Science has
always been a personal subject of curiosity. With interest in its various
fields, I have often asked myself of inquisitive questions and answered them by
exploring the limitless boundaries of science and its studies. Such fascination
was recently re-cultivated when I visited The Mind Museum, the country’s first
world-class science museum.
Upon arriving at
the Bonifacio Global City site, I was welcomed by the modern structure of the Museum.
The uniquely-shaped edifice is a fitting greeting, providing enough hints for
visitors of the many stored wonders waiting for them inside.
I purchased a
ticket for the three to six afternoon tour. Each tour, according to the
Museum’s website, is distributed in three hour blocks from Tuesdays to Sundays
– starting from nine in the morning until six in the evening on weekdays and
until nine in the evening on weekends.
My tour started
with an introduction from Aedi (or idea spelled backwards). The anthropomorphic
robot gave a brief overview of the Museum’s galleries and provided rules to
follow while inside the museum. After
Aedi’s speech, a “mind mover”, the Museum’s term for museum guide, forwarded
with his Segway towards my direction and instructed me to follow his direction.
Hansen, the mind
mover assigned to me, made another warm welcome and detailed the galleries
briefly introduced by Aedi. The galleries, according to Hansen, are
interconnected. “The Mind Museum has five galleries or stories: The Story of
the Atom, The Story of Life, The Story of the Earth, The Story of the Universe,
and The Story of Technology,” the mind mover enumerated. “Everything here is
connected – all things start from the smallest of particles and we belong to
one gigantic universe.”
The mind mover
later related that, after his introduction, I will be left on my own to explore
the Museum. I asked why the schedule is not a guided tour. “Science should be
entertaining, fun, and engaging. It takes time to learn it. You learn science
your own way and on your own,” Hansen explained.
I was now ready
to start my adventure.
The first gallery
on my list was the smallest of everything – The Story of the Atom. In here, one
marvels at the unique characteristics of the very minute – from the basic
periodic elements to the composition of compounds, and from the application of
energy to the magic of fusion and fission. A crowd favourite is the Static Van
de Graaff, a machine that explains the basics of negative and positive charges.
The Robert Van de Graaff invention can literally make for a hair-raising
experience! Other notable interactive exhibits are the Shadow Box which freezes
your shadows and the Whirlpool which explains the concept behind centripetal
force.
After immersing
myself with new knowledge about atoms and molecules, I then proceeded to The
Story of Life which was interconnected from the first gallery by a tunnel
projecting a lesson about human deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
A giant replica
of the human brain and a whale shark are the first conversation pieces of the
second gallery. Within The Story of Life, visitors learn more about the human
anatomy, the various species of animal life, and the tale of men’s evolution
and migration. Behind the statues depicting Charles Darwin’s Theory of
Evolution is a photo booth where one can take a snapshot and discover his
prehistoric counterpart. I even took one myself and was amazed with the result!
But my favourite
Life piece is the Bernoulli’s principle exhibit. The flying beach balls reminded
me of a similar exhibit back in grade school and brought back childhood memories.
It reminded me to think and to act like a child –curious, playful, and
interacting – while I was in the Museum.
And so I did.
The Story of the
Earth was the third gallery I visited. Stan, a replica of the extinct Tyrannosaurus
Rex, is the main centrepiece of the gallery. Surrounding him are interactive
exhibits that discussed the earth’s geology. I went inside the Animal Sound
Cave and listened to lions roaring and owls hooting while visiting students
formed tornadoes and volcanoes, created earthquakes, and dug fossils in
separate exhibits.
From the Earth
gallery, I proceeded to The Story of the Universe through a dizzying tunnel of
stars and galaxies. In the Universe gallery, I felt like a would-be astronaut
in exploring the simulated phases of the earth’s moon and in navigating a buggy
in a made-believe terrestrial Mars. The
Space Quest exhibit, on the other hand, informed me that flies were the first
animals sent to space. An interesting factoid, indeed.
After pretending
to be a space man, I headed to the second floor to visit the last gallery of
the Museum, The Story of Technology. In the gallery, visitors explored the
humble beginnings of men’s invention -the ancient astrolabe, the initial
printing press, and the pioneering Spinning Jenny, for example. Students
likewise appreciated the advancement of modern technology - the helper robots,
the arcade video games, the night vision goggles – through their related
exhibits.
I have been
touring the Museum for at most two hours after I visited the Technology.
However, I realized that I had not completed my tour of over 250 interactive
exhibits. Thus, I spent the final hour enjoying
a 3D show entitled “Birthplace” and “Space Shell” in the Life and Universe
galleries respectively. The remaining minutes inside the museum was spent for
the “Hall of 10 Most Beautiful Experiments” and the “Hall of Philippine
Science.”
Music was played
to signal the end of the museum visit. As I proceeded towards the exit, I felt
the scientist in me fulfilled, happy that I was given three hours to become a
kid again, a curious mind in his version of playground. I remarked Stan an
“until next time” and Aedi, a silent thank you.
Outside, some students
are still playing in the Science-in-the-Park, an outdoor experience of Water,
Math, Music, and Living. The students seemed entertained with their
discoveries. Then, Stan’s words crossed my mind:
“If your bones
were discovered someday, what stories would they tell?”
I am sure that
whatever stories this civilization will tell, The Mind Museum will keep and
narrate these stories for the curious generations to come.
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For tickets reservations and more information, call 909-MIND (6463) or visit
http://themindmuseum.org/
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