Adventures in Room To Grow

Editor's note: The Museum of Discovery is proud to kick off our "MOD Voices" guest blogger series!  First up is our good friend Savannah Butler. 

My kids love a good adventure. They’ve never been to Disney World, they’ve never ridden a rollercoaster, but my kids know an adventure when they see one. And stepping into the Museum of Discovery’s "Room to Grow," each one of them spotted an adventure.

Immediately my six year old Boy was transfixed by the sleeping dragon at the gate. He jumped, he flailed, he stood “soldier still,” all in hopes that he could figure the thing out. My 19 month old Baby headed straight to the Under 4 farm area. She delighted herself screaming “MOOOO!” at the big cow.

When my almost-4 year old princess-in-training Girl saw the castle theater, it was a drama queen dream come true! It took some poking and prodding, but we finally managed to move our kids past the first two activities in Room to Grow. The Boy scaled the rock wall while his sisters cheered him on. He read plaques about health in the Fitness Forrest to the Girl, who then tried her balance on a balance beam.

My husband and I knew we were doomed once the two big kids spotted the pirate ship and lighthouse. “There goes another two hours,” my husband quipped. My Boy must have raced up and down the lighthouse stairs ten times (which in itself is a feat!) before he joined his sister as they became co-captains of the ship.

We only lost the Baby once (she has a fearless tendency to walk away… she’s an explorer), and it turned out that she was around the corner in the Construction Zone, working her fine motor skills on some magnetic letters. As much as we tried to convince our kids that there was SO MUCH MORE TO SEE, they were more than content to stay in the Room to Grow.

When we finally managed to pry them away, we headed to the Alice’s Wonderland exhibit. It was an amazing area, full of the science of Wonderland.

Our Baby marveled in the shrinking hall. The Girl was surprised at the mirrors that made it look like you were above- or below-ground. The Boy even walked away with a new favorite vocabulary word: parabola.

Once again we promised the kids that WE COULD SEE MORE THINGS! and just in time, we caught the Big Electric Show. It was certainly a hair-raising experience for us all. My husband was brave enough to hold a fluorescent bulb close to a Tesla coil. Both the Boy and the Girl put their hands on The Van de Graaff generator as we all watched their hair spring to life!

look carefully...you can see his hair standing up!

We never even made it downstairs. After almost four hours, we left the Museum and headed back across the river, promising the kids- and ourselves- that we would return soon to finish the tour. Though, I’m afraid when we go back they will take up their positions at the helm of the pirate ship and refuse to ever leave again!

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Savannah Butler is a wife and stay-at-home mother to three darling and extremely pleasant young children. She loves giving her kids opportunities to explore and discover the world around them. She occasionally escapes from beneath the laundry pile long enough to pose as Conway Community Editor for Little Rock Family magazine. Savannah likes babies, popcorn, and napping. She writes about her family’s big and small adventures on her personal blog.



* Editor’s note: The Museum of Discovery gave the author complimentary admission for her family’s visit.

We're about to be invaded...

From September 18 through January 9, 2011, the Museum of Discovery hosts Harry’s Big Adventure: My Bug World! presented by Terminix.

The exhibit is great for ALL ages, even adults! 

Harry’s Big Adventure: My Bug World! is "hosted" by Harry, a Chinese praying mantis, and his insect friends. It features live bugs, video, audio, games and more.

You'll get to explore freestanding habitats like a cropland, forest, meadow, swamp and even a house to see how insects and arthropods impact their surroundings, the environment and ultimately human lives.

Every Saturday and Sunday of the exhibit, we will have special programming which includes a live insect petting zoo, cricket spitting competitions, roach races and a bug chef making tummy-tickling treats with bugs as the main ingredients.

What do you think about bugs?

Mystical Tree and Mystical Garden

Happy back to school!  We believe in education and we wish all students much success.  We wanted to introduce you to two items we now have available in our Explore Store.  They are super cool...they use crystals to create "trees" and "gardens."  The best part is that all you need is water and the transformation occurs in a few hours.  Send us pictures of you with your magical tree or garden and we'll post them here!

MYSTICAL TREE

With "special powers," Mystical Tree transforms from a paper cut-out into a beautiful tree. Safe and nontoxic.  Just water your tree with the provided liquid and your tree with grow into a beautiful crystal garden.

MYSTICAL GARDEN
The garden "scene" is easy to set up and then you simply "water" the paper plants with the magic growing solution. Kit includes everything needed to grow your 5" x 8" garden. Garden includes plastic base, paper trees, mountains and grass, 4 packets of magical growing solution and complete instructions.

Kids Can Help Solve the Mystery of the Bugs

20 years ago, researchers made a startling discovery; several native ladybugs* that were once very common are now rare to see. During this time, the number of ladybugs from other places has increased.

Why is the population of native ladybugs declining? Perhaps something is making the ladybugs sick? Or perhaps the ladybugs have simply moved to other places. It’s too early to know for sure. That is why scientists need your help!

Entomologist John Losey started the Lost Ladybug Project. (Entomologists are scientists who study bugs.)

To help, submit photographs of any ladybugs you find! Losey and his staff hope to have 100 photos from each state. Click to submit photos.

So parents, kids, families, grab that camera and start snapping! One photo at a time may lead to the solution of this great mystery and may help prevent more species from becoming so rare.

