Volume 3, No. 16. August 22,2003
Signs
of life
As scientific debates
go, it is not one of the most historically relevant or life-alteringly profound.
But it is one of the most discussed: where do you get wetter, in the front,
middle or back of a log flume ride, and what does passenger weight have to do
with it?
That question is
getting even greater play for guests lining up to ride Log Jammer at
Kennywood. The West Miflin, Pennsylvania, amusement park is taking part in the
Girls, Math and Science Partnership, a program under the auspices of Family
Communications Inc. (the late Fred Rogers’ company) and two local universities.
As part of a campaign to get young girls interested in math and science, the
program, with grants from the Heinz Endowments, Alcoa Foundation and the National
Science Foundation, seeks to expose kids and their families to the science all
around them.
“Science is
everywhere, and that’s the message we want people to take away,” said
Barbara Mistick, director of Girls, Math and Science Partnership. “We know
kids tend to drop out of science especially in middle school because they think
it’s hard or doesn’t have much application. We want to develop some
comfort level with science.”
The program used
Kennywood’s steel roller coaster Phantom’s Revenge for the
pilot project last year with a series of signs in the queue explaining coaster
physics. The National Science Foundation then stepped in with a three-year grant
to determine which type of venue and medium would work best for these living
science lessons. The program has installed signs at an ice skating rink, interactive
signs at a city playground, and a video message played right before the Major
League Baseball games at PNC Park, plus signs at that stadium ’s children’s
play area.
In the initial
study, the signs that seem to be the most effective were those put in by Kennywood
this year in the Log Jammer queue. One reason is the captive audience.
“If you’re in long lines you might as well do something,” said
Mary Lou Rosemeyer, Kennywood’s publicity director. Another reason is the
signs’ look and location, both courtesy of students at the Carnegie Mellon
University’s School of Design (though Kennywood paid to build the signs).
“Revenge’s signs are a little more content-oriented: did you
know and then they give facts,” Rosemeyer said. “Log Jammer's
are a lot more creative. And they’re great because they are (located) throughout
the lines.” Yet another reason is the lesson’s relevancy. “I
don’t think anybody who has stood in line for one of those rides hasn’t
thought about where they should sit to get the wettest or stay the driest.”
Studying the signs’
effectiveness are psychology researchers from the University of Pittsburgh,
using such methods as pre- and post-exposure surveys and observations. In other
words, “They’re eavesdropping on what’s going on,” Mistick
said, meaning they’ve been standing in a lot of Log Jammer lines
the past month. “The day I went out with one of the Pittsburgh paper photographers
climbing through the line, everybody was talking about it,” Rosemeyer said.
“They were reading the signs. Kids and their parents. It really works.”
Girls, Math, and
Science Partnership is one of many concerted efforts around the country to bring
more gender balance to the study of math and sciences. Girls drop out of science
in middle schools at three times the rate of their male peers, Mistick said,
and the number of women graduating from engineering programs is 5 percent. “That’s
not changed at all in 20 years,” she said. Studies also show the fault
lies in society, not aptitudes.
For the signage
program, the signs are geared toward girls. “We know from research that
the stuff that appeals to girls will also appeal to boys,” Mistick said.
“More aggressive and action focus will turn girls off.” At the park,
choice of rides plays a part. “They’re looking for rides on which
there’s a lot of girls riding, there’s interest in the topic, there’s
enough riders in the queue to have the opportunity to get out the message.”
That last bit is the responsibility of the Carnegie Mellon designers, but they got some advice from a couple of thousand Girl Scouts last week. To help Girls, Math, and Science Partnership extend its community network, Rosemeyer suggested Mistick’s office participate in the park’s hosting of the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania last week. “I suggested the Girl Scouts because that’s a couple thousand girls here right at their target demo,” Rosemeyer said. One of the scouts’ task was to decide which other rides should also get the science signs. Girls who completed that project got a Scout badge. After the day, the two groups were talking more long-term partnerships. “We share a common interest in seeing that girls can be everything they want to be,” Mistick said.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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