TakeTheField

TakeTheField is a program at The Field Museum in collaboration with The Pearson Foundation's New Learning Institute that allows teens to go behind the scenes at and interact with scientists, designers, researchers and other teen volunteers like themselves. Teens get to hear firsthand accounts of what it’s like to roam the plains of Africa and tromp through the forests of South America. In addition, they observe the process of designing an exhibit from scratch and see interactive pieces being built. Here are the TakeTheField workshops:

Youth Design Team:

Youth Design Team is a month-long digital design workshop. Teens will research various kinds of design such as game design, audiocasts and web design. Teens then create a project proposal and begin a three week-long production period. All the while, they will meet designers and staff from the museum for advice on their projects and to explore what it's like to have a career in digital design and an assortment of other jobs at the museum. Applications for future Youth Design Team workshops are available here: Youth Design Team Workshops @ The Field.

These are some examples of what teens are making in TakeTheField workshops. Each teen takes various forms of digital media to create some sort of project that reflects something interesting that they’ve taken away from their given workshop. Here you’ll find documentaries, online games, informative audiocasts and other forms of media.  Check it out:

Digital Planet:

Digital Planet is a week-long film and media workshop. In this workshop, teens meet with a scientist who is an expert in their field to discuss a given scientific topic. They will then plan, film, edit and showcase a series of videos on this topic. Applications for future Digital Planet workshops aren't available at this time, but watch this space.