The AM Forum

We need to have one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploratorium) in every city in the country. Kids would find science fascinating and I'm sure interest would soar. Maybe the US wouldn't be lagging behind in science and engineering. Kids get bored quickly in a classroom setting in front of a dry textbook listening to the drone of a monotone lecture.

I was able to learn some new things I wasn't aware of, even about electricity. I found particularly interesting the hysteresis motor and the automobile differential mechanism. The place is very noisy, as could be expected with a few hundred kids running around inside; they have a couple of seats across from each other in an open area, about 50 ft. apart, with the wall behind each seat shaped to form a parabolic reflector. Two people, each sitting in one of the seats, can comfortably talk to each other in a normal voice across the open space through all the noise.

The displays are mostly built on-site, and many could easily be constructed in a minimally equipped workshop. This would be an excellent place for a science teacher to visit, take a few notes and photos, and then construct some of the displays for the class room back home.

Explore the exhibits here (http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/area_index.html) (many come up "unavailable" but a few are currently viewable).

An amateur radio exhibit in one of these Exploratoria might be a way to bring some young blood into our ranks. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia used to have a working amateur radio station as one of its exhibits, but I think that was removed a few years ago. It would certainly be a good thing to clone the Exploratorium, at least in all major metropolitan areas. If the schools could not construct interactive science demonstrations due to budget cuts, they could send classes to the Exploratorium in their area as a field trip.

When I was growing up, my local public schools (Woodbridge, NJ) did not even offer science classes below grade 8...not exactly conducive to our national interest in the aftermath of the Sputnik launch by the USSR. I used to read science books and was interested in a TV program that used to air on NBC on Saturdays, after all the cartoons were over. It was "Mr. Wizard". Don Herbert, the "teacher" on "Mr. Wizard", was actually a manager at NBC in New York. His passion was teaching children about science and NBC agreed to give him half an hour on Saturday afternoons. The show was carried as a sustaining program (unsponsored) and "Mr. Wizard" would conduct science demonstrations on camera while teaching why things did what they did. He even made physics, often considered to be a dry science, interesting with his demonstrations of potential and kinetic energy. In a demonstration on cryonics (the behavior of materials under extremely low temperatures), he had a vessel of liquid nitrogen. He lowered a Spalding rubber ball into the nitrogen, removed it after about 30 seconds, and threw it onto the table. It shattered like a piece of glass. We could use more TV programs like "Mr. Wizard" and more people with the dedication of Don Herbert. As far as I know, NBC did not pay him extra for doing that show. He did it as a labor of love.

I was fascinated by the Boston Museum of Science as a kid.  I haven't been there in a long time.  It always has school buses parked close by. I though the huge Van De Graff machine & Tesla Coils were awesome.

"An amateur radio exhibit in one of these Exploratoria might be a way to bring some young blood into our ranks. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia used to have a working amateur radio station as one of its exhibits, but I think that was removed a few years ago. "

Our radio club (shack on a belt) actually does have a station setup at the local Children's Museum of Acadiana.
http://www.childrensmuseumofacadiana.com/Default.asp (http://www.childrensmuseumofacadiana.com/Default.asp)

(http://www.childrensmuseumofacadiana.com/Images/Interior/ham%20radio.jpg)

They give classes too.  That really is a great thing they have there.  Since it is a MUSEUM maybe I should inquire about getting a vintage A.M. station setup in there.  That would surely bring back into being active with the club again.