Opening Date: Spring 2010
Square Footage: 24,000 sq. ft.
Scientific discovery begins with a sense of wonder that inspires our desire to understand, explain and predict natural phenomena. Science Storms will provoke wonder and inspire inquiry about physics and chemistry through dramatic large-scale exhibits that recreate seven iconic natural phenomena—avalanches, tornadoes, sunlight, tsunamis, atoms in motion, lightning and fire. Guests will be caught up in the adventure of experimental science and discover how natural phenomena inspire humans to search for understanding of the world around them. A combination of hands-on, interactive experiences and educational opportunities will offer one-of-a-kind learning opportunities to children and adults.
Museum Guests Will:
- Explore the basic physics and chemistry underlying natural phenomena—including motion, vortices, waves, chemical reactions, electrical charge and combustion—through media presentations, interactive simulations and hands-on experiences.
- View crackling lightning generated by a large Tesla coil that reveals the science behind electricity and magnetism.
- Feel and measure the dynamics of a tornado as they stand in a 40-foot swirling vortex of air.
- Create tsunami waveforms in a 30-foot-long tank of water, measure the waves' energies and evaluate their impact.
Education Opportunities:
A close working relationship between the Museum's education professionals and exhibit designers results in opportunities for the development of unique educational opportunities for teachers, students and guests while the exhibit is still in the design phase.
- Museum facilitators will create a dramatic indoor "Lightning Show" that dissects why and how lightning forms.
- While inside a 40-foot swirling column of air, facilitators will invite guests and students to measure wind speed and humidity within the tornado's vortex.
- Students will be exposed to the role of chemistry in the world around them through hands-on, facilitated experiments within the exhibit space.
- Programming will invite guests to immerse themselves in brilliant colors of light. The "Color Room" will challenge guests' understandings of how color and light work in everyday life. The science behind light interactions and color mixing will be explained by educators in this fun and unique room.
Exciting Hands-On Learning:
- Force Chains Experiment
- See gravity and friction in action as you replicate a real-life experiment!
Exhibit Advisory Committee:
In a world increasingly reliant on science and technology, bringing basic cemistry and physics concepts to life in a way that all of our guests—especially school students—can understand is incredibly important. We invited some of the country's most prominent experts in many areas of science to help us develop an exhibit that will provide relevant and cutting-edge science content while allowing children and adults an open-ended and exciting way to interact with science.
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about the museum
The Museum of Science and Industry opened its doors in 1933 and is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere.