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When we planned our new exhibit areas, we began by looking at the
National Science Education Standards and (to a lesser degree) the PA
state science standards.  Out of those emerged big themes: matter and
chemical systems, earth and environmental systems, living systems, and
physical and mechanical systems.  I have a "big ideas matrix" that I'll
be happy to share with anyone who emails me off list.  We chose to go
with content themes to make our exhibit program transparent to schools.


You could also go with crosscutting themes such as scale or systems as
organizing ideas, but these require much more interpretation to help the
visitor understand what the point is.  The Da Vinci Center staff all
understand that Michael Gelb's 7 Da Vincian Principles (from his book
How to Think Like Leonardo) cut across all our areas and we even have
banners highlighting the principles as you enter, but the general public
completely misses that aspect of the program because it's not explicitly
developed.

Even if you are not much concerned about schools and their curriculum,
it makes sense to start with standards and big ideas because these big
ideas arose out of the most fundamental questions we can ask about our
world.  Those questions, in turn, are fundamental because they are
deeply connected to our experiences, so exhibits based on big ideas will
be more likely to connect strongly with the visitor's pre-existing
experiences.

Dave Smith

David L. Smith, Ph.D.
Director of Professional Development
Da Vinci Discovery Center, Allentown, PA 
http://www.davinci-center.org
"Who will pick up where Leonardo left off?"



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Doctor Discovery
> Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 10:25 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Museum planning help, please
>
> 
> As we plan for our brick-and-mortar museum, we would like to hear  
> other's experiences in the following areas of exhibit planning:
> 
> 1. What kinds of exhibit grouping/galleries have you used and 
> does it  
> make a difference?

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