*Ladybugs are the little cute red bugs with black spots that you can see in a meadow or perhaps on a wildflower. However, now that summer is in session, ladybugs could be anywhere. They are considered “beneficial insects” because they eat the bugs that could do harm to crops. If the ladybugs were not around to do their job just right, the U.S. farmers would have to spend much more than they usually do on chemicals that kill the bad bugs.

Now kids can help solve the mystery of the missing ladybugs.

Summer camps - nothing else compares

Another note from a "Museum Mom" ... this time about summer camps!

"Jane* attended summer camp last week at AMOD and has not stopped talking about it. I had some other things for her to do this summer but nothing compares.

"Do you happen to have availability in the 'didn't mean to break it' class for next week? I know it is last minute but she had a wonderful time and before I even brought up the idea I thought I would check with you on availability first. "
*not her real name

YES! We have a couple spots available for the following camps! Contact Beth Nelsen at 501 396 7061 or email bnelsen@amod.org)

July 26-30, 2010 Morning camps, ages 6-9: "I Didn't Mean to Break It" and "Frontier Survival"

July 26-20, 2010 Morning camps, ages 10-13: "So you want to be an 'ologist' " and "Cyber-Stuff"

August 2-6 Morning camp, ages 4-7: "Crazy Critters"

We love you, parents!

Being a parent is not always easy or fun, is it? We received the following letter and wanted to share it with you as an encouragement to "keep on keepin' on."

Dear Museum of Discovery,

I found this compass in my six year old's pockets after we visited your museum. We live in (city omitted) therefore I am mailing it back to you.

We truly enjoyed your museum when we visited. I apologize for my son's lack of judgement when he decided to take the compass from one of the exhibits.

What an awesome parent, yes? This mom could have chosen not to return the item but she took the time to use the opportunity as a learning experience. We appreciate her. And we appreciate every parent! On behalf of all of us at the Museum of Discovery, THANK YOU for the work you do every day to raise the next generation. We hope your visits to the Museum allow you the opportunity to "let loose" and have a little fun.
Sincerely,
Katie McManners
Marketing Director
kmcmanners@amod.org

Alice's Day of Wonder

Join the Museum of Discovery and Radio Disney for this special event that's all about Alice! Visit Alice's Wonderland, 2,500 square feet of hands-on (and crawl-through) exhibits based on the Lewis Carroll classic tale Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Exhibit areas include the Hall of Doors and Down the Rabbit Hole.


Make your own party hat then enjoy "tea party" refreshments in the Museum's snack bar. Other activities include a craft area and giveaways by Radio Disney. There will also be live bunnies for the children to pet and play with. Enjoy special performances of Radio Disney's Rockin' Radio Show at 10am, 11:30am and 1pm in the Discovery Court.

Submit your idea for the Signature Cocktail for UNCORKED!

Calling all Mad Scientists & Mixologists...

Do you have what it takes to create a signature cocktail for UNCORKED, the Museum of Discovery's annual wine and beer tasting fundraising event on October 21, 2010?

This year's party theme is MAD SCIENTIST MASH and we envision serving the cocktail in test tubes (clean of course!). The winner will be given the opportunity to serve his/her cocktail at the event!

To be considered, email Katie McManners kmcmanners at amod dot org:

REQUIRED:

Name - Email Address - Phone number - Your birthdate - Name of drink - Ingredients/Instructions

OPTIONAL:

Photo of you and your drink - Museum of Discovery Member Number

DEADLINE: August 1, 2010

Abracadabra… It’s Magic!

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer. One of his most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into the water.

Houdini first performed the escape in New York's East River in July 1912. Because the police would not allow him to use a local pier, Houdini hired a tugboat. He invited members of the press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, and then he stepped into a crate. The crate was nailed shut and ropes were wrapped around the crate. The crate was weighed with two hundred pounds of lead and lowered into water. Houdini escaped in fifty-seven seconds!

Houdini swam back to tugboat and when he arrived at the pier, he was fully dressed in his street clothes. The crate was pulled to the surface and found to still be intact with the handcuffs inside. Houdini would perform this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hammerstein’s Roof Garden (where a 5,500-gallon tank was specially built), and later at the New York Hippodrome.

Want to know more about the magic behind magic? Come to the Museum of Discovery’s special event ABRACADABRA, July 1-3, 2010. Local magicians will perform at (look up showtimes on website).

The Science of Fireworks

Happy Independence Day, America!

To celebrate the Fourth of July, here is some fun information about fireworks.

What are fireworks made of? In their simplest form, fireworks consist of black powder, or gun powder, wrapped in paper, with a fuse.

What makes the fireworks go up so high? The amount of black powder and the length of the “time fuse” fuse determines how high the shell will go and when it will explode. What makes the fireworks explode? When the firework reaches the desired height, the time fuses lights the bursting charge. This releases the fine metal powders of the stars in all directions based on the way the shell was packed and this charge lights the outside of the stars, which begin to burn with bright showers of sparks.

What makes the fireworks light up? The bright white light is given off by the chemical element, magnesium. This happens when the magnesium is suddenly exposed to oxygen which causes it to burn. Other elements can be used such as aluminum, titanium, zinc, or iron. The electrons in these metal particles become hot and excited, giving off light, called photons. Different metals give off different colors of light.

Why are fireworks so loud? There may also be chemicals that make crackles or whistles. After bursting, the display may last for about 5 seconds. The tremendous booms that you hear are made of the rapid release of energy into the air. This air expands faster than the speed of sound and produces a shock wave called a sonic boom. Flash powder makes the noise.

Who knew something so magical could so scientific?