San Francisco’s Exploratorium remembers Lynn Rankin

In a recent press release, San Francisco’s Exploratorium (the Museum of Science, Art & Human Perception) announced the passing of Lynn Rankin, the founder and longtime director of its Institute for Inquiry (IFI). Rankin, who passed away at 77, dedicated her career to developing professional development programs for elementary science teachers in California and beyond.

Rankin began her career as an elementary school teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District before joining the Exploratorium in 1975. In 1995, with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), she established the Institute for Inquiry (IFI) to address what the Exploratorium described as “the tremendous lack of professional development capacity at the elementary level” in U.S. science education.

What exactly is the IFI? Well, the institute focuses on promoting inquiry-based science education, which encourages students to explore scientific concepts through hands-on investigations and critical thinking.

The IFI describes inquiry-based science as a teaching approach where learning is driven by curiosity and exploration that follows three main phases: inquiry starters, where learners engage with materials and raise questions; focused Investigation, where small groups plan and carry out investigations involving observations, predictions, and testing; and sharing understanding, where learners consolidate and communicate their findings, building on each other’s ideas to develop key scientific concepts.

The IFI offers a series of professional development workshops tailored to educators, such as fundamentals of inquiry, assessing for learning, and classroom strategies for teaching inquiry, which help teachers incorporate this approach into their classrooms.

Under Rankin’s leadership, the Exploratorium notes that the IFI has influenced “hundreds of thousands of teachers” and “millions of students taught by those teachers,” fostering a more engaging approach to science education.

In Instagram & Linkedin posts, the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) wrote that Rankin “helped establish ASTC’s Professional Development Institutions for museums educators.” Denise LeBlanc, former Director of Learning Experiences for Acton’s Discovery Museum, wrote the following in response to the post: “I was incredibly fortunate to benefit from IFI workshops early in my museum career. Lynn and her amazing team developed thought-provoking experiences that still inform my practice. Most importantly, Lynn created and fostered a supportive community of educators.“

The Exploratorium mentions in the press release that Rankin’s “legacy lives on in IFI’s incredible staff and programs,” as well as in the work of the many teachers and students who benefited from her efforts.

The Civic Science Media Lab is saddened to learn about the passing of Lynn Rankin and express our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues.

For more information, the full press release is available here.

Fanuel Muindi

Fanuel Muindi is a former neuroscientist turned civic science scholar-journalist and entrepreneur. He is a Professor of Practice in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University where he leads the Civic Science Media Lab. Dr. Muindi received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Organismal Biology from Morehouse College and Stanford University respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT.

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