Contact: Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu

5/9/2005

EAST LANSING, Mich.  Youngsters visiting Michigan State University’s 4-H Children’s Garden are discovering unseen information about plants in the palm of their hands.

A new device called the Personal Science Assistant (PSA), similar to a hand-held personal digital assistant, reads the plant label (a radio frequency identification product known as an RFID tag). The application brings up information and pictures about each of the plant’s parts: root, stem, leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds.

By using the PSA, kids discover what each plant part looks like and what it does. With just a click of the “cycle” button, kids see what a plant looks like in spring, summer, fall and winter. A click on the “uses” button shows how this plant functions in nature.

The PSA was created by Aparna Ramchandran as her master’s thesis project in the Digital Media Arts and Technology (DMAT) program in the department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at MSU. She worked with the curator of the 4-H Children’s Garden, Norm Lownds, and MSU’s Comm Tech Lab director Carrie Heeter. The Comm Tech Lab creates innovative learning experiences which integrate technology.

DMAT is the home for those interested in creating, producing and researching present and emerging digital media. DMAT is a collaboration between the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, School of Journalism, and Department of Advertising in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. DMAT is a member of the New Media Center program.

“As children and adults use the Personal Science Assistant to explore plants in the 4-H Children’s Garden they see even more than the plant in front of them,” said Ramchandran. “They discover new facts and new ways to look at plants and can be inspired to explore the plants more closely.”

The PSA is used in the garden as visitors stroll through the grounds, sparking curiosity and expanding what can be seen beyond the plant in front of the user.

“As kids use the PSA they discover that pansy plants have fruit,” said Lownds. “They then examine the pansy plants in front of them more closely and find they have fruit, too.”

Other kids discover that marigolds can be used to keep bugs away from other plants. Once they know this, they can smell the marigold flowers and leaves to learn what kind of smell bugs don’t like. They are also able to look at a clumpy marigold root without digging it up and see what marigold seeds look like.

“The PSA can be used by individual children or a small group and as part of a classroom investigation,” said Heeter. “In all instances children tend to be engaged, read the information carefully, show each other what they have discovered and use the PSA as the beginning of further exploration and discovery.”

Personal Science Assistants like this one can be used in many informal science learning venues. It is currently available during field trips to the 4-H Children’s Garden.

Child reactions so far have been consistent – they want more!

For more information on the Web, visit www.msu.edu/~ramchan1/pda/index.html