Active Prolonged Engagement

Both an exhibit development endeavor and a visitor research study, the APE project explored strategies and tactics to shift the role of visitors from passive recipients of information to active participants in the STEM learning experience.

Year:

2004

Links:

Project website

Avalanche

Does the sand all pile up in the same way?

Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine

Circuit Workbench

Try building these circuits found in everyday objects.

Where: Gallery 2: Tinkering

Downhill Race

Believe it or not, when objects roll downhill, it’s not their weight or size that determines their speed—it’s how their weight is distributed.

Where: Crossroads: Getting Started

Light Island

Play with beams of light.

Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening

Magnetic Fluid Patterns

A magnet's force gathers and disperses a magnetic fluid in dynamic patterns.

Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.

Rotating Faces

Some of these mirrors make your head spin, some don't. Can you find the pattern?

Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening

Spinning Patterns

Use your hands and tools to create unexpected patterns in the sand.

Where: Ray and Dagmar Dolby Atrium

Watch Water Freeze

Ordinarily, water freezes too slowly to be appreciated. Here, polarized light and an ultra cold slab let you watch water crystalize rapidly in real time. The colorful mosaic of ice that forms is different every time.

Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine

What's Hot, What's Not?

At this exhibit, an infrared camera detects the heat radiating from warm objects and projects it on a big screen, allowing you to see what’s hot (and not) about you and the other people and objects in your surroundings.

Where: Crossroads: Getting Started