All Good Things… (Our Farewell Afternoon at the Science Centre)

 

The whole family headed to the Science Centre this afternoon, the final day before it closes and is dismantled to prepare for the BodyWorlds exhibit. Today was also our last day of “spring break”; we’ll be back into our homeschool routines, with new spring classes starting next week. Here’s a ton of pics from our visit—so many memories, as we’ve brought the boys here countless times over the past 5+ years. Next week I’ll get back to blogging about fun math and science experiments and books; today I just want to dwell on some words of Dr. Seuss:

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

I hope these pictures make you smile too. It should be obvious how much we’ll miss this facility over the next couple years. (Hover your mouse over pics for details):

Gareth and unknown "co-pilot" flying the plane, one of Gareth's favourite exhibits.

Gareth taking part in an experiment about electricity. Negative charges built up on both his body and the styrofoam, causing the foam to jump suddenly out of his hand (like repels like).

Making what the kids called a “potato chip” penny. This was part of the “Mr. Roger’s How Things are Made” travelling exhibit:

first you flatten  then you put a patterned texture on it

Then you stamp it in a rippled potato chip fashion the finished product

Building a Mr. Roger's-type trolley. Daegan had never seen Mr. Roger's Neighborhood before and quite liked the two clips they had playing: one about how metallic toy cars are made; the other about how traffic lights are made

woodworking practice: carving wax

Gareth and Jim building a paper horse out of die-cut paper

Heading to Wow Town, an awesome hands-on area for 3-7 year olds that we've spent more time in than any other at the Science Centre

Gareth doing some grocery shopping. If only he made such healthy choices in real life! :-)

Daegan using the TV microscope to check out some bug specimens

Daegan checking out yet more bug specimens at the interactive desk. Over the years, we've met many superb, knowledgeable and passionate volunteers here.

Headed up into the climbing structure

Gareth at the computer, learning about weather patterns

Man--space travel is exhausting! :-)

Daegan on a bed of nails, pointy side up. Because his weight is distributed over a wide surface area, it doesn't hurt at all!

At this point Daegan and I headed off to watch the Dinosaurs Alive movie in the Discovery Dome, and Gareth and Jim continued exploring.

Gareth playing a game that measures your brain waves.

Puppet show number 1

Gareth saying goodbye to our longtime friend, the giant ant

Building a ship in the water play area

filling the ball bucket for the folks up above

climbing up to get those balls and send them into various chutes

Closing the door on Wow Town. Off we headed for a few minutes at the Creative Kids Museum, the only part of the facility that will remain open with BodyWorlds here.

Air guitar!

Puppet show, part 2

Gareth all tangled up in a leopard costume

Air ball! (It floats in the breeze from the fan / vent).

One last slide at the playground...pleeeeease?

That's all she wrote, folks.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 10:26 pm and is filed under Calgary, Daegan, Gareth, Jim, Risa, field trips, science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “All Good Things… (Our Farewell Afternoon at the Science Centre)”

  1. James Kovacs Says:
    April 11th, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    The Calgary Science Centre is going to be sorely missed by our family. Given what I’ve heard about the planned new facility (and the fact that it won’t open for over a year), I don’t think it’s ever going to be the same. A big thanks to all the volunteers over the years who have helped, encouraged, and engaged with our children.

  2. Magic and Mayhem Says:
    April 11th, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    Oh Risa, that SUCKS. I’m so sorry they’re tearing down and selling off your beloved science center. So many children will miss out.

    I find the body works exhibits utterly evil. There are many misconceptions about these money-making exhibits that I wrote about a while back here: <>

    I don’t know which exhibit your science center will be running and where they get their cadavers, but I think it’s an issue the public should be aware of.

    I’m glad your family had so many wonderful memories at the site and I hope you find some new places for new memories.
    ~Alicia

  3. Magic and Mayhem Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 8:29 am

    Trying again…
    http://magicandmayhem.homeschooljournal.net/2008/06/11/the-educational-value-of-dignity/

  4. Kez Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 4:16 pm

    What a shame – that looks a wonderful place. We had a smaller version of that sort of thing on one floor of our local museum – we loved spending time there. They decided to relocate the museum and the whole thing has been closed for several years – and I can’t see it being open this year like it was supposed to be :(

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