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International Traveling Exhibits
National Geographic MAPS: Tools for Adventure
Overview Maps are important tools that help us explore and expand our thinking about the world. WHAT: National Geographic MAPS: Tools for Adventure will provide families with an exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in the thrilling world of maps! Dynamic exhibit elements, grouped by land, sea, air and space themes, invite families to become explorers, chart new territory and plan their own adventures. Developed by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in cooperation with National Geographic Society and made possible by a lead gift from Lilly Endowment, Inc. COMPONENTS: MAPS is full of fun, family friendly activities found throughout the exhibits’ 5 major sections: NGS Explorers Mapping School, Explorations on Land, Explorations in Air & Space, Explorations at Sea, and NGS Explorers Headquarters.  NGS Explorers Mapping School — A new explorer has to learn the basics! In Explorers Mapping School, families manipulate and study amazing historical and contemporary maps to learn how they are used as tools for adventure. Explorations on Land — Families are introduced to explorer J. Michael Fay through a life-size Congo Trek Tent similar to the one that Fay used in the jungles of Africa. They can pretend to be Fay while they play with pots, pans, compasses and faux GPS units similar to those used at his campsites. Visitors can also explore the layers and shafts of the Great Pyramids, as Zahi Hawass would have, in a Pyramids of Giza tabletop activity. Explorations in Air & Space — At the Mars Exploration station, families can learn more about the work of Nathalie Cabrol. Here they can navigate a NASA spacecraft on the surface of Mars in a computer interactive. Explorations at Sea — Children can climb into a Hawaiian Canoe similar to Nainoa Thompson’s. They will learn how to steer the boat with only the stars and the sea to guide them. NGS Explorers Headquarters — Families can chart their past, present and future explorations on Earth by placing symbols on a large world map. Throughout the exhibition, visitors will find Map Walls that feature enlarged maps from the journeys of our featured explorers. Parents and children can follow the paths of their favorite explorer, see photographs from their adventures and peer into windows to find amazing artifacts!ARTIFACTS: MAPS is full of exciting artifacts from the adventures of featured explorers as well as historical and contemporary maps from around the world. A custom-built robot used by Zahi Hawass and his team to search the shafts of the Great Pyramids A prop map from The Goonies from Richard Donner (producer & director of the movie) A map made in China c. 1800 that shows part of the sea route of Zheng Ho, the famous Chinese explorer of the 1400s A map of Narnia signed by the artist/illustrator Pauline Baynes A 1617 example of a map of the North Polar regions by Gerard Mercator, the first map devoted to the Arctic regions and to show the world from a polar projection An orbital chart that shows the path of Apollo 13 as it returned to the earth in 1970, signed by astronaut Fred Haise A 1661 version of a map of New England by William Blaeu that first appeared in the 1630s—the first printed map to show American animals and Native Americans (Also notable because north isn’t at the top of the map — west is) A pair of aviator goggles worn by Amelia EarhartEXPLORERS: Zahi Hawass — currently exploring and mapping secret passages inside the Great Pyramid using a specially designed robot (Learn More: http://www.zahihawass.com/home.htm) J. Michael Fay — trekked 2,000 miles across the Africa Congo to document rare and vanishing wildlife in one of the world’s last remaining wild places (Learn More: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0817_050817_mikefay.html) Amelia Earhart — the first person in history to attempt using the equatorial route (the Earth’s widest expanse) to circumnavigate the globe. (Learn More: http://www.ameliaearhart.com/home.php) Phil Masters — used special technology and mapping to find the Queen Anne’s Revenge, an 18th Century pirate ship off the coast of North Carolina (Learn More: http://www.blackbeardlives.com/day4/day4live.shtml) Nainoa Thompson — the first modern-day Polynesian to learn and use wayfinding for long-distance, open-ocean voyaging (Learn More: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/tops/nainoa.html) Nathalie Cabrol — a planetary geologist specializing in the study of Mars and its ancient lakes as well as a science team member of the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers mission (Learn More: http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~ncabrol/) Claire Parkinson — a NASA scientist who uses satellite data to study the connection between sea ice and climate (Learn More:http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/bios/Parkinson.html) |
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3000 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208-4716 · 317-334-3322 |
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