UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN ... - Bizjournals

Case 1:13-cv-03241-AT Document 1 Filed 09/30/13 Page 18 of 64professional and personal development in science content knowledge andaccessibility to unique resources. Informal science education institutions, throughtheir exhibits and programs, provide an effective means for parents and other careproviders to share moments of intellectual curiosity and time with their children.Informal science institutions give teachers and students direct access to scientistsand other career role models in the sciences, as well as to opportunities forauthentic science. Informal science educators bring an emphasis on creativity andenrichment strategies to their teaching through the need to attract theirnoncompulsory audiences. NSTA advocates that local corporations, foundations,and institutions fund and support informal science education in their communities.Informal science education is often the only means for continuing science learningin the general public beyond the school years.”38. The report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, An OceanBlueprint for the 21st Century, recommends that formal and informal oceaneducation be strengthened to better engage the general public, cultivate a broadstewardship ethic, and prepare a new generation of leaders to meet future oceanpolicy challenges. The report states that aquariums and zoos play an importantrole in achieving their recommendation.18