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Arm wrestle over the Internet. Sit in a tiny '60s space capsule. Stage a botany-themed puppet show. It's all possible at Queens' New York Hall of Science, a longtime staple of the school field-trip circuit. Now, with its huge expansion, some great new bells and whistles will bring the Hall's brand of hands-on learning to even more kids, including preschoolers.
Opening November 23, the addition, which doubles the museum's square footage, is an environmentally friendly translucent building attached to the old hall, which was designed as part of the 1964 World's Fair. The space rockets from the fair have been refurbished and set in a park, along with a climb-in replica capsule, just outside the museum.
There's plenty of exhibition space here. Among the six new permanent exhibits is "Connections: The Nature of Networks." Here, a kid can sit at a table that sprouts a metal arm, with a computer screen in front of him. Another child who's at a science center in, say, Iowa, appears on the screen and grabs a similar arm in front of her?and the wrestling match begins. A motor detects the force the NYC kid is using and sends the data through the Internet to Iowa, where it's translated into force. And vice versa. "We've tested this in prototype," says Hall of Science director Alan Friedman, "and it's amazing how quickly the technology becomes invisible to kids." (Hey, this is the IM generation.)
So, Internet arm wrestling is fun, but what exactly are the participants learning? "The lesson varies with age and previous knowledge," Friedman says. Older visitors will discover that the arm was developed from a technology called haptics (from the Greek word for "touch"), which is used in pioneering remote-control surgery. Children will learn that networks can transmit not only sight and sound but also touch. "It's important that kids realize that technology can do different kinds of things."
And scientists who wander in may discover kids learning in more ways than they'd thought possible. In the past, Friedman explains, "It was believed that little kids couldn't really learn science?that they liked to role-play, but couldn't understand the ways that a scientist categorizes objects, or they couldn't grasp cause and effect. In the last seven or eight years, there's a whole new respect for what kids as young as two can think, do and learn."
At the heart of the Hall's new glass-walled preschool area is a permanent exhibit called "City Life." "Even the most densely populated concrete city is teeming with life-forms," Friedman says. The exhibit will show kids how to look for some of those forms, be they falcons, mice or even mold growing on fruit. "It's meant to be self-explanatory, but we'll also offer activities like kaleidoscope or periscope making," he adds. There are also two puppet stages and boxes of small objects, arranged by category, to explore. A protected baby area will have sensory activities for the youngest scientists, in a space set apart from rambunctious older kids.
Friedman is committed to turning science education into a fun experience, but he understands that science is not always perceived that way. "It certainly is possible to make science dull, and I fault my own colleagues, the scientists, for often doing that," admits Friedman. "If you put a lot of love and thought into teaching it, it can be fascinating."
New York Hall of Science. 47-01 111th St at 48th Ave, Flushing Meadows?Corona Park, Queens (718-699-0005; www.nyhallsci.org). Subway: 7 to 111th St. Tue?Fri 9:30am?5pm; Sat, Sun noon?5pm. $9, seniors and ages 5?18 $6, children 2?4 $2.50.
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