Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Take it outside
Enjoy science park fun in the great outdoors.
Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science opened an interactive, outdoor Science Park on Friday that is designed for guests to get their whole bodies into it.
Giant levers, bottle rockets, xylophones, drums, a visitor powered fan, a sound station, kaleidoscopes and other elements give visitors many ways to explore basic concepts of physics and reinforce STEM skills, museum president and CEO Joe Cox said.
“We really strive for a lot of open-ended play,” he said. “It is maybe 12 or 13 themed areas, but within those areas are dozens of experiences.”
He said one example is the ball range. “With the tennis ball launcher, you're launching a tennis ball up into the sky using your strength. But there's different ways you could do that: You could have a couple of people working on it, you could switch out the balls.”
The 27,000-square-foot Science Park allows for super-sized elements, said Charlie Shaw, the master fabricator for the park. “Every museum has some type of giant lever. But since we're outside, and we have a lot of room, we have a double giant lever, and it's much bigger than what you would probably be able to have inside your museum. And there's two, so you can do a side-byside comparison.”
The giant size helps with learning, said Cox, who took over the museum’s top post less than two months ago. “It's taking some of these very simple physics concepts, whether it's levers or pulleys, whether it’s light or simple Newton's laws of motion … and blowing them up into huge experiences that, by virtue of their size and the fact that you've got teams of kids or families working on these together, translates from the physical sciences to almost a health-and-wellness experience because you're using your body to really come to terms with science thinking skills.”
The outdoor park’s open space also encourages social interaction. “In similar parks, I've seen that the family dynamic outside is much different because there's more room,” Shaw said. “Families tend to stay together and move through the exhibit as a group. Inside the museum, because the density is higher, it's harder to do that. So I think families have a better experience outside.”
“We're open seven days a week, so throughout spring break, we will be launching tennis balls, explaining levers, using the fan, creating bottle rocket explosions and building roller coasters” at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. daily, Cox said. “Spring break is going to be fantastically fun.”
The Science Park is part of the final phase of the museum's $35 million expansion. The Museum of Discovery and Science, at 401 SW Second Street, Fort Lauderdale, is open seven days a week. Exhibit admission, including the new Science Park, is $16 for adults and $13 for ages 2-12. More information is at mods.org