Weird Science

Today I woke up and just knew that it would be a great day to learn some new things about the world! I went outside to find that it was a beautiful, sunny day, but a bit too chilly to spend the day outside! I remembered that my flat friends Lewie, Eugene, and Jordan had talked about going to the McWane Science Center. It sounded pretty fun, so I gave them a call and met them over there. We walked in the building to find a bunch of different exhibits! First, we sat on a bed of nails! I was afraid that the nails would go right through us, but fortunately we were fine. Then we found an exhibit called Recollections, where we stood in front of a projection screen and our outlines were reflected on the screen in various colors. It was awesome! After dancing around on the projector screen, we found a little play house. It looked like an ordinary house, but if you walked to the back corner of the house to the other it made you look like a giant in a tiny room!

We met a couple of Engineering students that had set up a demonstration table to show us how to make a satellite can float in an air tube powered by a fan. I tried to make a satellite with a plastic cup, tape, cotton balls, and a couple of Q-tips, but it sunk to the bottom of the tube. Next, we tried to make a parachute made of paper and string with for me to float in the air tube with, but I was so lightweight they had to catch me before I could fly away! 

We walked upstairs and leaped into the past as we walked around a dinosaur exhibit. There was a laboratory with glass windows where scientists worked diligently to uncover fossils. The first dinosaur we saw is called an Appalachiosaurus, which is a dinosaur that actually roamed the lands of Alabama during prehistoric times. I wonder what it would be like if dinosaurs still existed, but I'm glad I do not have to worry about being chased down by dinosaurs every day. There were other animals on display in that exhibit, including birds that are native to Alabama and insects from around the world. Some interesting things that I saw were a bald eagle, an owl, and some creepy cockroaches! 

We stepped out of the past and back into the present and found fun hands-on activities. There was a giant "Pin Wall" where we made imprints of ourselves and our faces. One of my non-Flat friends stuck her face in the Pin Wall and scared me! We found a sand spinner that is used to make patterns with sand, but I found that it was much more fun to lay on it and spin around instead of making sand art. The last exhibit we visited at the McWane Center was the World of Water. The coolest part of this exhibit was a touch tank with Bonnethead sharks and stingrays. Some of the stingrays stuck their fins out of the water and onto the side of the tank as if they wanted to give me a high five! We also saw jelly fish and other ocean wildlife in the World of Water exhibit.

Today was such an awesome day! I feel like I've learned so much while having fun too! I would love to go back and explore more of the McWane Center. I found a website that you can look up to find out more about the McWane Center if you want to visit: http://www.mcwane.org. On that website you can find information about the exhibits and upcoming events. Well, I have to go plan my next excursion, so thank you for reading and check back in a few days to hear about more of my adventures!