Week 5 November 19th

Today was started out by playing a quick game then each group shared their exhibit/prototype ideas so far. We bounced ideas off each other and refined them a bit.

Next, we traveled upstairs to the museum floor and met with Mallory Vopal who manages the floor spaces on the museum. She gave us a good idea of what places would be great for setting up our prototypes.

From there, we headed back to the classroom and worked diligently on our prototypes until the end of the day. We also tested some of our work on other groups in order to get some feedback.

Week 5 November 17th

Today we started off with an introduction to Ricardo Washington, a game designer who came to help us better decided how we want to present our exhibits. We then identified areas of interest to communicate to the public in our group. This decided what subject matter our prototypes would focus on.

From there, Ricardo spoke a lot about how games are designed to entice people as well as communicate something. He then explained briefly how this information could be used and applied to a museum exhibit.

Next we set up a "Climate Playground" of various prototypes of museum games and activities. The teens were encouraged to take part in each activity and deduce what made that activity enjoyable or memorable, or what made it unenjoyable or confusing.

Lastly, we got into our teams and the teens assigned themselves various roles which will be used during the exhibit design. These roles are project manager, design specialist, materials person, content specialist, and engagement specialist. We then shared our ideas and finalized our materials list.

Week 4 November 12th

Today we started off with a visit from a speaker, associated with Jane Clougherty, who came and talked to us about Jane's research. This research focuses mainly on how air quality and various social stressors are related.

We then had a visit from a representative of the group GASP. She brought in some very interesting air monitoring equipment. The teens then used these resources to monitor air quality in the are around the museum and the library while recording there findings. It was a fun activity which showed how particulate matter can vary from place to place even when indoors.

To round out the day, we all took part in straight talk within our teams. This gave everyone a chance to give honest feedback to the other members within our teens.

Week 4 November 10th

Today, we started off with a lesson about history of environmental justice. Included in the lesson were some examples of what environmental justice entails.

After this, we introduced a project, of which, the teens would be a major part. The project was an environmental justice debate. This debate was specifically focused on the practice of fracking near residential areas. The teens were split into teams and each given a pro or con stance as well as the role of someone concerning fracking near the Pittsburgh International Airport.

The teens then proceeded to do research on the subject matter and their particular role in the debate. The debate then took place for roughly 45 mins and was very heated. The teens took on the roles well and did an excellent job debating. The judges (Lindsey, Clara, Justin, Amanda and Tom) will tally up the scores and see who won the debate on Thursday.

Week 3 Novemeber 5: Museum Tour

Today we started our session with a Carnegie Museum of Art Design Tour. Two docents from the Museum gave us a tour of the HAC lab and the Charity Randall Gallery. The teens were really interested in the pieces and were really engaged in the docents' presentation.Through the tour, the  teens were able to learn about the design process of an exhibit well as the communication strategies used to convey the message of the exhibit. This tour was a great way to get the teens thinking about their own museum exhibit.

After the tour we stayed in our tour groups and continued our group discussion work from last Thursday. The group that went to the Dinosaur Hall to learn timescale with Justin stayed in the classroom with Lindsey to go over exhibit design and brainstorming and visa-versa.

When both groups finished we regrouped in the classroom to learn about legacy effects. We watched a short video on the effects smog and pollution has on locals living near industrial sites of pollution. The video showed what life was like 50 years ago in Pittsburgh as well as today. Although a lot has changed, there is still room for improvement. After the watching the video, the teens browsed the Breath Project website to learn more about the current state of pollution of Pittsburgh. The teens were able to see time lapse videos, today's air quality reading and air quality comparisons between Pittsburgh and other major cities.   

Week 3 Tuesday Novemeber 3: Atmosphere and Sources of Pollution

Today we learned about Parts per Million (ppm), atmosphere and time scale. Justin gave a lesson on the different atmosphere layers and what happens in those layers through a guessing game activity. The students had a lot of fun guessing which layers contained airplanes, satellites, and geological features such as Mt. Everest. They were also very surprised to find what each layer contains.

After our guessing activity, Justin discussed sources of air pollution. He went over sources and the differences between primary and secondary pollutants. The teens then used their research skills to look up the different primary and secondary pollutants, sources and the source's pollutants. It was great to see the teens so engaged in their research! We collected back as a group and went over our findings.

We ended today's session with a scavenger hunt around Oakland. We broke up into three groups and set outside. The teens were given a sheet with clues to find evidence of pollution. After some thinking about the clues, the teens were able to find the different locations: The Natural History Museum, Carnegie Library, Mellon Institute, the Cathedral, the former coal power plant behind the museum and vehicles! It was great getting outside and showing the teens real life examples of what we've been learning in sessions.

Week 2 Thursday October 29: Geological Timescale

Today we finished our experiment team presentations and demonstrations. Then we went over the geological timescale and its importance with Justin and Tom. Afterwards, we broke up into 2 groups. The first group went up to the museum with Justin to tour the Dinosaur Hall and learn some more about the geological timescale. The second group went over exhibit design with Lindsey and brainstormed interview questions and design layouts. After the two groups finished, we went over workshop goals and did our first straight talk.