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Recently, NASA announced the selection of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis as one of only nine informal education providers in the nation to receive a Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums (CP4SMP) grant. The Children’s Museum will use the two-year grant of more than $597, 000 to create Curious Scientific Investigator (CSI): Flight Adventures, an array of museum-wide experiences and activities to immerse children and families in aeronautics education focused on the science of flight and NASA contributions to space travel and aviation.
CSI: Flight Adventures will blend flight concepts introduced in a new planetarium show with both on-site and online programs to enga
ge children and families through observation, experimentation and investigation. Museum visitors will be introduced to the science of aeronautics as well as the history of aviation pioneers and how they helped pave the way for flight technology.
“Through the programs and activities that encompass the immersive CSI: Flight Adventures, The Children’s Museum goal is to inspire, engage and educate children, families, students and teachers about flight, ” said Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, museum president and CEO. “This comprehensive programming will educate children and families in the concepts of science, technology, engineering and math and the role that NASA missions have played in the evolution of flight.”
As one of the selected organizations receiving a CP4SMP grant, The Children’s Museum will partner with NASA’s Museum Alliance, an Internet-based national network of more than 400 science and nature centers, planetariums, museums, aquariums, zoos and related organizations. The CSI: Flight Adventures programming and planetarium show will be created in consultation with advisors from the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), headquartered in Muncie, Ind., and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (FRC).
“The Children’s Museum’s partnerships with the Academy of Model Aeronautics and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center represent an extraordinary collaboration among these leading organizations in their respective fields, ” said Patchen.
CSI: Flight Adventures will be created with additional assistance from advisors at Rolls-Royce and Purdue University. Video content produced in partnership with WFYI Indianapolis will be used in the planetarium show.
The nine selected organizations will work with NASA’s Shared Service Center in Mississippi to complete the business review necessary before a NASA award is issued.
For more information about The Children’s Museum, visit childrensmuseum.org.
