ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ***************************************************************************** Love the involvement of teachers and kids in the process especially because it was a middle school student that actually had the original idea for rat basketball. When we were doing the Science of Sports at COSI I read a brief article in Ranger Rick (I think) about a rat basketball science project at a school in Indianapolis. I called the school to see if they could have the parents of the girl who did the project call me so I could get more info. When I talked to the girl she said she got the idea for training rats from her uncle who was teaching in Chicago. We then brought the student and her uncle to Columbus to train us. The first go around was very time consuming and did take me about 2 to 3 months. But as time went the rats also trained us, and we got better. At one point I did it in about a month. The people at COSI have developed even better strategies, but I am not certain how long it is taking now. When at Pacific Science Center, I taught rats to recycle paper, plastic and metal. That was much more difficult. The big issue is that this whole effort was inspired by a middle school student and was one of the most popular parts of the Science of Sports exhibit. Another major innovation that came out of the exhibit planning process was "Happy and Sad" balls. Bill Schmitt -----Original Message----- From: Informal Science Education Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Becky Matthews Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 8:52 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Rats! (was sports science exhibits) ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. **************************************************************************** * Our rat-training expert here (thanks, Larry) says typically it took about 4-6 weeks to train the rats and yes, their sports career (and lifetime) is only a few years long. The training here has been done in some years with the assistance of summer youth volunteers. In recent years, we have been lucky enough to have a local high school teacher train the rats with his students. After the school year, the rats come to the science center, returning "back to school" in the fall long enough for the teacher to inspire his new class of students. It does take dedicated staff time for the training, training often and consistently. Becky Fox Matthews Senior Educator/Special Projects Manager Adventure Science Center 800 Ft. Negley Blvd. Nashville, TN 37203 voice: 615-401-5073 Our Mission Adventure Science Center ignites curiosity and inspires the lifelong discovery of science. *********************************************************************** For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org. The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask] *********************************************************************** For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org. The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask]