Office of Education and Outreach
Discovery Room Services
STATEMENT OF WORK
October 6, 2012
1. Background
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, located at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C., is the most-visited natural history museum in the world. Opened in 1910, the green-domed museum on the National Mall is dedicated to maintaining and preserving the world’s most extensive collection of natural history specimens and cultural artifacts. It fosters significant scientific research and educational programs and exhibitions that present the work of its scientists to the public.
As one of the onsite learning venues at the National Museum of Natural History, the Discovery Room is a hands-on space which offers two types of learning experiences: educator-facilitated school programs and free exploration during public hours. During public hours, museum visitors (mostly school groups and families with children) explore hands-on activities about the natural world at their own pace guided by their own interests.
During school programs, students participate in activities based on exhibition themes and use objects from the Museum’s collections to hone their scientific inquiry skills, such as close observation and comparing and contrasting and using evidence to draw conclusions.
2. Objective
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History seeks a flexible and enthusiastic contractor to support its Discovery Room school programs. In addition, the contractor will assist with the Discovery Room’s public hours, including interactions with museum visitors that focus on the collections and activities in the Discovery Room.
3. Scope of Work
The contractor shall provide the necessary labor to conduct and coordinate educational programming in NMNH’s Discovery Room as outlined here:
Tasks
a. Teaching and Facilitation of Educational Programs
• Lead and facilitate at the most 186 school programs.
• Lead and facilitate at the most 26 weekend open hours sessions.
• Facilitate at the most 104 weekday open hour sessions.
• Facilitate home school kit sessions.
• Lead intermittent special programs for the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center (SEEC).
b. Organization and Preparation for Educational Programs (cont’d)
• Organize materials for confirmation packets and send to teachers prior to their program in the Discovery Room.
• Update and organize volunteers in volunteer management system.
• Organize and prepare home school programs and SEEC programs.
• Coordinate home school program registrations.
• Track and confirm school program registrations.
• Coordinate volunteers and materials for school programs.
• Set up and break down school program sessions.
• Conduct phone and email correspondence about Discovery Room school programs, home school programs and open hours activities.
c. Maintenance and Care of Discovery Room Activities and Collections
• Maintain and update activities for open hours.
• Maintain and update Discovery Room collection.
Deliverables
a. Weekly written reports summarizing the educational programming work in the Discovery Room will be due to COTR no later than close of business on Monday for the previous week.
b. Weekly and month reports of visitor participation in school and general visitation programs to the Smithsonian Institution’s EDGE system
Period of Performance
All tasks and deliverables will begin upon approval of contract and end one year from approval of contract.
Place of Performance
Contractor shall perform all tasks at the National Museum of Natural History. No travel costs will be reimbursed.
Contractor will work in a team environment with other staff, volunteers and interns.
4. Requirements
School programs in the Discovery Room occur on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday from 10:15 am – 12:00 pm. Correspondence and preparatory time is anticipated to take 2 - 3 hours a week, which includes 30 minutes before and after each school program day for set-up and breakdown. General programming occurs Tuesdays through Saturdays, including holidays. Total anticipated weekly commitment, including school programming, open hours, and administrative duties, will be between 30 - 35 hours.