The scope and diversity of the New England Science Center Collaborative's membership presents continuous opportunities to develop programs for different venues and audiences. NESCC tailors the content of its programs to fit how different audiences in informal educational venues learn best. The content is designed for a variety of formats from hands-on-exhibits to citizen science projects, from formal presentations by well-known scientists to workshops on specific topics held at research institutions, from articles that can be included in the publications of its members to informative programs for broadcast on radio or television. This multi-media, multi-venue approach is designed to overcome the complexities of climate change by reaching a multitude of people, in many audiences, with a variety of approaches, on a continuing basis. Our programs are listed below:

1. Meet the Scientists (Professional Development Programs)
NESCC's original, and most popular, program offers our members a unique opportunity to learn about climate change research, get to know one another and share teaching techniques. Since many people learn most effectively from presentations and conversations with experts, the Collaborative has developed a climate change training program for staff and volunteers at science centers. This program also extends invitations to docents (museum volunteers), school teachers and community leaders.

Meet the Scientists gatherings also provide training opportunities, to expand the pool of individuals trained to use NESCC teaching tools in their organizations and classrooms.

The growth of the Collaborative from 14 to nearly 30 organizations in the last six years expands New England's capacity to develop and deliver coordinated environmental education programs. By sharing and developing educational materials, programs and events, the Collaborative is strategically using its members' skills and resources to reach an increasingly-interested and ever-expanding audience.

The Meet the Scientists program is a two-pronged annual training program. The first part of the program is held at a research institution and focuses on current climate science presented by scientists in the field.  The second part of the training focuses instructors on teaching the topic by using the Climate Change Backpack^R. The Meet the Scientist program offers day-long events at research institutions: Tufts University; the Earth, Ocean, and Space Institute at the University of New Hampshire, Woods Hole Research Center and the Army Corp of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratories. The follow-up instructional Climate Change Backpack^R training sessions are hosted by NESCC members and have been held at: the Society to Protect New Hampshire Forests in Concord NH; the Appalachian Mountain Club in Pinkham Notch; NH, the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA; Waquoit Bay Natural Estuarine Research Center in Waquoit, MA; Acadia National Park; and at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, ME.

2. Climate Change Exhibit
NESCC has a family-friendly exhibit called: Climate Change, Should We Care?. It is displayed at nine locations throughout New England. This interactive exhibit is a great way for individuals, school children and families to learn about global warming and its possible impacts on our region of the country. The exhibit takes a complicated issue and makes it understandable; it helps people to see how human actions effect the amount of carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases in the atmosphere, and it offers solutions. The exhibit includes three popular games that identify sources of CO2 emissions, comparisons of CO2 emissions, and twenty ways to lower our emissions.

3. Climate Change Backpack^R
NESCC has developed a teaching tool called the Climate Change Backpack^R. The curriculum materials and activities fit into a rugged, water-resistant, Timberland Company daypack for use in classrooms and in the field.  The lessons are designed to expand or contract according to the audience and available teaching time. The Climate Change Backpack^R contains an extensive Presenters' Guide^©, graphs, maps, experiments, group activities and a variety of props -- an imitation ice core, a compact fluorescent light bulb, clothespins and a clothesline, and a geologic timeline.  Backpacks are currently located in science centers and classrooms throughout New England and in 124 National Parks throughout the United States. The Collaborative is currently developing the second version of the Climate Change Backpack^R.   The Backpack is competitively priced with similar curriculum kits at $199 per pack. 

• Click here to find photos of the Climate Change Backpack^R
• Link to Climate Change Backpack^? Order Form
• Suggestions from presenters on more ways to use the Climate Change Backpack^R

Climate Change Backpack^R Presenter's Guide
(NOTE - To download, right-click on link and choose 'Save Target As')

Introduction (14.5 Mb PDF)
Chapter 1 (11.6 Mb PDF)
Chapter 2 (13.5 Mb PDF)
Chapter 3 (2.9 Mb PDF)
Chapter 4 (2.9 Mb PDF)
Chapter 5 (7.9 Mb PDF)
Chapter 6 (3.9 Mb PDF)
Chapter 7 (5.2 Mb PDF)
Chapter 8 (8.6 Mb PDF)
Chapter 9 (1.9 Mb PDF)
Chapter 10 (.6 Mb PDF)
Chapter 11 (.7 Mb PDF)
Chapter 12 (3.5 Mb PDF)
Chapter 13 (21.2 Mb PDF)

4. Speaker's Bureau
Identify and make quality information available to the public. The NESCC Speaker's Bureau offers a list of climate experts to science centers for their lecture series and annual meetings. Each speaker was chosen for his/her expertise in their field and interest in involving the public in key issues facing our communities, state and nation. Inquiries about and arrangements for speakers should be made by directly contacting individuals on the attached list (send questions to nescc@earthlink.net). Find a list of available speakers here.

5. Greening Our Science Centers

The Greening Our Science Centers Initiative borrows its name from a thirteen-year effort at many college campuses across the country.  It is a solutions-based program designed to inventory, improve and track energy use and emissions output.  The program emphasizes sustainability, community involvement and cost savings.  It is widely accepted as an effecive approach to facilities' management and, when done well, the program encompasses all constituents in an organization -- the administration, trustees, staff, faculty, students, members and visitors.

The Greening Inititative proposes to: l) identify NESCC members' needs; 2) use NESCC member expeertise and a mentoring process to guide the process; 3) identify resources to assist greening efforts; and 4) involve visitors to member organizations through communication and education programs.

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6. Exhibit Planning
The Collaborative continually plans exhibits and educational programs on how climate change will affect the ecosystems and communities of New England. The plans for future exhibits include: a video that introduces the topic of climate change, exhibits that will demonstrate its possible effects on local ecosystems, and educational programs that each of the participating science centers can tailor to their audiences. All of the educational components address what climate change is, how scientists know it is happening, how it will effect the environments that people live in and care about, and what individuals or society can do about it. Members of the Collaborative are working with the Museum of Science in Boston, the American Museum of Natural History, exhibit designers, and an evaluation firm on shaping future projects.

7. Outreach Activities
Outreach activities include a wide-range of educational opportunities that come our way to distribute various publications and teaching tools, collaborate on special events and work with our members to further engage the public in learning about climate change.  A good example of an NESCC outreach program is:

The Weather Notebook
The Weather Notebook is a two-minute radio program aired five days a week and produced by NESCC member -- The Mount Washington Observatory. A weekly series on global climate change was developed and incorporated into the The Weather Notebook beginning in May, 2002.  Climate change segments are aired once a week -- on Tuesdays. The two-minute segment features human interest stories, technological updates, and reports on scientific developments. You may read program transcripts or listen to past programs by going to http://www.weathernotebook.org/ and clicking on the Global Climate Change Series. The Weather Notebook is syndicated in the United States on 200 public radio stations and 30 commercial stations; internationally it is carried on the United States Armed Forces Radio Station. The program reaches 4 million households a week.  TOP OF PAGE