teacher`s guide - Space Center Houston

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FEB 22-APR 27
2014
TEACHER’S GUIDE
RESERVE YOUR FIELD TRIP TODAY
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LETTER TO TEACHERS: IMAGINATE EDUCATION GUIDE
IMAGINATE is an interactive, multi-activity exhibition that promotes innovation
through collaboration and creative risk-taking. Are you and your students ready to
venture into the world of innovation and accept the challenges and rewards of
inquiry-based learning?
This Education Guide is intended to accompany IMAGINATE, a hands-on exhibition
that introduces participants to the skills and attitudes that are part of the process of
innovation. It will lead teachers through the goals of the exhibit and provide more
information on how innovation and inquiry-based learning can be incorporated into
the classroom.
In this exhibition, you and your students will experience activities where
experimentation and failure are vital components of each activity; where it is safe to
test ideas and build on them further; where materials are seen as both a product of
innovation as well as an important component; where collaboration is encouraged
and where outcomes are many.
Innovation has been essential to our survival- driving the evolution of our civilization
and the change in our daily quality of life. In this changing world a culture of
innovation will help us meet the challenges ahead for our continued survival, both in
terms of globalization and environmental changes. Whether you are doing science,
art or engineering – innovative thinking can take us on the paths we have not yet
explored.
This guide contains the following:

An explanation of the Skills of Innovation

Inquiry sheets related to exhibits containing suggested pre-visit, during-visit
and post-visit activities which focus on the skills of innovation;

Curriculum Connections to the National Science Education Standards and
the Pan Canadian Curriculum for IMAGINATE experiences;

A List of Exhibits with a brief overview of each experience.
IMAGINATE is produced and presented by the Ontario Science Centre
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SKILLS OF INNOVATION
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SKILLS OF INNOVATION
There are several skills relating to innovation that can be cultivated in students to
prepare them to face the world as analytical problem- solvers. Five skills of
innovation are outlined below.
1. Critical Thinking
“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody
has thought.”—Albert von Szent-Gyorgy
Critical thinking is the ability to reflect upon previously held ideas and strive for
ways to improve them. This can be applied to opinions and beliefs, and in the
business world to products and customer service. Businesses such as Apple strive to
continuously innovate, and as a result have become synonymous with music and
communication technology worldwide.
In our classrooms, critical thinking is key to research. Students must learn to solve
problems through accessing and analyzing a wide variety of information.
Determining what knowledge to embrace and assimilate and what to discard as
unnecessary allows them to problem solve effectively in a fast-paced world full of
easily accessible information.
Inquiry-based learning promotes critical thinking because students are asked to
solve a problem by first creating a plan, predicting why it will work, and analyzing
and interpreting their results. Through this method, students experience the process
and can communicate what they have learned and how they know it is true.
2. Creativity
“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” –Dr. Linus Pauling
Looking at problems differently, imagining possibilities, and remaining curious
about the world are all aspects of creativity. To promote creativity in students is to
prepare them for a world where it is needed; products that capture the imagination
are appealing in this age of mass production. A company that can creatively innovate
its own products will stay appealing as time goes on.
Creativity skills in the classroom are essential to problem solving as well. The ability
to look at a problem in a different light can lead to satisfying solutions and an
engagement with the subject material. Brainstorming is also a way to find many
creative means to the same end.
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3. Collaboration
"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where
they sprang up."—Oliver Wendell Holmes
Collaboration is more than simply working in a group. Sharing ideas, combining
thoughts and improving on them can occur simultaneously or after time has passed.
Many previously discarded ideas can be returned to by another individual, who can
view them with fresh eyes and innovate on what was already there.
In the classroom, students who collaborate will naturally innovate on one another’s
ideas, making everyone more successful. Brainstorming sessions and mind maps
are ways for students to encourage each other to think differently, and in turn think
differently themselves.
4. Risk Taking
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”
—Sir Ken Robinson
The ability to be flexible and risk making mistakes is another key to innovation. If the
Wright brothers had not taken risks, flight as we know it would not exist. Innovations
in products also allow businesses to adapt to a world with changing needs.
Everyone changes roles throughout a lifetime—especially when students transition
into careers. The ability to take risks and reinvent oneself is key to productivity,
whether it is participating in cooperative learning in the classroom, or working for a
company.
5. Perseverance
“Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
—Thomas Edison
While using all of these skills, students must see things through to the end.
