Exhibits

Orlando Science Center's exhibit halls feature a vast array of exciting interactive experiences! Learning has never been so fun with these hands on educational exhibits. From down to earth explorations in natural science to the high-tech world of simulation technology, everywhere you look, you'll find educational and entertaining opportunities to explore, experiment, and discover.

Traveling Exhibits

The Orlando Science Center is home to some of the most exciting traveling exhibits in the country. Upcoming traveling exhibits at the Science Center include Blue Man Group – Making Waves and Adventures With Clifford: The Big Red Dog. When these exhibits are in town they are only here for a limited time; so don’t miss the opportunity to see them!

Exhibit Halls

As great as our traveling exhibits are, there are some exhibits that are the staple of the Orlando Science Center. NatureWorks will have you up close and personal with some of nature’s most fascinating reptiles. At DinoDigs, you’ll step back into the prehistoric age. Discover the dynamic forces and systems that shape our Earth, as well as other planets in Our Planet, Our Universe. Explore such concepts as electricity and magnetism, lasers, soundwaves, and nature’s forces in Science Park. No visit to the Science Center is complete without a trip to KidsTown, an interactive world dedicated to our smaller explorers.

Science Live! Programs

What’s the difference between a great visit to a Science Center and a memorable visit? Live programs. Our exhibits are designed to inspire curiosity and exploration, our Science Live! programs are designed to bring the exhibits to life. Whether it’s a show in the Digital Adventure Theater or a one-to-one interaction with a volunteer at the Crosby Observatory, our live programs create the kind of impact that can last a lifetime.

Science Stations

Looking for little more “hard science” in your next Science Center visit? Look no further than the Science Stations located throughout the facility. Science Stations are a cross between exhibits and live programs in that they’re exhibits that typically include a live program to truly bring the experience to life. Science Stations provide an in-depth look at their respective subject matter in an entertaining way. Be sure to check your program schedule to see which Science Stations are conducting demonstrations on the day of your next visit.

Crosby Observatory

The aluminum-domed Crosby Observatory atop Orlando Science Center houses Florida's largest publicly accessible refractor telescope. This one-of-a-kind custom-built telescope, along with several smaller scopes, are available at selected times for solar and night sky viewing.

Native Plants Help Our Planet

12 May 2011
Posted in NatureWorks

National Geographic reports that exotic plants may make your yard look beautiful but in the long run they will cause harm to our ecosystems. Dr. Doug Tallamy an entomologist (insect expert) at the University of Delaware explains why having only plants native to your area is so important.

Ever since non-native people started to arrive on America's shores, they've carried along with them trees, flowers, and vegetables from other places. Now there are so many of those outside plant species that they are crowding out the native plants that have lived here since before settlers arrived. This may not seem like too much of an issue until you consider the fact that the type of plants has an impact on other living things in the environment, like insects and animals.

Think of it as a web, which starts with the plants, goes to the insects, and ends with birds. Almost all the plant-eating insects in the United States—90% of them—are specialized, which means they eat only certain plants. When those certain plants aren’t available for the bugs to eat anymore the insects die off. In turn, insects are the food source of birds and when the insect population drops so does the bird population.

Dr. Tallamy points out that, "we cannot let the plants and animals around us disappear," and, "the way to preserve them is to give them food to eat. But when we plant non-native plants, we are clobbering the food web, because then we don't have the insects the birds need to live."

What can you do to help this situation? It’s simple! "Just Google 'native plants' and your location, and you can find out which plants really belong where you live," says Tallamy. He also suggests getting your children involved with the planting process or even having them, “adopt a bird species in trouble and see if [they] can't plant some things that will attract the insects they need."

Milkweed

Photo Above: Milkweed is a flower native to Central Florida. Monarch butterfly caterpillars dine on Milkweed. A small milkweed patch planted in Spring can produce beautiful Monarch butterflies in the Summer!

Interesting perspectives on the Fukushima disaster

21 April 2011
Posted in Science Park

National Geographic reported that radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, disabled by the March 11^th earthquake and tsunami in Japan, continues to enter the ocean and endanger marine animal life. In the beginning of the month, seawater samples taken near the nuclear power plant, on Japan's eastern coast, showed elevated levels of radioactive isotopes. The presence of radioactive isotopes alone is not bad since all life on Earth, and in the oceans, lives with exposure to natural levels of ionizing radiation. Although we are all in contact with high frequency radiation strong enough to change DNA most genetic damage heals because the damage is coming from a natural source of radiation. However, the addition of human-made radiation can make it harder for the body of humans or animals to repair broken genes.

