2008-2009 Home School Program

On Tuesday September 9th we held our first home school sessions for this school year. This year we have expanded our program to include all grades. I work with the middle/high school students. This month they spent their class sessions learning about data. The lesson covered types of variables and categories of variables. We collected data that included nominal, ordinal and numeric variables. Our home school student taught me a lot about our classroom and Hands On Hall.
Some interesting facts we all learned:
270 wooden slats on the all of the window blinds in the classroom
72 tiles per section, on the Wharf Of Wonder wall
35 goggle pegs on the wall in the classroom (one is missing)
12 parents and 14 children in the Wharf Of Wonder
27 computer or TV monitors in Hands On Hall

Next months class session will take data collect a step further. Using electronic data collection equipment; studnets will take data on things that can not be seen. The end goal of this years middle/high school class is to learn about data, data collection, graphing and the connection between science and math.

Exploreum named Attraction of the Year!

E-Cycling Weekend

The Exploreum is going green. Being that we utilize tremendous amounts of technology, we decided to go green with that as well. On August 9th and 10th we held our first ever Electronics Recycling (E-cycling) event. We collected any and all types of office and home office electronics: computers, phones, monitors, printers, cell phones and batteries.

In the beginning we did not know how to set up an e-cycling event. We contacted our local recyclers, Keep Mobile Beautiful. They put us in touch with a reputable electronics recycler. After a few calls to the recycler and a few contacts with local police and traffic engineering we were set to go.

Our first collection day started out large. We collected enough electronics to fill about ¼ of a full size Ryder truck. The afternoon went pretty slow. We had a trickle of items. It seemed that word had not spread to far yet. That afternoon all three of our local news stations came out to do pieces on our e-cycling event. That evening the pieces aired. Our second day was fast and furious. By the end of that day we went from having ¼ of the truck filled to having over ¾ filled. Most everyone we spoke with the second day said that they saw it on the news. The event turned out to be a great success. Everyone who brought their electronics was so grateful for the service. Like most of us they wanted to get rid of their electronics in a responsible way.

The added bonus was our ability to inform people about a new local electronics recycler in Mobile. Equity-E-Cycle opened about 2 months before this event. Our contracted recyclers from ERS (out of Atlanta) had no problem with us distributing information about our local recyclers. They all have the same mission at heart “be responsible and recycle your electronics.”

We had a small group of devoted volunteers who braved the heat and heavy lifting. They all did such a great job. Thank you to all of our volunteers: Tricia (My Wife), Mira, Kayla, Lynsey and Marissa (Murphy High School), Randy and Drew (University of Mobile), Ivey (Bay Keepers), William and Patrick (St. Pauls). The volunteers made all the difference.

The one thing I learned from this event is that this could be done in any city. With a little effort any community group, church, or museum could easily set up an event like this. It is a great way to do the right thing and help the community. If anyone has any questions about how we made the Exploreum event work feel free to contact me. (Tim Pula: 251-208-6858, tpula@exploreum.net )

If you have electronics to recycle in Mobile contact Equity-E-Cycle 251-415-3823.

The youth teaching us...

We've been working with a Lego NXT robotics set for the past few weeks and hadn't quite figured it all out. But then, we spoke to one of our visitors, David Hurt, age 13. David had actually worked with one of these at home and he was gracious enough to offer us some tips. He set up subroutines and custom blocks -- he even prepared our robot for a lab activity set to begin on August 5th! Come check out David's activity in the Ciba Lab!!!

This is just one of the reasons the Exploreum is so neat. Every day is an opportunity to learn, whether it's the visitors or even us, the staff!

Whisper dishes

In the courtyard, we have "whisper dishes," which are also called "conversation curves."Whisper dishes are parabolas made of metal. When sound waves hit a parabola, sound is reflected back in a straight line. That's why theaters are designed with a parabola as a backdrop -- the acoustics are better for the audience.

When you set up two parabolas facing one another, you create an ellipse and sound waves can travel back and forth easily. When you visit, be sure to step outside and have a partner stand in front of one of the whisper dishes. You should be able to talk into the dishes in hushed tones, and be able to hear one anther and people milling around in the center won't be able to distinguish your conversation.

Now that you know the science behind the fun, you'll be able to spot other places where you can test acoustics. Check out the Battle House Hotel on Royal Street, a few blocks down from the Exploreum. On the mezzanine, the arches are an ideal spot to discuss something with someone who is 25 feet away. Melissa and I tried it and we were surprised at just how clearly we could hear each other!












Be sure to check it out!

3D Ciba Lab

Recently we have finished the bulk of a 3D model of the Ciba Lab. The model is viewable using Google Sketchup. If you don't already have it, you can download Google Sketchup for FREE from http://sketchup.google.com/ and then download our 3D Ciba Lab FREE from the Google 3D warehouse http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=Exploreum&styp=m

You will be free to explore the lab and even make changes if you like.

Much Assembly Required

Changing the Ciba Lab unit each month involves a great deal of building and setup time. We are currently preparing for the August 2008 unit, Technology and Electricity. One lab station has an awesome BIOLOID robot. This thing is not some assembly required, it is MUCH ASSEMBLY REQUIRED. Versions of this kit can be found at universities as a teaching tool. This is one high end teaching toy.

Now that it is together all we have to do is make it user friendly. Assisting us with that task is Hart from Davidson High School. Through the work of Exploreum staff and our great volunteer Hart we should have this robot up and dancing shortly. If you get a chance to visit in August come by and see how we did.