Perseverance is another key to innovation. Thomas Edison, when interviewed by a
young reporter who boldly asked him if he felt like a failure, replied, "Young man,
why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively
over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my
grasp." Shortly after that, and after over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light
bulb.
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Even when struggling, students who see the value in perseverance will carry on with
projects until the end. Sticking with a problem and seeing the potential for various
solutions will drive students to innovate.
INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING
Inquiry-based learning is an approach to teaching where students are given openended tasks and encouraged to be curious and engaged in collaborative learning.
As a result, students become active participants in their learning. Inquiry-based
learning uses the skills of innovation to achieve these goals.
To help engage students in inquiry-based learning, resources are available at the
Smarter Science website: http://smarterscience.youthscience.ca/ “Smarter
Science is an open-source, engaging framework for teaching and learning science in
grades 1-12 and for developing the skills of inquiry, creativity and innovation in a
meaningful and engaging manner.”
IMAGINATE AWAITS
The exhibits in the IMAGINATE exhibition are divided into five themes that relate to
the skills of innovation. They are:





Dream Big/Big Dreams
Expect the Unexpected
Collaborate or Compete—Feel the Pressure
Try, Try and Try Again
Look to the World
In this guide, activities focusing on these themes are provided to serve as an
introduction to developing skills of inquiry-based learning and innovation.
Questions and activities can be changed and modified to adapt to the needs of your
students. The variety and unexpectedness of the exhibits will provide many
pathways for encouraging innovation. In addition to this, your class will have as
much fun as they can IMAGINATE!
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PRE, DURING AND POST VISIT ACTIVITIES
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IMAGINATE ACTIVITIES (PRE, DURING and POST VISIT activities)
Theme: Dream Big/Big Dreams
Exhibit: Paper Airplanes
Pre-visit Activities:
What are the different elements that need to be considered for flight? How does an
airplane get its lift? How does it remain stable? Explore these questions before
heading off to IMAGINATE.
During Visit Activities:
Students can create a basic paper airplane, fly it and observe how far and accurately
it traveled. Have students then alter different factors of their design and observe
how it alters the flight of their plane.
Post-visit Activities:
Have students use basic materials such as paper, straws and wooden skewers to
make a Styrofoam brick fly. With the proper engineering, can you even make a brick
fly?
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Theme: Dream Big/Big Dreams
Exhibit: So You Think You Can Fly
Pre-visit Activities:
Research different animals with respect to wing structure, wing span and wing beat
rate. Watch videos showing different flying animals such as a hawk, a hummingbird,
and compare and contrast their wing structures, wing span, wing beat rate and why
they fly.
During Visit Activities:
Explore the exhibit and determine what your wing span and wing beat rate would
need to be to in order for you to fly. See what bird you can match and compete
against a friend.
Post-visit Activities:
Obtain some of Leonardo DaVinci’s designs for wings and analyse if they would work
and discuss how you would change these designs to improve their function.
Have students create blueprints for a set of wings, build their wings from simple
materials (such as toothpicks, wooden sticks, pipe cleaners, tissue paper) and then
test their design. After testing, allow students an opportunity to alter their design
and retest.
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Theme: Expect the Unexpected
Exhibits: Materials Playground
Pre-visit Activities:
Have students create a Mobius Strip from paper. A Mobius strip is a non-orientable
surface. You can build one with a strip of paper - twist the strip and glue the ends
together to form a ring and verify that it has only one side: it is not possible to paint
it with two colours. In short a Mobius strip has only one side and one edge. Have
students explore the properties of the Mobius strip by drawing a line on it. See
where the line goes. Now cut the paper in half along the line you drew and then in
half again. Are the results as expected?
During Visit Activities:
Investigate the exhibits that are part of the Materials Playground. Explore the
property of Ferrofluids and explore the Nitinol garden. What did you expect was
going to happen? How did your expectation compare to what you observed.
Post-visit Activities:
When back at class, have students bring in different items and collaborate together
to see if you can repurpose those items for another use. Bring in recyclable materials
such as paper towel tubes, egg cartons, yogurt containers etc. Create a challenge
where you use the materials in unexpected ways. Build a chair that can really hold
someone. What property of the material makes it unique for that task?
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Theme: Collaborate or Compete-Feel the Pressure
Exhibit: Tell Tale Heart
Pre-visit Activities:
The tangram ( in Chinese literally "seven boards of skill") is a puzzle consisting of
seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective
of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only an outline or silhouette) using all
seven pieces, which may not overlap.
