Family Learning

If you have been to a public event at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, you have probably noticed a whole gaggle of teenagers wearing black shirts helping you at table top activities, character appreances, or just being there to lend helpful information. Have you ever wondered who they are? Or what they do?

This black-shirted army of champions is better known as  the Museum Apprentice Program, or MAP for short. The MAPs are 13-18 year olds who help out at public events and family programs; however, being a MAP is so. much. more.

Every year the MAPs complete 2 or 3 projects that are related to the exhibits and create programs for the public. You may have recognized some of their work if you've ever scanned a QR code at one of the major icons in the museum. They actually created Wikipedia entries for those icons! In the summer of 2011, they traded their wikihats for shovels and sunscreen and became connoisseurs of archaeology. They used their expertise to create and facilitate activities as the MAP Summer Archaeology Festival. This spring they will be creating their own lemonade stands and activities and selling lemonade for national Lemonade Day.

To learn about the brainstorming process and how to create programs from exhibits, the MAPs spent their last meeting with a guest LEGO® builder, where they learned how to take their LEGO brick building to a new level. They built mansions, dungeons, cats, landscaping, and more, all in a quest to brainstorm future programming possibilities related to exhibits.

Keep your eyes out for their next big project on Lemonade Day, May 19, when they will reveal their lemonade stands.  I'll keep you updated on their progress so that you can be with them every sweet and sour step of their lemonade way.

By John McCollum, Biotechnology Learning Center Supervisor

This is a great at-home science activity for your kids! Seeds often use the genetic material from two parent plants to grow into a plant with a new mix of traits different from the parent plants. Since farmers want their crops to consistently have the same types of traits (such as large size, good taste, fast growth, etc.) they try to grow certain crops like potatoes without using seeds. Instead, plants like potatoes are reproduced using a process called cloning.

When planting potatoes, you will cut a fully grown potato into pieces and use those little pieces to start your new plants. In cloning, there is only one parent plant and the genetic material stays the same, so the offspring produce the same traits as the parent. 

Be sure to prepare your potatoes the day before you want to plant them, as you need to have the seedlings dry overnight. Any potatoes could be used, but special “seed potatoes” are preferable to grocery store-bought eating potatoes if you actually want to grow plants for food. Store-bought potatoes will be more likely to have problems with disease.

Materials:

Potato
Paring knife
Mulch and/or potting soil

Procedure:

• Take a potato and locate the "eyes." Use the knife to cut the potato into 1-inch cubes, each cube having one eye.
• Let the potato cubes dry overnight.
• Put the cubes on top of well-drained soil, 16 to 24 inches apart, in a sunny location.
• Cover the cubes with 6 inches of mulch, and water them until the mulch is wet.

If you would rather start your clones indoors, it is acceptable to plant each potato cube into its own pot with potting soil. Once you see a sprout in your pot, you’ll want to transfer it to a garden area outdoors as soon as weather permits. A typical growing season starts in the early spring with some people choosing to plant as late as mid-June.

You can do even more programs like this in the Biotechnology Learning Center at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis!

Note: Adapted from content by Andrea Helaine
Read more: How to Clone Potatoes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7786227_clone-potatoes.html#ixzz1kalVdnQ3

 

Today is the first day of spring and the Vernal Equinox! An old myth claims you can stand an egg on its end ONLY during the Vernal Equinox, when day and night are equal in length. Supposedly, this is because there is equal gravity between the Earth and the sun on that day. But that's a myth! In reality, you can stand an egg on end any day. Why?

On the bottom of an egg you will find tiny bumps in the shell. Those bumps are simply irregularities in the eggshell that hold the egg up (similar to legs).

To prove this point, we successfully balanced an egg outside of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis yesterday– a full day before the Vernal Equinox.

Also, while we were having fun with eggs, we tested out the strength of an egg. Because of the shape of an egg, it can hold up to five pounds of weight on top without breaking! Don't believe me? Check out this photo!

This is a fun science experiement you can try at home, too! You’ll need:
* 2 caps from 2-liter bottles of pop
* 1 egg
* hardback books

1. Place one bottle cap open-side up on a smooth, level surface.
2. Put the large end of the egg on the bottle cap.
3. Put the other cap, open-side down, on the egg.
4. Gradually add some books or other weighty materials.
 

