March is a hectic month for the Arkansas Discovery Network. Our Mystery of the Mayan Exhibit will be leaving the Network on the 21st to venture out into the real world and make its way all the way to Ontario, Canada. Do not worry, I made sure all its shots were up to date and its passport is current. Nanotechnology ends its run on the 14th at the Discovery Place Children’s Museum in Texarkana and opens on the 19th at the Arkansas State University Museum. While these two moves are interesting and exciting, the real March madness happens when our Road Trip exhibits rotate starting the 21st and opening the 26th.
For those of you who do not know, the Road Trip is a collection of 7 exhibits related to Arkansas that move every 6 months around the partner museums (http://arkansasdiscoverynetwork.com/RoadTrip/index.html).
As the Traveling Exhibits Manager it is my job to make sure that all goes smoothly. All of the Road Trip exhibits are composed of fun and educational hands-on activities. It is very hard to pick my favorite, but I was asked to write about just one of the exhibits moving this month, so after many long hours of soul searching I settled on Astronomy: It’s A Blast!
Why that one you may ask? Well that is hard to say but the quick answer is that I have always been fascinated with Space and our Solar System. I think that most people in general look up at the sky, day or night and are intrigued or at the very least a little curious. The more direct reason is that it has two of my favorite interactives: Air Rockets and Land the Shuttle. These two exhibits teach and highlight two key principles that real space crafts use. Air Rockets consists of two plastic bottle rockets on guide wires that the visitor can pump compressed air into. When they are released they shoot off to the top of the exhibit.
This highlights the principle of action and reaction as it relates to rocket propulsion. Land the Shuttle involves manually guiding a miniature space shuttle on a wire onto a small landing pad. This allows the visitor to test their skill and dexterity while also highlighting how the actual Space Shuttle is really just a huge glider when it lands.
It was a complete coincidence that the timing of this blog falls so closely to the final launch and landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery this month. The shuttle took off on February 24th to deliver supplies to the International Space Station and returned on March 9th. To learn more about this and other real life space adventures check out http://www.nasa.gov/.
Astronomy is opening on March 26th at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff and I know I will be there shortly to “check in” on it. And by “check in” I mean play.
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