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Joan:  I applaud what you are doing.

I think I and some others on the list (you know who you are!) would urge you
to consider a different point of view in some of the advice you'd like to
offer.  It seems to me what you are suggesting is a visit based primarily on
didactics, when one of the real pleasures of a science center is its
informality.

I think its great to have the kids think about what they are interested in
when they visit.  I think its equally important that they be free to browse
and choose once they get there.  Who knows, something they thought they had
NO interest in might be the thing that catches their fancy.

I, for one, hate task oriented activities.  The focus is on the task, not on
the activities.  For instance, we do Scavenger hunts.  It seems to me to be
obfuscation.  If, for whatever reason tweens don't think they like science,
or we don't think they have the appropriate attention span, why don't we
have them do something that gives them science answers, but doesn't have
much to do with immersing themselves in the environment?  Maybe by sugar
coating it, we can insure they 'learn' something.

Let me add the caveat that I'm no longer the purist I used to be; not too
many years ago I would be going on a rant like some of my colleagues (again,
you know who you are :).  Still, if you leave out the self-directed
experience, if you leave out that its ok to spend a long time, even most of
your visit, on one exhibit, if you don't make reference to the value of
curiosity and discovery for curiosity's and discovery's sake, I feel you
would be missing at least half of what science centers can be about.

I admit, my two boys (5 and 9) are lucky.  When they come to visit Dad, they
have the run of the place.  I've noticed my little one loves to do the same
things over and over; the older one likes to try new things.  And in both
cases its impossible to predict how long either will spend at a given
exhibit on a given day.

I don't concern myself with whether or not they come out with any new
knowledge.  I just want to know they had a good time in an environment about
science.

I'd like to reiterate - what you guys are doing is great.  I'm only
advocating a broader view.

Jeff Courtman
Exhibits & Special Projects Coordinator
251.208.6851
Exploreum Science Center
www.exploreum.net

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