More egg trivia:
* Spin an egg to see if it’s hard-cooked or raw. If it wobbles, it’s raw!
* The expression, “It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk,” could only be true if the sidewalk reached a temperature of 300°F.
* Eggs have tiny pores just like human skin. Through these pores they can absorb flavors and odors, so it’s best to store eggs in a carton in a refrigerator.
* Eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the refrigerator.
* If you accidentally drop an egg on the floor, sprinkle it with a lot of salt before you clean it up. This makes clean-up easier.

All over the world eggs symbolize the release of earth from winter and the coming of new life in the spring. We hope you enjoy the first day of spring!

As part of Literacy Month, we asked Children's Museum of Indianapolis staff to share their favorite or most influential book from childhood. Today, we talked to Joan Emmert, manager of InfoZone Brand Library here at the museum.

Don't forget to keep shopping at the online Scholastic Book Fair throughout March. Each book purchased earns us points that will go toward buying new books for the kid's in our community. Last year we were able to provide more than 300 new books!

By Joan Emmert, Manager of Info Zone Branch Library

As a young child I could always be found in the mystery section of our local library.  I would check out stacks of Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children series.  I loved being outdoors and my books would go with me so that I could read and then act out all the scenes from the books.  Part of being outside meant that I spent time with animals, spiders, and worms!  When I was given a copy of Charlotte’s Web it immediately became my all-time favorite book.  Although I’ve added several more favorites to my collection of books, I still like to recommend Charlotte’s Web to young readers.
 

Spring is quickly approaching (can you believe the warm weather this week?!), and here at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, spring means Spring Break! This Spring Break we're especially excited about the LEGO® Travel Adventure exhibit that just opened.  The exhibit invites you to use one of the greatest building materials of all time—LEGO® bricks—as a vehicle for imagination. Where do you need to go? What does your vehicle need to do? You're not just along for the ride! You imagine the journey and the destination, and build your dream machine!

In This Week's WOW, Josh, Claire, and a special guest Nicole take part in a cool LEGO® challenge similar to what families will get to do at our LEGO® Late Night event on March 31. You pick the destination, determine what terrain you'll have to cross to get there, then build a vechicle to take you.

If you want to participate in a challenge like the one here, be sure to sign your family up for Spring Break LEGO® Late Night on March 31. If you're visiting from out of town this Spring Break, check out our hotel packages and get the most out of your family trip to Indianapolis.

LEGO® Travel Adventure is at the museum through July 22, 2012. Be sure to see it before it leaves!

By Ashley Zrosec, Family Programs Teacher

It’s National "March into Literacy" month!  At The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, we're celebrating with a series of activities and events to get YOU excited about reading!

We're kicking it all off at our Scholastic Book Fair opening today! We have books for the whole family.  The best part? Your purchase will earn points that allow us to purchase books for kids in our community. Last year we were able to provide more than 300 brand new books for kids to keep! This year, even your online purchases in the month of March will earn points, too!

In celebration of Literacy Month we've been compiling a list of our favorite books from when we were kids. Check out some of our favorite authors, titles, and book series:

Top 5 Authors

• Dr. Seuss
• Robert McCloskey
• Shel Silverstein
• Eric Carle
• David A. Carter

Top Book Series

• The Mad Scientists’ Club
• Harry Potter
• Nancy Drew
• Hardy Boys
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
• Little House
• Pinkerton

Top 10 Favorite Books

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
• Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
• Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
• The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper

Stay tuned, all month we'll be posting blogs about books that were influential in the lives of staff members here at the museum.

We’ll see you at the book fair where you can purchase new favorites of your own! And don’t forget...

"The more you read, the more you know, the more successful, you will grow!" - Dr. Seuss.

On February 25, the museum is launching (pun intended) a new experience called Curious Scientific Investigators: Flight Adventures. It’s not an exhibit, but more a series of experiences, programs, and a new multimedia show that teach children and families about flight. We’ve been thrilled to work with some great partners on this project including The Academy of Model Aeronautics that, believe or not, lives right down the road in Muncie, IN. When it comes to model aircraft, these are your guys and gals! This week’s guest blogger is Bill Pritchett from the AMA to tell you more about their organization and how they’re helping with this project.

By Bill Pritchett, Director of Education at the Academy of Model Aeronautics

Before planes and space shuttles, there was aeromodeling, or the making of model aircrafts to test ideas and principles of flight. All the way back in the 1800s the father of the Wright brothers gave them a rubber-powered model aircraft, and less than 100 years later man walked on the moon! Aeromodeling is a truly significant component of actual flight. Plus, it provides learning, excitement and, most importantly, fun for its many followers.

