Opening Date: Summer 2009
Square Footage: 15,000 sq. ft.
Our health is a complex blend of the workings of our bodies, the choices we make, the environment in which we live and the wonders of modern medicine. YOU! The Experience celebrates the body, mind and spirit and inspires us all to optimize our personal health and well-being. 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:
- Experience their bodies and their health in new ways as they participate in activities that reveal fascinating aspects of anatomy, physical fitness and the connections between mind and body.
- Examine real human embryos and fetuses illustrating the wonders of human development as well as other amazing human specimens that showcase the extraordinary complexity of the human body.
- Discover current and cutting-edge medical technologies and glimpse the future that will unfold for the next generation of medical scientists and inventors.
- Make the Museum’s new giant "Heart” come alive—as they transmit their pulse to the Heart and make it beat in time with their own.
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.
- A Human Patient Simulator— a computer model-driven, full-sized mannequin—will simulate real-life medical scenarios and allow students and Museum guests to learn about actual medical conditions and administer treatments.
- Dedicated educational programming space within the exhibit will allow for more extensive group activities with facilitators.
- Facilitators will utilize the Museum’s giant "Heart” as a means to engage guests in informal discussions about the workings of the heart and heart health.
- Student programs will be built around partnerships with key community resources. An example of our success in this area includes Live...From the Heart, a partnership with Advocate Christ Medical Center that allows students in grades 6-12 to view live open-heart surgery and ask questions of the surgical team in real time.
Exciting Hands-On Learning:
- Mindball: A game of "competitive relaxation"
- Compete one-on-one to see who can be most relaxed. No cheating—your brainwaves determine the winner!
Exhibit Advisory Committee:
Human health is becoming a subject of increasing importance as the world population grows, as we live longer and as healthcare costs continue to rise. The Museum set out to create an exhibit that presents the subject as more than just our biological makeup and body systems. As the name suggests, we also wanted YOU! The Experience to help our guests explore how lifestyles and personal choices can affect our health and the aging process. We invited some of the country’s most prominent experts in all types of medicine to help us present key health concepts, cutting-edge medical technology and real specimens in a way that is respectful, engaging and easy to understand.
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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.