Museum Floor, Through February 28
This multi-faceted exhibition acknowledges the contributions of African-American scientists and inventors and includes the George Washington Carver Elementary School Mural, created by 120 third and fourth graders from Carver Elementary School, Hunter's Point. The mural's theme is African American scientists and inventors and includes George Washington Carver, scientist and inventor of 300 uses for the peanut; Charles Drew, inventor of the plasma bag; Mae Jaminson, first female African American astronaut; and Garret Morgan, inventor of the gas hood and stop light. A video of the mural-making process, an interactive video where visitors can record their responses to what they've learned about black contributions to science, and ten interactive Exploratorium exhibits demonstrating discoveries by black scientists, will be on display. A Black Scientists and Inventors Pathway, highlighting these exhibits, accompanies the exhibition. (Also see February 19 for related events.)
McBean Theater, 7:30pm (Note: new time)
As the New York City Sanitation Department's artist-in-residence for the past thirteen years, Mierle Laderman Ukeles' palette is the flotsam and jetsam of urban life, her canvases far-flung outposts -- a landfill here, a garbage transfer station there. In the words of NY Sanitation Commissioner, Emily Lloyd, "We have to understand that waste is an extension of ourselves and how we inhabit the planet, that sanitation workers are not untouchables we don't want to to see. Ms. Ukieles advocates having our facilities be transparent and be visited as a way for people to be accountable for the waste they generate." This evening Mierle Ukieles poses her basic premise: that opening up the design of landfill, solid waste, water treatment, and other public works dealing with infrastructure, will be the great design challenges our age. She will also discuss her own work, including Danehy Park Landfill, Cambridge, MA, and Freshkill Landfill, NY, the largest landfill on earth, larger than the Great Wall of China. Free with museum admission. Call (415) 561-0361 for reservations.
McBean Theater, 2pm
In association with the Oakland Camera Club, we present the 39th International Exhibition of 3-D Photography. This presentation will include stereo slides from around the globe, including Australia, Canada, England, Japan, Germany, and the United States.
Author, director and puppeteer Theodora Skipitares uses her sense of humor and her vivid imagination to make scientific discoveries accessible to a wider audience. Working with a cast of hundreds of puppets, she has presented whimsical and serious compilations of facts tracing such topics as the Age of Invention or the history of evolutionary theory from Plato to genetic engineering. Ms. Skipitares is in residence to investigate possible future collaborations on the theme of genetics and bioethics.
Temporary Exhibition Area,
If acronyms like CD-ROM make you wish that the 21st century would never arrive or if you feel intimidated by the explosion of possibilities in the fields of education, communication and entertainment, then the Multimedia Playground is the place for you. Park yourself at one of the ongoing workstations and roll up your sleeves. Dive into the world of CD ROM with the help of roving Explainers. Take your first guided tour through the Internet, or pack for a trip into virtual reality. The Multimedia Playground, a showcase of roadside attractions along the information highway, makes the latest advances in multimedia software accessible and approachable for techno-phobes and aficionados alike by providing selected multimedia and educational software titles available for test drives. Free with admission to the museum. Call (415) 353-0423 for further information.
Through the Exhibit Development Staff Training Project, supported by the National Science Foundation, 36 exhibit designers and other museum professionals, have spent a total of six weeks each at the Exploratorium, gaining the skills and understanding to create educationally effective exhibits. In addition to museums from throughout the US, many foreign countries have also sent representatives. This two-year Exploratorium project concludes with this workshop.
As an offshoot of Public Science Day activities sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science on February 18, about 800 students, participants in the Northern California MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) program, and their families, today come to the Exploratorium for a Family Day of investigations of the science of sound and hearing. Teachers from the MESA program, as well as Exploratorium sound artists, physicists and educators, present hands-on explorations which capture the nature of resonance, vibration, and other sound phenomena, including the sonic boom.
Black History Month Guest Lecture
NASA Aerospace Engineer Dr. Christine Darden
McBean Theater, 3pm
Dr. Christine Darden presents a public presentation on her work on the sonic boom, as well as the challenges and obstacles she's encountered as a black woman in the sciences. Dr. Christine Darden is Senior Project Engineer in the Advanced Vehicles Division at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where she serves as Leader of the Sonic Boom Group. Dr. Darden will also hold special meetings with youngsters from Hunters Point, MESA students, and a career workshop session with the Exploratorium's Explainers, a culturally diverse crew of high schoolers who act as the sole guides to the museum for the public.
Cognitive research has clearly established that students don't enter the classroom as blank slates; they bring with them logical but incomplete or oversimplified ideas. For example, some students enter physics classes believing that heavy objects fall faster than lighter ones because experience tells them a rock hits the ground before a feather. Students are reluctant to abandon such common sense ideas and accept the formal laws of physics. Jim Minstrell, a high school physics teacher at Mercer Island High School, Washington, wanted to understand more about students' preconceptions and how to use them in teaching. Minstrell began asking his students to articulate their naive ideas and test them through experimentation. They learned more this way and actually got excited about physics. Minstrell has since received a $375,000 grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, to continue researching his methods and bringing those methods to other teachers. He is at the Exploratorium to work with us on teacher and explainer training.
McBean Theater, 1pm and 3pm
Don't miss the first public appearance in California of Mary Appelhof, an international authority and lecturer on small-scale vermicomposting (composting with worms), the woman credited with helping to launch the worm box movement. From apartments in Manhattan highrises to Berkeley backyards, her research and development of techniques for using redworms to convert organic kitchen waste to humus to support plant growth is now widespread. The unique aspect of her technique is to process organic waste on-site in the home in a worm box. For children, don't miss a performance by the human sized Wiggle E. Worm, as well as information tables from local composting/recycling groups and an author booksigning.
Members Only Kids Workshop
Worm Box Composting
10:30am - 12:00 pm
Ages: 9 to 12 years old
Cost: $20.00 per child, includes a composting bin
Call Membership Office at (415) 353-0402 to enroll.