ABSTRACT
When you think about learning science, what kind of environment comes to mind? Do you think of a classroom, a teacher, a whiteboard, and some laboratory equipment? These are undoubtedly central elements of the school science setting. But are there other places where students learn science? If so, how do the science understandings gained in one setting transfer to another? These are the questions Ash and her colleagues would like us to reflect on as we read their chapter on informal science learning in an aquarium and marine biology discovery center. Many of us have been to such centers. They are often on our list of “things to see” when we visit new cities. On rainy days in our home communities, we may consider them a dependable place to fight off the doldrums. We frequently have fond feelings for these centers because they remind us, when we were younger, of the excitement of the very occasional special field trip. But have we thought seriously about the important role such centers play in science learning? Here the authors ask that we consider how essential such centers are because of the way they provide access to a multitude of objects that no single science classroom could ever hold and because of the way, even further, they make science learning a family matter. Both of these unique characteristics of discovery centers, these authors argue, make them useful tools in enhancing science learning for a growing segment of the U.S. school population-English Language Learners (ELLs).
