California Science Center Week 3
Hello my lovely friends,
Last week was another jam-packed week at the science center, which I've learned is just the way things are here. Everyone is always on the move, and there is always so much more to see and do. During my time last week, there were a few new things I got to see and do, and I am ready to tell you all about it.
After the Apollo 11 event, there was a lot of cleaning up and the tying-up of loose ends to deal with, so the beginning of the week was a little bit slower than usual, but after Monday and Tuesday, things picked up to their typical speed. For the remainder of the week, I was running alongside the teen interns to shadow their stations, the majority of which I have done plenty of times in the past few weeks. At some point, however, I was scheduled to shadow someone at the Brain Cart, which is where we learn about the brain.
At the Brain Cart, the main objective is for people to learn what the brain looks like, what the main parts of the brain are, and how the brain sends signals to the rest of our body. In this cart, there is a real human brain that is cut in half so visitors can see what the inside of a human brain looks like. There is also a sheep brain, which is the only animal brain that looks like a human's brain. Mr. Potato Head is there to teach smaller children about the five senses and how our brain is connected to those five senses. There are also special goggles that mess with your vision, and guests can wear them to try and do things like high-five each other or walk in a straight line; the point of this is to show how your brain sometimes can't send signals to your body properly. There are so many other things in this cart that we are able to take out and have people interact with, but I will leave it at that because these are what guests--and myself as well-- like the best.
Another highlight from last week was going to the featured exhibit at the science center called "Dogs: A Science Tail." As soon as I walked in, I was taken in by the sights, sounds, and even smells having to do with dogs. The exhibit in itself is extremely interactive in so many ways: there is a "guess the smell" game, a long stretch of the room for guests to sprint across and learn if they're faster than a chihuahua, a dog themed Jeopardy game, an excavation pit where you can find the "bones" of a woman and her dog who died together in a natural disaster, and so much more. There was a wall with pictures of people and their dogs and screens that would show pictures of dogs with their name and where they were from, and it had a website that visitors could submit their own pictures too. There was also a section where visitors could sit down and record stories about their dogs, and these made me so emotional. Overall the entire exhibit was so great at taking you in and getting people to learn by interacting, which is something I loved. On top of that, there was just so many cool and new things to learn about dogs here. The only thing that would've made it better would have been actual dogs!
Later in the day, I went to see an IMAX movie called Superhero Dogs, which was about dogs with jobs in search and rescue, the Italian coast guard, at a Kenyan conservation reserve, and a very special therapy dog that can also surf. I loved watching it so much, and this entire exhibit made me miss my dogs with my entire heart. It was one of the most memorable experiences from my time so far, and I will happily continue to tell everyone about it for weeks and weeks in the future.
One last cool experience from this week is meeting the CEO of the science center. He came to a teen intern meeting that I just happened to be at, and I got the chance to introduce myself as a Young Ambassador which was great. Along with the teen interns, we asked him questions about the science center and his five phase plan that has been in the works since the 80s. I really enjoyed getting to talk to him, and it made me realize how lucky I am that I got to experience something like this thanks to YAP.
Some final things I want to talk about from this week: I went to an all staff meeting where we got free food, I watched the footage from the KTLA segment they did on the Apollo 11 event and I showed up front and center in most of it, I watched an IMAX movie about volcanoes in 3D and it was unbelievable, and I got to take home slime twice in the week.
I'm excited to see what these last few days have in store for me. I hope you're all excited too, and I'm sending you all the willpower to get through this last week.
With lots of love,
Emely
Last week was another jam-packed week at the science center, which I've learned is just the way things are here. Everyone is always on the move, and there is always so much more to see and do. During my time last week, there were a few new things I got to see and do, and I am ready to tell you all about it.
After the Apollo 11 event, there was a lot of cleaning up and the tying-up of loose ends to deal with, so the beginning of the week was a little bit slower than usual, but after Monday and Tuesday, things picked up to their typical speed. For the remainder of the week, I was running alongside the teen interns to shadow their stations, the majority of which I have done plenty of times in the past few weeks. At some point, however, I was scheduled to shadow someone at the Brain Cart, which is where we learn about the brain.
 |
| A sheep brain, half a human brain, and a Mr. Potato Head from the California Science Center's Brain Cart |
At the Brain Cart, the main objective is for people to learn what the brain looks like, what the main parts of the brain are, and how the brain sends signals to the rest of our body. In this cart, there is a real human brain that is cut in half so visitors can see what the inside of a human brain looks like. There is also a sheep brain, which is the only animal brain that looks like a human's brain. Mr. Potato Head is there to teach smaller children about the five senses and how our brain is connected to those five senses. There are also special goggles that mess with your vision, and guests can wear them to try and do things like high-five each other or walk in a straight line; the point of this is to show how your brain sometimes can't send signals to your body properly. There are so many other things in this cart that we are able to take out and have people interact with, but I will leave it at that because these are what guests--and myself as well-- like the best.
Another highlight from last week was going to the featured exhibit at the science center called "Dogs: A Science Tail." As soon as I walked in, I was taken in by the sights, sounds, and even smells having to do with dogs. The exhibit in itself is extremely interactive in so many ways: there is a "guess the smell" game, a long stretch of the room for guests to sprint across and learn if they're faster than a chihuahua, a dog themed Jeopardy game, an excavation pit where you can find the "bones" of a woman and her dog who died together in a natural disaster, and so much more. There was a wall with pictures of people and their dogs and screens that would show pictures of dogs with their name and where they were from, and it had a website that visitors could submit their own pictures too. There was also a section where visitors could sit down and record stories about their dogs, and these made me so emotional. Overall the entire exhibit was so great at taking you in and getting people to learn by interacting, which is something I loved. On top of that, there was just so many cool and new things to learn about dogs here. The only thing that would've made it better would have been actual dogs!
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| Build your own dog! You are able to mix and match these pieces in order to make a dog. This is the dog I made. |
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| This is how different languages describe the way a dog barks. I found this next to a section that discussed the roles of dogs in different cultures around the world. |
Later in the day, I went to see an IMAX movie called Superhero Dogs, which was about dogs with jobs in search and rescue, the Italian coast guard, at a Kenyan conservation reserve, and a very special therapy dog that can also surf. I loved watching it so much, and this entire exhibit made me miss my dogs with my entire heart. It was one of the most memorable experiences from my time so far, and I will happily continue to tell everyone about it for weeks and weeks in the future.
One last cool experience from this week is meeting the CEO of the science center. He came to a teen intern meeting that I just happened to be at, and I got the chance to introduce myself as a Young Ambassador which was great. Along with the teen interns, we asked him questions about the science center and his five phase plan that has been in the works since the 80s. I really enjoyed getting to talk to him, and it made me realize how lucky I am that I got to experience something like this thanks to YAP.
Some final things I want to talk about from this week: I went to an all staff meeting where we got free food, I watched the footage from the KTLA segment they did on the Apollo 11 event and I showed up front and center in most of it, I watched an IMAX movie about volcanoes in 3D and it was unbelievable, and I got to take home slime twice in the week.
I'm excited to see what these last few days have in store for me. I hope you're all excited too, and I'm sending you all the willpower to get through this last week.
With lots of love,
Emely
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