Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Award October 31, 2008 Minotaur Mazes and the Virginia Living Museum were singled out for their work on Survivor: Jamestown , a traveling exhibition currently touring North America. The exhibition incorporates a unique method of engaging visitors through what is called a life chart. The life chart, which looks like an abacus worn around the neck, transforms each visitor into an actual colonist. Sliding beads keep track of the colonist’s individual health, food, wealth, and morale status as they endeavor to survive the first year as a Jamestown colonist. Survivor: Jamestown truly embodies what the ASTC jury was looking for when considering who to recognize with a Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience this year. Four criteria were used to judge the exhibition. • its unique application of new ideas and promising practices, demonstrating creativity and extraordinary performance; • its role in furthering the institution's mission by achieving a tangible impact or lasting effect on visitor experience; • its embodiment of the ASTC values of collaboration, joy of experiential learning, equity and diversity, and forward-looking leadership; and • its potential to serve as a model of creative thinking and best practices for the field as a whole. The life chart program allows the visitor to explore complex and authentic issues and effectively integrates science and nature with human activities. Life and death decisions at Jamestown were rarely black and white, right or wrong – but often were the difference between living and dying (only 38 of the 104 colonists survived that first year). The ability of the life chart to reflect complex systems and situations in a highly personal way drives the evolution of exhibition development and experience from a simple collection of related role-play activities to a new level of realistic role-play adventures. Survivor: Jamestown was made possible by the vision, creativity, content and resources contributed by Minotaur Mazes and the Virginia Living Museum and the generous support from the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network (150 parks, wildlife refuges, museums, sailing ships, historic communities, trails and more). ASTC is an organization of science centers and museums dedicated to furthering the understanding of science among increasingly diverse audiences. Founded in 1973, ASTC now numbers more than 555 members in 42 countries. Science Center and Museum Members include not only science-technology centers and science museums, but also nature centers, aquariums, planetariums, zoos, botanical gardens, space theaters, and natural history and children’s museums. << more news