Science pops.
It also buzzes, dings and flashes.
For those who remember their fifth-grade trip to the Maryland Science Center, 30 years later many of the classic hands-on exhibits are still there, wowing visitors with two-way mirrors, static electric arcs and foot-powered electricity.
If you haven?t been since that class trip, however, a world of new, interactive exhibits awaits, featuring digging for dinosaur fossils to a 5-foot-tall tornado, a giant globe displaying the latest available weather animation and topographical mapping projections ? Planet Link.
Dinosaurs caught the eye of Dana M. Jones II, a 4-year-old Randallstown youth. His mother, Tyronnia Jones, and he could not stop playing with all the gadgets at the color-a-dinosaur station on Friday. In fact, it was difficult to figure out who was having more fun.
“It was the first time we visited the Science Center,” his mother said as they spent time e-mailing and coloring at the inter-active display.
Eye-popping new displays aren?t the only changes, said Education Director Pete Yancone.
“Originally we had a lot of school groups. We?ve seen the Science Center emerge as more than just an institution for schools. It has become a tourist destination,” he said. “It changes the nature of the interactions that we have.”
Family groups take less-structured visits, browsing for exhibits that excite their particular interests, and spending more time with the staff and the volunteers than organized tours working on an itinerary, Yancone said.
Docents can adjust interactive exhibits like Terra Link, Body Link, and Space Link to display specific data or images requested by visitors, and they can open connections to the Internet to help families or other interested visitors conduct their own investigations.
At the same time, the Science Center has become a major part of Baltimore and even the future of science education, said Alex Mason, chairman of the center?s board of directors.
“The anniversary comes at a time when the Science Center has never been more relevant.” Mason said.
The mission of the center remains igniting a spark of passion for science in young minds.
“We as a nation need to do a better job of producing our own scientists and engineers through our own educational programs,” Mason said.
They see 70,000 to 80,000 students a year.
“It is a great vehicle for getting those kids excited about being scientists,” he said.
