Tinkering

TINKERING: NOT YOUR TYPICAL MUSEUM EXHIBIT

The sight of giant Tinker Toys is your first hint that Tinkering isn’t your usual museum exhibition. The exhibition, on loan from the San Francisco Exploratorium through the Museum of Science and History’s EXnet partnership, is a perfect choice as the first ever-changing exhibit experience within Innovation Studios.

With more than 15 exhibits, Tinkering blends together a collection of experiences that best supports open-ended exploration, social learning, and whimsical play. Building on the extensive research done by the Exploratorium on efforts such as Playful Invention and Exploration (PIE) and Active Prolonged Engagement, Tinkering creates an environment where children and adults can engage at their own pace, together, in experiences that relate to their sense of play and curiosity. Guests can freeze their shadows, paint masterpieces with light, or construct a sonic pinball course.

It is believed that tinkering – focused activity with the right materials in the right environment – can not only lead to great new inventions, but more importantly builds self-confidence, critical thinking skills, and crucial attitudes that scaffold people’s interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.  In keeping with the goals of the Innovation Studios, the Tinkering exhibition reinforces to guests of all ages that they too can create new inventions – that they can dream new things, and then actually build them.

Some of the components within Tinkering include:

• Shadow Box and Light Room Painting:  This exhibit combines the Shadow Box and a new activity, Light Painting. The shadow box uses a strobe to capture the guest’s shadow on a glow in the dark background. The exhibit can be changed over to a light painting activity that is captured on a digital camera and displayed on a monitor.  This is an activity that allows guests to creatively express ideas by experimenting with the color and qualities of the light source, and other elements that affect the aesthetic qualities of the light painting.

• Light Island:  At Light Island, guests can play and experiment with various aspects of optics. From a 200-watt light source in the center of the table, beams of white, red, green and blue light created by color filters, radiate out onto the table. Mirrors, lenses, prisms and filters can be placed in the path of these beams to reflect, bend or mix the light in many ways.

• Bicycle Wheel Harp:  Multiple bicycle wheels mounted to a table top create a cacophony of sound.

• PinBell Machine:  Place one or more balls in the slot in front of the plunger. In a single motion, pull back the plunger and release it quickly. Listen to the melody as the ball strikes the bells. Move the bells around to make new melodies.

ExNET Partners, representing large and small museums in Europe, Mexico, and the United States, organize around the exchange of exhibits, people, and expertise to contribute to building a worldwide culture of learning. Partners meet semi-annually to share ideas, coordinate activities, and plan future projects.

Tinkering will be on display at the Museum of Science and History through May 30, 2010.