Ti?shae Epps, 11, spun a hand-held wheel as quickly as she could while her friends from William Paca Elementary jumped and cheered around her.
Slowly a bouquet of flowers opened wide above their heads.
“When we learned about flowers in school, we learned they need air and water to grow,” Epps said during a class field trip to Port Discovery, the Children?s Museum last week.
Blooming Rainflowers is just one of the interactive displays at the museum?s new summer exhibit, A Garden of Gizmos.
“We want the children to learn about conservation and biodiversity through this unique garden,” Director of Education Nora Moynihan said. “We want them to think creatively about the environment.”
Austin Jones, a fifth-grader at Perrywood Elementary in Largo, and his friends learned about nature as they danced on a gizmo called the Date Palm Boogie. Trotting from side to side, the five 10-year-olds shuffled a board as palm trees rustled over their heads.
“Our teacher told us to come and have a good time and learn something,” Jones said.
Along with palm trees and flowers, children can steer a groundhog, power a fountain made of rope and watch the seasons change each month on a circle of television screens.
“It?s a beautiful garden,” said William Paca Elementary student Dierra Johnson, 10. “There isn?t any trash or anything. Just flowers, trees and plants.”
A Garden of Gizmos will be on display through September 4.