Challenge your students to make different tangrams. Have them work as individuals
and the collaboratively. Does it make a difference in the results?
During Visit Activities:
First have students individually interact with the exhibit. Then have students
investigate what effects adding more people to the sculpture will have and does
increasing your heart rate change how the sculpture reacts? Ask the students if they
can see a pattern.
Post-visit Activities:
A Rube Goldberg machine is machine that takes a very simple task and presents it in
a complex fashion using a chain reaction of cause and efftect. The expression is
named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg .
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Divide the students into small groups, each group is to create a Rube Goldberg
Machine with a minimum of 3 energy transfers. Then add the complication that all of
the groups’ machines must connect to make 1 Rube Goldberg Machine.
Theme: Collaborate or Compete-Feel the Pressure
Exhibit: Making Faces
Pre-visit Activities:
In groups of 3 or 4, have students create a picture together that is make up of
various images from other sources. Bring those images together to create one final
picture.
During Visit Activities:
Have students interact with the exhibit and pull face parts from those available to
create a new face. Why do some faces look okay and others more disturbing?
Post-visit Activities:
Design a new animal suitable for a given environment using features from a variety
of known animals. Have students discuss why they chose the characteristics they
did and why they make the animal suitable for the environment you have chosen.
Have the students research chimerism in people and mythical creatures. In Greek
mythology, the Chimera was a monstrous fire-breathing creature composed of
multiple animals. Have the students use images of various animal parts to build
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their own chimera. How would it move, how would it eat, how would it defend itself?
What environment would it best survive in?
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Theme: Collaborate or Compete-Feel the Pressure
Exhibit: Sound Panels
Pre-visit Activities:
Spend some time listening to various music tracks and investigate the different
moods that the music elicits. Can you change the response of an observer by just
altering the accompanying music to a scene from a movie. Try it out and see what
happens.
During Visit Activities:
Have students interact with the exhibit and investigate what happens when they add
various soundtracks together. Create a series of sounds that elicits happiness,
anger, fear, exhaustion. Work together to pull sounds together. Are you making
noise or music? How do you decide?
Post-visit Activities:
Bring in various sounds to your classroom from various sources, both expected and
unexpected. Can you bring those different sounds together to actually create a
musical piece? Try and see what happens. If there is a particular sound you are
looking for, see if you can create it from the various materials.
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Theme: Try, Try and Tray Again
Exhibit: Create Something New
Pre-visit Activities:
Give the students 3 pieces of 8 ½ x 11” paper, 1 m of masking tape and 10 minutes in
groups of 3 to build the largest possible free standing structure. Test the structures
with a load or wind and have the students modify and test again.
During Visit Activities:
Have students use the exhibit and the materials present to build something using
the materials in unexpected ways. It could be something related to the curriculum
such as a bridge to cross a river, a structure to withstand wind or a boat. It could also
be something familiar such as a shoe or a bird house or a flying device. Think about
the properties of the materials that you used. Why did you pick one material over
another?
Post-visit Activities:
A Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately over-engineered or overdone machine
that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, using cause and effect to
create a chain reaction of happenings. The expression was named after American
cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg.
Back at class, create your own Rube Goldberg Machine. Divide the students into
small groups, each group is to create a Rube Goldberg Machine with a minimum of 3
energy transfers and use materials found in the classroom or brought in from home.
Then add the complication that all of the groups’ machines must connect to make 1
Rube Goldberg Machine.
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Theme: Try, Try and Tray Again
Exhibit: Stop-Motion Animation
Pre-visit Activities:
The eye and brain can retain a series of images long enough to form a single
complete picture. In movies, this gives us the illusion of smooth motion. This is
called Persistence of Vision.
Persistence of vision accounts for our failure to notice that a motion picture screen is
dark about half the time and is truly made up of individual images all running
together.
Flip cards and flip books easily illustrate this process. Have students create a flip
book or flip cards to illustrate this process.
During Visit Activities:
Have students create stop-motion animation videos to illustrate a process or tell a
story. Try to do it with the simplest of materials available, stretching your creativity.
Try to take inspiration from various science processes. Examples of such processes
are the life cycle of a butterfly, mitosis, a chemical reaction, the planets orbiting the
Sun.
Post-visit Activities:
Use a computer program such as Microsoft Movie Maker to demonstrate a process,
create a lab report or an electronic portfolio to exhibit a student’s learning.
