Tuesday, July 26, 2016

An Industrious Afternoon: Quality Museum Time

A rainbow through a tornado ...
science, everyone!
Class seemed to fly by today. We spent the first part of class going over the homework articles we read last night to make sure we understood all the content. We were instructed to find the main research questions, variables, and results to make sure we had everything straight. Then we went into the lecture, which was about poverty. It related to the stresses that a poverty-stricken environment can put on an infant and the ways that this can hinder development. The main takeaway for me, though, was that it is astounding what the support of just one constant and loving figure can do to help a child overcome horrendous circumstances. After lunch the professor went around to each group to work on the discussion sections of our papers. Since my group had already met with the professor the previous day, we were free after lunch to do what we pleased. With this unexpected free time, Kevin, Sophie, and I decided to cross another item off of my Chicago wish list and take a trip to The Museum of Science and Industry!

Interactive exhibit, ft. Sophie
The Museum was surprisingly close by, and was free to students with ID's. I was immediately struck by how huge the place was! The whole place was bustling with activity, and there was so much to do in every exhibit! The museum was extremely interactive, with fun activities to try and plenty of buttons to push. The place covered an incredible range of subjects with its diverse exhibits. We looked at light, waves, and particles in motion. We looked at trains, machinery, and flight. We looked at the complexities of the human body and the elements of a healthy life. We looked at genetics and genetic engineering. We looked at space and space exploration. We looked at the technology used for farming. We looked at a gigantic German U-boat and coding devices such as the Enigma. And I'm probably missing things!  

Me, Sophie, and electrical charges flowing through plasma
A room in Colleen Moore's fairy castle
Although all of the exhibits were absolutely fascinating and incredibly informative, one of my favorite activities was the flight simulation. Sophie and I each put in half of the money to try out an activity that modeled the experience of flying some sort of military aircraft. We were strapped into a capsule with a screen that made it look like we were flying, and were able to rotate the capsule around as though we were flipping the plane upside down in the air. It was so exhilarating to feel all the blood race to my head when we turned upside down. Another one of my favorite exhibits was Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle. Colleen Moore was a famous silent film actress, and her fairy house was a side project that she collaborated with many other artist to create. It is a miniature dollhouse-like castle, built with exquisite creativity and attention to detail. Almost every room includes some sort of reference to a fairy tale, and looks as though it could be inhabited by elves. It is quite a magical sight.

We stayed at the museum for hours, and got through pretty much all of it except some of the features that we would have needed to pay for.

Once we were finished looking around, we caught a shuttle back to the dorms for dinner. After all of that fun and exploration, we all had to buckle down and get some work done for tomorrow. I am thrilled that I got to spend so much time at the museum, though, because it was such an enriching place!

Sophie and Kevin and some dramatic words of wisdom
An abstract self portrait. I am quite the
artist, it looks just like me!
The human body. Disturbing.


Moooooooooon Walking

2 comments:

  1. What an exciting day for you, Alice.

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  2. Glad you got to go. Sounds way way more packed than the Exploratorium. Loved the pictures. Hugs and kisses

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