The Denver Museum of Natural History proposes to develop over a two-year period (1988-1990) a series of permanent health exhibits in 10,000 square foot area of its new "Hall of Life". The topics will include how life begins, genetics, the five senses, nutrition, fitness, stress and living with substances. The purpose is to promote health and to help to prevent disease through informal science education in a a museum setting. Among the largest natural history museums in the country, the DMNH served 1.5 million visitors in 1987. The proposed exhibit promises to provide a needed educational service to the extended community. The topics have been carefully determined, in part through extensive community involvement and are pertinent to the needs of those whom the museum serves. Such expecially is the case since Colorado is one of the few states with no madated health education in its schools. In the fiscal area, there is strong community support. NSF support will compose only about 17% of the cost of the exhibit and will go for the exhibit proper, funding of the project director for one year, the cost of formative evaluation, and consultancy for exhibit engineering.
