For people who struggled through biology and physics, it might seem like a contradiction in terms to call an exhibit opening at the Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences “Science Carnival.”
But Chris Lee, the museum’s exhibit designer, doesn’t see it that way at all. “Science is really fun,” he says. “If you talk to scientists you’ll find out that they’re having a blast.”
Lee says the term “Science Carnival” really is appropriate for the kinds of activities included in this exhibit. “A lot of these phenomena are really sensational and almost as unbelievable as the three-headed monster you’d expect to see at the carnival.” To make his point, Lee points out “Jacob’s Ladder” where lightning bolts leap between two 12-foot-high wires. “It’s like something out of Frankenstein’s lab,” he says.
The exhibit also has a “Bicycle Gyro,” which can spin you around like a carnival ride. Visitors stand on a revolving platform and just by holding on to a spinning wheel and tilting it, they will be able to whirl around clockwise or counter-clockwise.
They also will be able to make a ball float in space, throw their whispered words to friends who are yards away and touch a globe to create flashes of light. “You can touch the globe with your whole hand to get lots of lightning bolts on your fingertips,” Lee explains, “and some people wrap their arms around it to get an electrical angel effect.”
Lee says the exhibit has appeal and learning potential for both children and their parents. “Kids give parents a license to have fun, and once they drop their guards and start playing, suddenly science isn’t intimidating anymore.”
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“Science Carnival,” opening Saturday and running through June 16, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays, noon-6 p.m. Sundays, Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, North Pier Chicago, 435 E. Illinois St., $3 adults, $2 children; 312-871-2668.
Friedrick Adler was a master craftsman who used innovative techniques to create decorative, functional and ceremonial objects during the early 1940s in Germany. A number of his works, which currently are on display at the Spertus Museum, use a technique called repousse.
Adler used it on candelabra and frames and on objects used in Jewish ceremonies, which should inspire children when they get to make their own piece of repousse art. They will use a stylus to trace religious symbols or other decorative patterns onto the backside of a piece of metal so the design stands out in relief on the front side.
Paula Chaikin, the museum’s education coordinator, says, “We want children to realize that art in a museum isn’t so far removed from them. We want them to look at it and say `Wow, I can do that!’ “
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Repousse workshop, 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Spertus Museum, 618 S. Michigan Ave., free with admission, $4 adults, $2 children; 312-322-1747.
A team of malamutes will be the guest stars at “Musher Mania,” an event planned to show how these animals are trained to pull sleds across the snow as a means of transportation, but also to win races. Children will get a chance to ride around a short course on the dog sled. Beforehand, they might want to practice saying “mush,” a word that affects dogs the way the expression “giddy-up” inspires horses.
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Musher Mania, 1-4 p.m., Monee Reservoir, west of Route 50 and south of Pauling Road on Ridgeland Ave., two miles south of Monee, free; 708-534-8499.
Animals know what it takes to survive in cold climates and “Arctic Blast” at the Lincoln Park Zoo will reveal, through fun and games, what the polar bears, Siberian tigers, seals and sea lions do to keep warm.
Spinning demonstrations at the Farm in the Zoo will show how the animals’ wool is turned into layers of clothing so that humans can survive the cold too. Visitors also will find a warm habitat inside the Pritzker Children’s Zoo where children will be able to have animal tracks painted on their faces and do a variety of activities.
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Arctic Blast, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Lincoln Park Zoo, 2200 N. Cannon Drive, free; 312-742-2000.
“Siqiniq: Under the Same Sun” an exhibit at the Chicago Children’s Museum, shows how the Inuit not only survive in the cold, but revel in it. Storyteller Mary Carpenter, who grew up in the Canadian Arctic, will visit the exhibit’s replica of the kind of village where she grew up and re-tell the legends and survival stories that warm her people’s spirits.
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Inuit Storytelling, Chicago Children’s Museum, Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave. 6:30 p.m. Thursday Free Family Night; 11 a.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, $5; 312-527-1000.
