Promoting Science Literacy by Engaging the Public

摘要

When you're standing inside a volcano, it's hard not to pay attention to what's around you. And whose interest wouldn't be captured by guiding remotely operated vehicles through a hydrothermal vent or pumping magma into a volcano and watching it erupt? The new Science Adventure Center at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawai'i, captures the imagination in a bid to increase science literacy. In doing so, the center provides a valuable opportunity not just for its visitors, but for all those interested in science education. Both the center's mission and its design inspire critical questions: What is science literacy? How does a person become science-literate? What roles can museums, schools, and other institutions play in promoting science literacy? And what can teachers learn from museums, and vice versa, about science education?