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© Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu. Some rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
© Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu. Some rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
© Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu. Some rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
I was at the Exploratorium in San Francisco with my kids when we came across a display which allowed you to watch ice crystals as they formed through a magnifier fitted with a polarizer filter. Fortunately, I had a polarizer filter with me and I was able to take some interesting photos of the ice crystals forming without having to shoot through the provided magnifier.
This shot was taken about 15 minutes after the previous ice crystals had been fully melted by a spray of water.
Today we visited the Exploratorium, Museum in the Presidio.
When I first stepped inside, I was surprised.
I was expecting a traditional museum setting. Instead, I discovered a massive warehouse with objects, gadgets, gears, papers, wires and contraptions dangling from every which way. Kids running in all directions. Bubbling Geysers, engines running, pendulums swinging, and balls flying.
I felt like I was a little kid again watching "Mr. Wizard".
It was pretty crowded and I'm assuming this is due to the free admission. The kids all seemed to be injected with pure sugar and a little strung out. They pulled on every knob and pushed every button with rapid abandon. some didn't even seem to care what the button did, they just had to push it over and over and over..
But despite the masses of other visitors crowding around every exhibit, it was fun to walk around and observe it all. I loved the optical illusions, the mind exhibit, the floating mirror cracked me up. I loved the exhibit with the strobe light that catches your shadow in frozen motion.
We were there for about 3 hours, just exploring and watching. I wish I could have tried out more of the experiments myself. I'll definitely be going again (Hopefully it will be less crowded so I can try out some of the activities first hand instead of watching from afar)
This is a great place though. Definitely worth a visit if you're in SF. It's free the first wednesday of every month.
(this is a picture of me playing with the Tricky mirror exhibit.. trying to find my own reflection..)
The Exploratorium is a twenty-first-century learning laboratory, an eye-opening, always-changing, playful place to explore and tinker. For more than forty years, we’ve built creative, thought-provoking exhibits, tools, programs, and experiences that ignite curiosity, encourage exploration, and lead to profound learning. Visitors are encouraged to dive in and enjoy what they will discover.
Shih Chieh Huang is the sculptural genius behind www.messymix.com, and he brought his inflatable sculpture idea to the Exploratorium while I happened to be visiting the Learning Studio. With his guidance, we all put this up in about 10 minutes. Then dozens of kids ran around and through it, giggling, gasping, and wide-eyed.
Photo by Karen Wilkinson