Exhibit List
Animation Workstation
Visitors create animated movies using clay or movable objects. The interface is fast and intuitive and the image quality is excellent.
Bicycle Rope Squirter
A bicycle is mounted upside down and is used to project a rope loop over a tubeless rim.
Bicycle Wheel Harp
Multiple bicycle wheels mounted to a table top create a cacophony of sound.
Circuit Workbench
Circuit Workbench displays six simple circuits that a visitor can assemble: a bathroom light and fan switch, a dimming light, an alarm light, a flashlight, a generator light, and a two speed motor. The visitor can assemble each of the above mentioned circuits through the wires . All the wires are attached to batteries that supply the power for the circuits. This exhibit can be fitted with an optional solar panel and wind generator to supply power for the activities. The panel can be tilted toward or away form a light source, s that the visitor can see the change in power generated. The wind generator is supplied by an adjustable speed fan.
Downhill Race II
Galileo demonstrated that all objects will fall at the same rate (with the same acceleration) regardless of their weight. Downhill Racer demonstrates that not all round objects roll at the same rate, even if their weights are identical. The rate of acceleration of a rolling object (angular acceleration) depends not only on its mass, but on how that mass is distributed. This exhibit allows visitors to slide weights mounted on the wheel to create changes in the mass distribution.
Drawing Table II
The pen and drawing board are connected to pendulums which swing at right angles to each other. Swinging both pendulums draws interesting continuous oval shapes. The visitor can experiment with changing the pendulum phase and deflection.
Hole Saw Rhythms
Explore the creation of polyrhythms with this musical exhibit. Hole Saw Rhythms lets you create the simple, regular beats that you hear in familiar songs, as well as more complex, irregular beats that challenge your sense of rhythm. Dulled hole saws of varied sizes can be positioned along the circumference of the circle made by a rotating arm. The strategic placement of these resonant hole saws creates musical rhythms that can be altered in numerous ways.
Keva Plank Building Area
Wooden tables and Keva Blocks
Light Island
At Light Island, visitors can play and experiment with various aspects of optics. From a 200-watt light source in the center of the table, beams of white, red, green and blue light created by color filters, radiate out onto the table. Mirrors, lenses, prisms and filters can be placed in the path of these beams to reflect, bend or mix the light in many ways.
Make Your Pulley System
Visitors can experiment with the pulley locations and sizes in order to see the changes on the system. One table has a fixed pulley on a low rpm motor. Each table can accommodate a separate activity or be linked together.
Paper Airplane Launcher
Visitors create a paper airplane either of their own design or one of five we suggest as the "best", then send it soaring off the motor driven platform. Two rotating wheels that engage the fuselage on the platform drive the launcher. By turning a crank, the launch angle may be varied. Visitors can make comparisons of different designs, flap settings, paper weight, since the direction and magnitude of thrust remain constant.
PinBell Machine
Place one or more balls in the slot in front of the plunger. In a single motion, pull back the plunger and release it quickly. Listen to the melody as the ball strikes the bells. Move the bells around to make new melodies.
Reach For Meaning
Creating meaning out of randomness is a common event. Just as one can see meaningful shapes in random cloud forms, one can make meaningful sentences from phrases out of the random words in this exhibit. If you arrange the blocks so that the words on a side make a sentence, there is a good chance that the words on the other three sides will also make sentences. This is because you usually use the rules of grammar unconsciously to make meaningful connections between words which are different parts of speech. The parts of speech on each block are indicated by their colors. Nouns are Red. Verbs are Yellow. Adjectives are Green. Adverbs are Blue. Prepositions are Violet.
Sailboat Race
Tinker with wind. At this exhibit visitors experiment with two sailboats and a strong breeze as they set sails to "run before the wind" as well as explore the right "tack" so they can actually sail upwind. Two boats demonstrate different types of sail design.
Shadow Box and Lightroom Painting
This exhibit combines the Shadow Box and a new activity, Light Painting. The shadow box uses a strobe to capture the visitor's shadow on a glow in the dark background. The exhibit can be changed over to a light painting activity that is captured on a digital camera an displayed on a monitor. both inside and outside the exhibit. This is an activity that allows the visitor to creatively express ideas by experimenting with the color and qualities of the light source, and other elements that effect the aesthetic qualities of the light painting.
Spinning Patterns
Visitors can create unexpected patterns by drawing in the sand on the spinning disk. Shovels, brushes, hands, and fingers are the tools and sand is the medium for making circles, spirals, and heart shaped figures on the variable speed-spinning platform. Three discs provided to facilitate shared learning, while allowing up to 3 visitors to experiment with their own patterns without disruption.
Table Tops
A platform for exploring kinetic energy, inertia and momentum using an array different spinning tops. The table features an enclosed area that visitors can use for making their own simple tops and concave dish to test them out in.
Tiling Table
Tiling Table is a flat surface on which rest scores of multi-colored polygonal wood tiles. The tiles are color-coded by shape, and allow visitors to construct their own 2- or 3-dimensional patterns. The Tiling Table illustrates the simple rules which govern the formation of solid patterns. Tiling patterns are found everywhere, from brickwork to quilts. Tiling patterns also abound in nature, and can be found in the arrangement of cells in plants and animals, in clusters of bubbles, spider webs, and elsewhere. The geometry of tiling is used to study crystal structure and molecular arrangements.
Tinkering Studio
At the core of Tinkering lies a 1,000-ft2 space dedicated to sparking curiosity, encouraging in-depth play and exploration, and a platform to engage the rich array of makers, inventors, hackers, and tinkerers around your community.
Video Feedback
The patterns on this monitor are the result of a camera taking a picture of it's own output. Normally, video is a one-way system: a camera gathers information and displays it on a screen. This video system, however, is circular: since the camera is pointed at its own monitor, it endlessly loops the image on the screen back in through the lens. Use the buttons to rotate the camera and make the lens zoom in and out. Try putting your hand, or some other object, in front of the screen. Tilt up the mirror to make multiple patterns. Notice that even a small change can create a dramatic shift in the pattern's size, shape, and brightness.
