About

What is FtHM?

From the Horse’s Mouth (FtHM) is an educational outreach project designed to help bridge the scientist/public gap and remove the shroud of mystery from scientific processes and the men and women who practice them. FtHM gives students and teachers a chance to sit in like “flies on the wall,” observing scientists as they present their discoveries, concerns, and data to other scientists. 

How is it different from other science sites?

FtHM differs from other science sites in that the clips are not highly produced videos or intended to offer a comprehensive explanation of a single topic. Rather, FtHM offers a peek into the process and practices of science through authentic depictions of researchers speaking to their colleagues. Contained on this website are archival video clips from workshops at the Aspen Global Change Institute since 1989-- a video chronicle of Earth systems and the science of global change. These unedited clips offer you a chance to directly experience how scientists present their research, test their ideas, or challenge the nature of their work in a group of their peers. We want to shed light on scientists in their element, being scientists. Not all the clips are easy to understand. Some may need to be viewed several times to grasp the language and ideas. Consequently, FtHM offers accessories and tools to help users gain personal ownership of the key concepts. These tools are also intended to provide lesson resources for teachers using the clips in the classroom or as a learning aid. 

What to do on this site:

There are several ways that the FtHM site is intended to be used. Visitors can watch videos for insight on topics that interest them, they can explore science as a career by reading scientist bios or watching interview clips, and they can deepen their own understanding of scientific terms, concepts, or processes by performing activities available on the site. Each clip that is not a glossary or interview clip comes with questions and activities for visitors to complete. In-depth activities relating to a specific term or concept can also be found in the Toolbox, classified by term. Finally, visitors to the site are encouraged to offer feedback via the page "From Your Mouth." We will soon be adding a page to FtHM where we will post monthly poems, images, and questions contributed by site visitors.

Navigational Assistance: For tips on how to navigate the site, click on any of the PowerPoint slides visible at the very bottom of this page.

Support and Funding: 

FtHM is a creation of the Aspen Global Change Institute, made possible by support from the Geoscience Education Program of the National Science Foundation. Once the site is fully functional, FtHM will be a free online resource intended to improve understanding of where scientific knowledge comes from, how conclusions are made, and what the scientific process looks like.

This educational outreach project is made possible by support from the Geoscience Education Division of the National Science Foundation. Award #: GEO-1035125. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Site in Progress:

The FTHM website is still in the process of being created, and we want to design a tool that is accessible and enjoyable to use. We welcome your feedback and look forward to hearing how we can adapt our site to meet your needs! To this end, we are granting access to a small number of scientists, teachers, students, and others to review the site and help fine tune the site's application.

If you are interested in being one of our early beta testers, please contact us at (970) 925-7376 or eliseo at agci dot org. If you are a teacher, check out the Teacher's Corner for more guided information regarding site structure and how to use it best, in and out of the classroom.