Making light work of science for kids

MOST people don’t spend much time thinking about light beyond what we ordinarily notice.

So, when the Maryland Science Centre in Baltimore decided the second floor needed something new, officials saw that an opportunity to expand visitors’ understanding of what light is.

“What we’re seeing is just part of the light spectrum,” said Sam Blau, external programme manager at the science centre. But other kinds of light were part of everyday life, she said.

“Microwaves, infra-red, ultraviolet, X-rays. Gamma rays are really the only thing that we’re not interacting with on a regular basis, unless you’re an astronaut,” Blau added.

So a new permanent exhibit, “Science Aglow”, explores a variety of light forms. “People have heard of X-rays because you go to the doctor and you get an X-ray taken, but you don’t think about that as being light,” Blau said.

At the science centre, kids can pretend to be X-ray technicians by placing images on a light table.

“Basically, the X-rays are going to move through the fleshy bits of your body, but they do bounce off the bones. So that’s what the image is,” she said.

On a recent visit, sisters Addison Plourde, 10, and Kamryn Plourde, 7, of Bel Air, Maryland, took a close look at a side X-ray of someone in a feet-over-head arch. It offered an amazing view of why the arrangement of human ribs is called a cage.

But the girls quickly headed for the part of the exhibit that kids will probably find most interesting: the tunnel. The area shows off some cool aspects of light better seen in the dark.

Visitors strike a pose in front of a wall covered in fluorescent paint, which glows when it absorbs energy from light. After a flash of light they can step away and see that their body has cast a lingering shadow by temporarily blocking the light from hitting the fluorescent paint.

Another station features a diorama that lets kids push buttons to compare the way humans see light with how animals see it.

“There are certain insects, like bees, that can see all the way through the ultraviolet spectrum – which we can’t see – and that actually helps them, because flowers will have ultraviolet-emitting petals,” Blau said.

The hands-on activities in “Science Aglow” include fun house mirrors and an ultraviolet-light drawing board. It’s just a small part of the Maryland Science Centre experience, but it’s a stop kids are likely to find entertaining. – Washington Post

A table that spins makes images reflected in the mirror appear to be moving. PICTURE: MARYLAND SCIENCE CENTRE