This Saturday I took my freshman academy students to the California Science Center, located conveniently right next to campus, on the way to the Coliseum, right past the Rose Garden where 3OH!3 filmed a video with Katy Perry
Fun fact: you walk through the background of this screenshot before every home game
We met up outside 21 choices, a local favorite for frozen yogurt, but decided that since it was ridiculously cold (by Southern California, not my native Wisconsin standards), we would hit up Starbucks instead. Hot coffee in hand, we made our way to the Science Center, which, by the way, is totally free!
The first thing a lot of the students wanted to do was try the high wire bike suspended in the middle of the atrium. Basically it’s a physics experiment to show you how impossible it is to win against torque and accidentally fall of a counter weighted bike.
Though you can't fault the guys in my class for a lack of effort
After that, we checked out the new 1001 Inventions exhibit. This exhibit featured a cool amount of interactive stations where you could learn about inventions from the Muslim world. Impressively, the exhibit is opened with an introduction video featuring Hilary Clinton, as well as a second introduction video featuring Ben Kingsley, who I can no longer ever take seriously as an actor again. Laughable movie, but it was for a good cause, so I’ll let it slide.
After that, some people went to see the space exhibit, while I headed over to the Ecosystems exhibit, my personal favorite, with the rest of the students. The ecosystems exhibit is crazy educational, and really interactive. I learn something new every time I go.
This time I learned that Polar Bears are classy ballroom dancers, but usually I learn something more academic
The exhibit features a huge wave pool to simulate shoreline conditions, and is filled with interactive games. Some of them are for little kids, but the majority of the exhibit is entertaining for adults as well.
You can check out the wave pool from the surface, or from the floor below!
One of the most interesting/horrifying things I saw this time was the Rot Room, where you learn about decay. In the corner, they have a little knob you can turn to speed up and slow down a video of things decaying. It starts with a pumpkin, goes to a tree, then to some strawberries, and then all of a sudden BAM! A rabbit! Honestly it was kinda gross – but not as horrifying as the fact that there was a ten year old playing with the display, and when he found the rabbit, he just kept speeding up and reversing the footage over and over and over and just staring unblinkingly at it. I couldn’t decide if I should alert security or not.
Overall it was a great day, and great fun, and I can’t wait to go back again soon!
