), and Science Centre Singapore, and of course the Miami Science Museum’s partner, Maloka Interactive Center (Colombia). The SCEnaRioS project is based on the convictions that youth will be an essential part of the solution to global problems, and that global partnerships and collaboration between youth is a big part of ensuring a better future for the Earth.
Partnerships? Check. Informed youth? Check. Solutions to environmental problems? In progress.
At the end of every Digital WAVE session, we celebrate the students’ accomplishment with students, Museum staff, invited families and friends … and of course, chocolate cake! At our recent Family Event at the end of this year’s spring session, students presented the virtual world projects they’d created, which were designed to illustrate water pathways and the impacts of climate change on south Florida. Throughout the program, students gathered information for their projects through all kinds of fun activities. They went on a field trip to Anne Kolb Nature Center, met in-person with University of Miami scientist Dr. Arthur Mariano, met Dr. Annmarie Eldering of NASA via virtual worlds, conducted their own research, and built model aquifers. They even met virtually with students from Maloka Interactive Science Center in Colombia, who were also working on water and climate related projects, through the Museum’s SCEnaRioS project. The final result was truly impressive, because not only did each group create south Florida environments like the Everglades or downtown Miami, but all of the groups worked together to make these environments fit in one interactive map of south Florida. All of the students received well-deserved certificates of completion, not to mention some yummy cake.
In recent times, energy is always discussed with the adjectives “green,” “renewable,” or clean.” Scientists are always trying to find new ways to generate energy from sources that will not “run out.” For example, we have a practically endless supply of sunlight (used in solar panels), wind (which powers windmills), heat (from the Earth’s underground geothermal energy), and even bacteria (used in microbial fuel cells). We also have a few exhibits at the Museum where you can learn about clean energy:
Air is all around us, so the French engineering company MDI took advantage of this clean energy source to create the AirPod. This car, which is powered by compressed air, can travel up to 45mph, and you can come see this cool car at the Museum.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe, so why not use hydrogen as a fuel? In another exhibit at the Museum, you can see a model car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, and the only exhaust released is clean water vapor. For this reason hydrogen is a great option for long-term space travel, since you can use the water left over from burning the hydrogen fuel.
What about us? Energy of motion, called kinetic energy, can be used to generate electricity too. At the Museum, you can make a light bulb light up by riding a bicycle, or if you feel like dancing, you can (literally) light up the Museum’s energy dance floor. So come help generate some clean energy at the Museum!
Imagine you are flying above Florida, looking down at the winding (and in some places straight) Kissimmee River, the enormous Lake Okeechobee, the patchwork quilt of farmlands, the watery green Everglades, and the urban sprawl of houses and roads. For those of us who are not superheroes with the ability to fly, the students participating in our Digital WAVE program can give you that opportunity. They have been learning about climate change and the water pathways throughout south Florida, and have created a 3D virtual south Florida to illustrate these crucial environmental issues. Take a photo tour of south Florida with us, and you will be amazed at the progress amd creativity of these young people. (Click on each image to see a larger picture.)
Art. Science. Mangroves. These three words are not usually put in the same sentence. But they are the core ideas behind the Museum’s Reclamation Project, which has a singular goal to help reclaim south Florida environments for nature. As part of the project, over 1,100 red mangrove seedlings growing in clear cups of water cover one exterior wall of the Museum, in a thought-provoking exhibit showing that we can all make a difference in the world. Fernando Bretos, Reclamation Project Director, Audubon TogetherGreen Fellow, and Kinship Conservation Fellow, wrote an article about the project which was recently published by Care2, the largest online community in the world for environmental activism. With over 19 million members, Care2 is a great place to help spread the word that even though the world is a big place, every person, and every little mangrove seedling, can make a difference. Click here to check out the article on Care2!
Museum staff always work really hard to find ways to inspire young people, and our visitors, in science and the world around them. But we love being inspired by someone teaching us something new too. Recently, Erica Moulton of the MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) Center led Museum staff in a workshop to build and design remotely-operated (ROV) vehicles. ROVs can explore underwater environments where it is difficult or impossible for humans to go themselves. They can monitor coral reef systems, explore shipwrecks, or even go underneath ice sheets in Antarctica. They can observe, but also take photos, videos, and even collect specimens. And it takes a lot of people with many different skills to get ROVs from design to operation to observation to results – like electricians, engineers, and all different kinds of scientists, depending on what you want to learn from what the ROV observed or collected. But as we at the Museum always like to remind people, you can do science anywhere, at any time, with simple materials you can find in your kitchen drawers or at the local hardware store. Ms. Moulton, through a National Science FoundationITEST grant, provided us with several ROV kits and all the materials necessary to build ROVs with our Museum audiences. She uses these same kits to work with schools and teachers on engaging students in ROVs, which then may be entered into regional and national ROV student competitions. At the workshop, we worked in teams to glue little propellers to motors, solder wires to electrical switches, build the frame of the ROV using pieces of PVC piping, and add foam tubing to help with floatation. Now our ROVs are ready to explore, and we are so excited to find all the ways to pass on our inspiration to our Museum audiences, and let others try their hand at ROV building and operating!
Our ROV in a Bag kit
Wiring and soldering the switches on the box to operate the ROV
Many young people wonder… How do I take what I’m interested in, and turn it into a career? For Dr. Arthur Mariano, it was a a simple love of fishing and being on the water that sparked his career. He is one of the world’s leading experts in ocean dynamics, and is a Professor of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Dr. Mariano recently came to speak to students in the Museum’s Digital Wave program about his work and his career path. His research concentrates on modeling and predicting ocean variability, and he spoke to students about various research methods of understanding ocean dynamics. Methods include numerical circulation models as well as direct measurements using a system of ocean buoys and satellite observations. Two applications of this knowledge really made students stop and think about how science applies to our everyday lives. 1) How can we best predict and stop the spread of oil after a spill? 2) How do we find someone if they’re lost at sea? The answer to both questions is: Go to scientists like Dr. Mariano, who can predict, based on knowledge of the ocean and currents, how the oil is moving through the water, or where to search for the missing boater. And all of this knowledge, and this amazing career, all started with a young boy’s love of fishing.
There is a constant battle in many places between the environment and human activity, and south Florida is one of those places. But on Saturday May 12th, the Museum’s Reclamation Project took steps to help the environment win the battle. With the help of 102 volunteers, this eco-art based restoration project completed the final phase of restoration of the freshwater wetland at Highland Oaks Park. Within this park is the beginning of the Oleta River, which is the only fresh water tributary to Biscayne Bay that has not been altered by flood control systems – which means it flows naturally and unimpeded from source to sea. The restored Highland Oaks habitat will provide the low-salinity environment necessary for fisheries as well as a critical nesting and foraging area for native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. With this goal in mind, volunteers planted 642 freshwater native plant species in the cypress wetland area of the park. Who were all of these volunteers? About half were people from around our community, and half were youth participants in the Museum’s award-winning Upward Bound Math and Science Program. The students planted trees and shrubs, removed invasive plants that threaten the site, and learned about the important role native habitats play in a growing metropolis such as Miami. After completing the replanting phase at Highland Oaks, the students are ensured that nature will take care of the rest. Native fish, birds and mammals are already returning to the site. The power of volunteer restoration is that it allows Miami residents to have a direct role in bringing nature back to our city.
