Title: Museum Education Intern

Location: Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, 2450 Beacon St., Boston, MA, 02467

Type/Status: Paid, Part-time, Temporary

Hours and Duration: Approx. 14 - 21 hours per week over 5-7 months

Compensation: $18 per hour. This is a grant-funded internship courtesy of the Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation.

Preferred Start Date: April 6th, 2020

Main Project:

The main project for this internship will involve the creation of one or more curriculum-based Environmental Science programs that can be offered to K-12 audiences. Much interest has been shown by High School Environmental Science teachers in having a program at the Waterworks Museum that would support their in-class studies about ecosystem services, watersheds, freshwater biomes, the hydrologic cycle, the environmental impacts of human population and consumption, pollution and waterborne disease, as well as water related impacts of climate change. Current programming only briefly discusses the environmental and population factors that led to the creation of the Boston Waterworks System. Developing a program that explores these more in depth, and connects them to the environmental processes and challenges that are ongoing in our world today would not only be beneficial to the students and teachers of environmental science, but also to the museum in allowing it to show the relevance of historic decisions and impacts and connect them to the continuing story of our water supply and new environmental challenges. The Museum Education Intern would work to develop activities that would connect both to aspects of Massachusetts’ High School level Environmental Science programs as well as the scope and stories of the museum. Incorporating input from local Environmental Science teachers, the intern would assist in the development of a program that would include hands-on STEM labs as well as facilitated discussions about past and modern environmental issues. The majority of the intern’s workload would consist of performing research, soliciting, assessing and integrating teacher input, testing and prototyping possible hands-on STEM activities, and developing a source list, outline, and potential script for the program.  If time permits, a scaled down and more basic version of the environmental science program may be explored to begin engaging 4th and 5th graders with this important content. The MA DOE Curriculum connects to environmental science by encouraging the exploration of environmental processes, human impacts on the environment, global water distribution, data analysis, and graphing. In addition to working on these timely and topical educational programs, the Museum Education intern may be asked to assist with regular education duties including delivery of pre-existing programs to student and camp groups and staffing community programs.

Qualifications:

Applicants for the internship should:

Feel comfortable speaking in front of groups of children and adults

Be flexible

Be able to think on their feet

Enjoy performing research on historical and scientific topics

Feel confident in their ability to develop hands-on educational STEM activities

Be creative

Be able to break complex narratives and ideas down into understandable concepts and analogies

Possess solid writing skills

Possess an eagerness to learn, adapt, and inspire

Preferred but not required:

Knowledge or background in Environmental Science and/or Education

Experience working with children

Experience working or volunteering with a museum or non-profit organization

Transportation Access – some research may be conducted at offsite locations