Science Crawl 2007

The KNME Science Crawl, a collaborative venture with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) and Albuquerque Museums, builds interest and enthusiasm in the field of science. Through Science Crawl, students explore the depth and richness of New Mexico’s science and technology resources. In addition, Science Crawl gives students the opportunity to visit Albuquerque’s rich science museums—some for the first time. The goalis to stimulate interest in science and math careers.

With funding by Applied Research Technologies, Cabot, Commercial Data Systems, and APS, over 1000 6th grade students from five APS middle schools took part in educational activities aligned with state science standards at the The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, National Atomic Museum, Lodestar Astronomy Center, The Rio Grande Zoo, the Albuquerque Aquarium, Botanic Gardens, and Explora, Participating science teachers received DVD sets of PBS Kids series DRAGONFLYTV and DESIGN SQUAD for use in the classroom.

Activities

Each museum provided a focus activity for the students. Some included:

• Roots, Leaves and Stems study and a Desert plant scavenger hunt at the Botanic Gardens;
• A study of Sharks, Jelly, Fish, Coral Reefs and Oceans at the Albuquerque Aquarium;
• An alternative energy activity at The National Atomic Museum;
• and Observing and detailing animal behavior of two Education animals at the Rio Grande Zoo.

These activities were created solely for the SCIENCE CRAWL participants, giving them a unique experience not available to regular patrons.

The content for the Science Crawl was in line with the New Mexico Public Education Science Standards for grade 6-8. The on-going goal of Science Crawl is to build interest and enthusiasm in the field of science and in visiting the museums.