Ima Sample Community Resource Project Science Methods 2/16/0x The Iowa Children’s Museum creates a hands-on learning environment that is fun and educational for all elementary children. Each room at the museum creates a new magical wonderland for the children to learn through their own exploration. In this museum children are given the opportunity to become anyone they want to be. They can become historians, explores, scientist, artist, builders, and much more. The children can move from one room to the next freely with only minimal adult supervision necessary for the older children. The Iowa Children’s Museum has a countless number of rooms all with their own theme and clever title. One gallery is called Cityworks. There, younger children can shop for groceries, make food, and basically do all the things they see grownups do. There is also the KICM station where kids can create and broadcast a news report and watch it all unfold on the big screen. There is also the ImaginAcres where children can learn about different aspects of farming. Upstairs is dedicated mainly to Africa. They have pictures and videotapes all around the exhibit where kids can get a glimpse of some people’s lives in Africa. They also supply materials for the kids to make their own mask and they also have African clothing for the kids to wear when they explore this exhibit. It is amazing to see how much thought and work they put into creating this exhibit. It is really creative and all the kids that I saw there were having a great time. Notion of Motion and Under Construction are the two galleries that are related specifically to science. Like with all the galleries, these two have explanations on the walls so that parents and teachers can see what is the objective for each of the stations. Notion of Motion has about seven learning stations that kids can participate in. For this exhibit the objective states that it provides the learner with the opportunity to explore the simple physics of moving objects. One of the learning stations is called Loop the Loop. It provides a question for the learner to test. The question is, Can you find a way to make two balls fly off both tracks at the same time? It also provides questions to lead the learner in the right direction. They also have a learning station that has them build racecars and race them against a golf ball. They have an exhibit that has the kids make prediction and then test their predictions. Another one of their learning stations was called Hit the Bucket. This exhibit increases understanding of the relationship between speed, time and distance and it is fun to try. As a learner Notion and Motion provides a fun way for students to test their knowledge of speed. Another gallery that is closely linked to science is Little Builders. This exhibit introduces learners to the laws of nature through investigation of how technical objects and systems work. Here kids can plan what they are going to build and then build it. They offer many different materials for the kids to build with. While I was there I talked to some of the parents there and they were very impressed with the Iowa Children’s Museum. They related to me how much they feel their children gain from the museum and how they have fun while they’re there. This museum offers so much for the children to do and they never will get bored while they are there. As a teacher this museum would benefit their students in many ways. The Museum offers materials for the students to work with before and after they visit the museum so that they will get the maximum knowledge from their trip. They will be prepared to learn and they will want to learn as well. This is a great place to have a fieldtrip for any elementary students. |