Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Bridging the Technology Divide in the COVID-19 Era: Using Virtual Outreach to Expose Middle and High School Students to Imaging Technology
Published on: September 28, 2022
Desert Survivors: the design and implementation of a television program to enhance local scientific literacy
Jenifer C Utz1, Candice M Rausch, Laurie Fruth
1School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA.
Abstract:
Outreach efforts by faculty members are oftentimes limited in scope due to hectic schedules. We developed a program to enhance science literacy in elementary school children that allows experts to reach a tremendous audience while minimizing their time commitment. The foundation of the program is a television series entitled "Desert Survivors." The episodes air on local cable access television and are available to teachers on DVD. Each episode features a guest expert who spotlights a particular organism and how that organism overcomes the myriad of hardships inherent to desert survival. Local classrooms are visited to solicit questions from students regarding the organism of interest. These videotaped questions are integrated into Desert Survivors television production and provide the guest expert with the basis to discuss the ecology, physiology, and evolutionary biology of the organism. The program is bolstered through the use of an interactive website. Assessment strategies are in place to ensure program efficacy. Herein, we describe the development of the program as a model for innovative outreach opportunities.
Related Concept Videos
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
Responses to Drought and Flooding
Design Example: Design of an Irrigation Channel
The Soil Ecosystem
Cable: Problem Solving
Impact: Problem Solving
By designating the launch point as the origin and utilizing kinematic equations, the vertical component of the projectile's velocity at the point of impact is...
