Event 3 – The Discovery Science Center

The Discovery Science Center is located in Orange County and has a variety of interactive, fun exhibits—a great place for children to learn and interact with science. The center has a lot of great, engaging exhibits that talk about really current issues and discoveries such as recycling, buying organic goods, Curiosity’s launch to Mars, and a variety of phenomena such as how waves, typhoons, and cyclones work.

One of the first exhibits that caught my attention was this cordless, laser harp.

You could run your fingers through the harp and it would start detecting your hands through the lasers, send the information to a computer, which would then translate your movement into a note. This piece really represents how far computers have gone and have you could incorporate science and art. Lasers are also a large part of the medical industry and you don’t see them being used for artistic reasons very often.

            Another piece I noted was this large, revolving model of Curiosity on Mars.

An interactive touch screen was positioned to talk about the various components of Curiosity, from its various cameras to its power source. Curiosity is really paving the way for space exploration and is a great item to learn about at this center. It also gave some fun facts about Mars such as how its arctic snowcaps revealed that Mars had water.

            There were also a series of exhibits showing how natural phenomena worked—such as waves, cyclones and whirlpools. These exhibits were interactive and allowed the user to touch and change-up the exhibits.

Exhibits like these that teach science through art is a great way to get children involved in science. Thinking back to some of my chemical engineering classes--- some of the equations got really complex and abstract, and the best thing to do in these cases were to think back to exhibits like these that show how things work in a fun and interactive way.

Sources

1. Choi, Charles. "Mars: Facts and Information About the Red Planet." n.d. n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html>.

2. "Discovery Science Center." n.d. n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.discoverycube.org/>.

3. "Laser Products and Instruments." FDA. 06 27 2013: n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.fda.gov/radiation-emittingproducts/radiationemittingproductsandprocedures/homebusinessandentertainment/laserproductsandinstruments/default.htm>.

4. "NASA Rover Results Include First Age Measurement on Mars and Help for Human Exploration." 09 Dec 2013: n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-rover-curiosity-20131209.html

5. "SEVERE WEATHER 101." n.d. n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/>.