Radiation concentrations in the Japanese seawater samples have peaked at around 3,355 times the legal limit for seawater, which shows that this radiation exposure is far beyond any natural radiation marine life comes in contact with. Once the radiation enters the seawater it can hurt marine life, either killing, creating genetic mutations in offspring, or passing along the radiation up the food chain. Joseph Rachlin, director of Lehman College's Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research in New York City, feels that, "there will be a potential for a certain amount of lethality of living organisms, but that's less of a concern than the possible effects on the genetics of the animals that become exposed,” and that the main problem is the radiation, “altering the genetics of the animal and interfering with reproduction.” However, according to chemical oceanographer Bill Burnett, “The good news is the half life [of iodine, one of the radioactive isotopes] is only eight days,” and, “if they stop the source of the radioactive leakage, this is going to be a short-term problem."

Track the Sun

13 April 2011
Posted in WFTV Severe Weather Center 9

Throughout the year the sun appears at different locations at the same time of day. At 6 P.M. in July it's still sunny outside, while at 6 P.M. in January the Sun has already set. These differences are easily seen month by month, but not easily seen by the days or the weeks.

The sun tracking experiment will allow you to see that the sun appears in different locations at same specific time everyday. This is a great outdoor summer activity that will be fun for you and your family! Here is how it works:

Sun_Track_1

Glue a wooden stick to a cardboard square so that it stands upright at the edge, so the whole shadow can be seen on the square.
Place the cardboard square outside where it can be exposed to the sun on a flat surface. Every day at the same time make a mark on the cardboard where the tip of the shadow is located and write the date. (It is important for the board to be in the exact location, facing the same direction everyday. It may be useful to mark the ground location where you will be putting the cardboard)
Repeat this daily or weekly at the same exact time each day.
Look at the results to discuss with your family about how often the sun moves compared to your expectations.

Sun_Track_2

The tilt of the Earth’s axis which causes the Earth to Face the Sun at an 23 degree angle is what causes the change in the shadow’s location. Depending on where the Earth is located in its orbit around the sun is what determines the length of day. The length of the days changes because the Earth’s location around the sun is contantly changing.

Big Beasts on the Small Screen

20 April 2011
Posted in DinoDigs

Discovery channel put together a series called Prehistoric. It is a graphics intensive series that takes you on a backwards timeline to see the dinosaurs that lived, fought and died in your backyard hundreds, thousands, even millions of years ago. The focus of this series is to show the amazing extinct creatures that once called our cities home.

While many people know that ferocious dinosaurs and large mammals once roamed America, very few realize that these creatures stalked the exact sites where we've built our major cities and most famous landmarks. We are literally walking in the footsteps of these extinct animals every day, without even realizing it.

Here's a link to Prehistoric New York to get you started!

What Can DNA Tell Us About Neanderthal Man?

Written by Stephanie Kazmierzak-Esler | 11 April 2011
Posted in Science Live!

DNA Day at the Orlando Science Center is just a month away, so in honor of this amazing molecule I thought it would be neat to look over some genetics news.

This article is from last year, but the research continues. Neanderthals, or cavemen, have long been thought to be dull, slow and stupid, (thus the whole Geico thing about being so easy a caveman could do it). Ever since the reconstruction of the remains at La Chapelle aux Saints in 1911 by Marcellin Boule, the general public has had the idea that Neanderthals stood hunched-over, with their arms drooping down and that they moved slowly. In fact, this is a mistake. The remains from La Chapelle Aux Saints turn out to be those of an old man who had severe arthritis. Of course he would have walked slowly and been hunched over, but Boule thought this idea applied to all Neanderthals.

Much work had been done since then, but analyzing bones can only get you so far. That’s where this study comes in; a group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute are looking into DNA preserved in different specimens. What can we tell from this? For one, we can see how different Neanderthals really were from modern humans and we can get ideas about why you don’t see more cavemen around today.

If you think this is cool, imagine what it would be like to ask one of these researchers questions about their findings. On May 7, DNA Day, you can have that chance; Dr. Emily Hodges from the research team will be available via Skype for questions!

For more information, click here to view the full article.

Stephanie is a Science Interpreter at the Science Center and often is found in DinoDigs or Careers for Life. Paleontology, Anthropology and Anatomy are her passion and jumps at every opportunity to talk about it. Stop in and say Hello!