We’re not just talking about paper airplanes here! Aeromodeling includes everything from Free Flight (FF) models, such as Hand Launched Gliders or Catapult Launched Gliders (now that sounds cool!), and also includes any powered aircraft (rubber band, electric, or gas) and radio-controlled flight, and the AMA has activities for all of these! (Check out this video to see a professional remote control pilot and AMA member flying his plane at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis!)

AMA has been a proud participant in a significant NASA grant with The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.  CSI: Flight Adventures  has developed some amazing opportunities for kids to be introduced to aeromodeling, the educational aspects of model aviation, and having fun while they learn.  

This program promotes and supports aviation as an educational tool to educators and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) qualities of flight. Flight Adventures is just the beginning. The partnership between the museum, NASA and AMA also begins a collective journey to a more comprehensive understanding of building and flying all types of model aircraft for America’s youth.

If your kids are interested in getting started with the AMA, visit our website!

One of the things that makes The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis the biggest and best in the world is its ability to extend learning beyond the walls of 3000 N. Meridian Street. In fact, every summer, museum staff and paleontologists escape the Dinosphere dome and travel all the way to the Badlands of South Dakota where they dig for real dinosaur bones! And the best part? You can do it too. That’s right, families, teachers and adults are all invited to register for single or multiple days of dino digging fun. And yes, we find stuff. Lots of stuff.

For example…

Last summer we found over 200 65 million year old specimen including Nano-tyranous teeth, femora from school bus sized Edmontosaurus annectens (aka Duckbill Dinosaur), ribs, mandible pieces and so much more! 

Check out This Week’s WOW to see what a day at the dig site looks like and learn the answer to the question Just what happens to all those fossils once they’ve been discovered and can I use mine as a paper weight?

To learn more or to register for this summer’s dig, click here.

As you probably already know, our Jolly Days exhibit goes into the same gallery where the Children’s Museum Guild Haunted House is during the month of October.  It takes our hardworking Facilities staff plus our amazing Guild Witches 2 months to build and decorate the Haunted House—and it all has to come out of there in a week!  Starting November 1, it’s a scramble to get the Haunted House pulled down and packed away, and the gallery cleaned and re-painted so that Jolly Days can start going in.  So while that’s going on in the gallery space, our exhibits and production team are working hard to get all the decorations in our welcome center and Sunburst Atrium into place. 

The giant tree in the Welcome Center requires a crane to put it in place and decorate it, so we usually do that on the first closed Monday after Halloween so we don’t have to worry about visitors’ safety.  Then it’s about 4 straight days of work to get all the other decorations out of our storage facility, into the building, and arranged on the deck around the tree.  We also have a new resident in our welcome center—the Transformer, Bumblebee!—and he has to be moved several times to allow us to get equipment around the welcome center and hang all the snowflakes  from our ceiling.  Once we’re done with the Welcome Center, the crew moves to start unpacking the rest of Jolly Days!

The Yule Slide—everyone’s favorite holiday tradition here at the museum—takes a crew of four people a day and a half to install and decorate.  The tree in the Atrium has to be assembled and decorated before our collections department staff can put Jingles and his stuffed animal friends into place; they are real artifacts from our Steiff animal collection, and have to be handled with care! The gallery façade (the house, the lights, and the title graphic) takes another day to put up.  Meanwhile, inside the gallery, our paint crew finishes re-painting and touching up so that the exhibit can be unpacked, installed, cleaned, and tested—4 full semi trailers worth of stuff! 

When the walls are in place, the curator brings in the toys and games from our collection that make Jolly Days special—from old board games to stuffed bunnies, even Santa’s antique desk!  The graphics staff adds trees to the walls and snowflakes to our theater, replacing any of our signs that are damaged or dirty, and our cleaning crew washes and sanitizes all the toys from the play areas. Once the lights are focused and the floors swept, the exhibit is finally ready for you to visit! 

So from start to finish, getting Jolly Days ready to open the day after Thanksgiving takes us about 2700 work hours total!  I’m tired just thinking about it… or it might have something to do with the fact that I’ve still got work to do….

Jolly Days is open now through Jan. 8, 2012. It's a great INDOOR winter activity for kids and families in Indianapolis!