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Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Explore winds, tides, and natural phenomena.
Investigate forces shaping the City, Bay, and region. Watch shifting winds and tides, reveal hidden life, shake a bridge, observe human behavior, and find new ways to notice the places we inhabit.
Aeolian Harp
An eerie orchestral chord floats on the breeze; it’s the shimmering sound of a 27-foot tall harp being strummed by the wind.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Bike Rope Squirter
These upside down, bike-powered machines are built to throw ropes twenty feet into the air. Acting a bit like water and a bit like rope, the loops dance along the ground as visitors play an Exploratorium-style game of jump rope.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Color of Water
Water reflects the blue of the sky, but if you look down into it, its color is based mostly on the green of marine algae—phytoplankton—and the brown of suspended silt. This array of color chips lets viewers determine what’s influencing the color of water today.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Disappearing Rings
Lower these rings into the Bay and see just how far you can see into the water. One of the San Francisco Bay’s defining features, sediment flows from the delta change with the seasons. This exhibit is based on a scientific observational instrument called a “secchi disk,” which scientists use to determine water clarity.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Distorted Room
From one view, this room looks like a normal room, but people and things inside may seem quite strange.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Echo Tube
Make a sound into the echo tube and listen for it to reflect back from the far end. You’ll hear a half-second delay, and strange distortions created by the journey.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Golden Gate Bridge
In San Francisco, bridges and buildings are made to move.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Perspective Drawing Window
Tracing on the glass produces precise perspective.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Pi Shrine
This circular piece of Exploratorium history has held pride of place in π Day festivities since 1988.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Pier Piling Pivot
This exhibit uses a geared motor to swing a specially designed piling out of the water so that visitors can examine it in detail. An accompanying legend identifies the intertidal zones on the piling and the species of plant and animal life occupying this unique shoreline environment.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
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