For almost 20 years, the Museum has partnered with Southern Methodist University faculty on important paleontological work: from excavating bones and fossils at sites in Texas to preparing the fossils for research and exhibitions.
NEW VENUES FOR LEARNING AND EXPLORATION
In addition to the Museum's award-winning hands-on exhibits, breathtaking IMAX films, enriching public programs, and unique Museum School® curriculum, the Museum has a rich history of developing innovative programs that present new venues for learning and exploration. Some of these innovative programs include:
CommunITy Studios
CommunITy Studios is an innovative three-year project designed to motivate middle and high school students to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math (-- STEM ). The program is funded by a grant of nearly $867,000 from the National Science Foundation. It builds upon the success of the Museum’s DesignIT Studios, a three-year pilot that encouraged youth to strive for careers in information technology or STEM -related occupations. That program, also funded by the National Science Foundation, received national attention for innovation in education. The new program involves hundreds of teens from the Fort Worth area in after-school and summer activities intended to create excitement about and understanding of technology. Three studio environments mentor teens from the Fort Worth area and help them gradually acquire and hone STEM -related experiences that may inspire them to consider college and career vocations: One studio engages students from Fort Worth Independent School District ’s Trimble Tech High School on their home turf. A second studio, located at the Museum, host teens from across the Metroplex, while a third mobile studio travels to work with teens in their own communities.
Students will extend their program experience by taking their passion for information technology back to their communities, reaching diverse audiences through community studios and mobile festivals. Students will also have the opportunity to interact with the public in the Museum’s new facility.
TexNET
TexNET – the Texas Network for Exhibit-Based Learning and Teaching – partners the Museum of Science and History and San Francisco's Exploratorium with three smaller science museums that have strong connections to rural and Spanish-speaking populations in Texas: Discovery Science Place in Tyler; Imaginarium of South Texas in Laredo; and Science Spectrum in Lubbock. The four-year project is modeled on the Exploratorium’s Network for Exhibit-based Teaching (ExNET), of which Fort Worth is a lead member. Each year, the smaller museum partners host a set of ten exhibits that focus on motion, weather, or sound. The exhibits are paired with professional development and capacity-building workshops. TexNET is made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Texas Center for Inquiry
The Texas Center for Inquiry is a collaborative effort between the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas, and the Exploratorium's Institute for Inquiry. The Center was established in 2000 in response to a growing number of Texas science educational professional developers and practitioners seeking first-hand experiences inquiry. Participation in TCI's institutes and follow-up coaching and mentoring enables professional developers and practitioners to take their experiences back to their home districts and expand the district's capacity to implement inquiry in classroom settings.