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Exhibit: Stories of Innovators
Pre-visit Activities:
Discuss the themes of innovation with the students and ask them to come up with
what they feel are the important skills and attitudes that lead to innovation. Have
students research an innovator. What pathway led the to their success – was it
dreaming big, collaborating with others, competing with rivals, seeing the
unexpected or with plain perseverance?
During Visit Activities:
Have students study the innovators featured in the exhibit focussing on the skills
and attitudes that the individuals shared and how the innovators demonstrated the
themes of innovation.
Post-visit Activities:
Discuss with the students the individuals that were featured in the exhibit. Compare
and contrast the skills and attitudes that the individuals shared, how they
demonstrated the themes of innovation and what failures they had. Also discuss
what other individuals could be included in the exhibit and what “mistakes” have
lead to innovation in our society. Look at the skills and see if they are skills that are
exclusive to science or are these skills seen in other disciplines?
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Theme: Look to the World
Exhibit: Innovation Around the World
Pre-visit Activities:
Review basic human needs such as food, clean drinking water, shelter, energy and
health with the students. Examine how access to those basic needs differs all over
the world. Who has the most access? Who has the least access? Have students
research the Life Straw and the Q Drum, just two examples of inventions leading to
safer drinking water for many.
During Visit Activities:
Have students interact with the exhibit learning about some of the devices that have
been created around the world to allow humans to obtain their basic needs. Learn
about “poop power” and how cooking fuel can now be generated from manure. How
has bamboo helped give people access to medical care in remote regions of the
world?
Post-visit Activities:
Back in class, create your own world challenge to solve. For instance, have students
design a modified emergency vehicle to meet a specific need such as a bumpy road
or accessing a remote area. Build an emergency shelter that can withstand water
and wind and is large enough for one person to sit up or lie down.
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CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
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CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
The following list of education standards has been drawn from the
National Science Education Standards
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962
The IMAGINATE exhibition focuses on the skills of innovation. The
overall teaching standards identified below support the development of
these same skills.
Teaching Standard A
Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students. In
doing this, teachers
o Develop a framework of yearlong and short-term goals for students.
o Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the
interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of
students.
o Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development
of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners.
o Work together as colleagues within and across disciplines and grade
levels.
Some key points as identified in this teaching standard
Inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central
strategy for teaching science.
Teachers focus inquiry predominantly on real phenomena, in classrooms, outdoors,
or in laboratory settings, where students are given investigations or guided toward
fashioning investigations that are demanding but within their capabilities.
Science often is a collaborative endeavor, and all science depends on the ultimate
sharing and debating of ideas.
When carefully guided by teachers to ensure full participation by all, interactions
among individuals and groups in the classroom can be vital in deepening the
understanding of scientific concepts and the nature of scientific endeavors
Effective planning includes sensitivity to student views that might conflict with
current scientific knowledge and strategies that help to support alternative ways of
making sense of the world while developing the scientific explanations.
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Teaching Standard B
Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. In doing this, teachers
o Focus and support inquiries while interacting with students.
o Orchestrate discourse among students about scientific ideas.
o Challenge students to accept and share responsibility for their own
learning.
o Recognize and respond to student diversity and encourage all students to
participate fully in science learning.
o Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the
curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that
characterize science.
Some key points as identified in this teaching standard
Teachers must struggle with the tension between guiding students toward a set of
predetermined goals and allowing students to set and meet their own goals.
Student inquiry in the science classroom encompasses a range of activities. Some
activities provide a basis for observation, data collection, reflection, and analysis of
firsthand events and phenomena. Other activities encourage the critical analysis of
secondary sources—including media, books, and journals in a library.
In successful science classrooms, teachers and students collaborate in the pursuit
of ideas, and students quite often initiate new activities related to an inquiry.
Students formulate questions and devise ways to answer them, they collect data and
decide how to represent it, they organize data to generate knowledge, and they test
the reliability of the knowledge they have generated.
As they proceed, students explain and justify their work to themselves and to one
another, learn to cope with problems such as the limitations of equipment, and react
to challenges posed by the teacher and by classmates.
An important stage of inquiry and of student science learning is the oral and written
discourse that focuses the attention of students on how they know what they know
and how their knowledge connects to larger ideas, other domains, and the world
beyond the classroom.
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The teacher also creates opportunities for students to take responsibility for their
own learning, individually and as members of groups, by supporting student ideas
and questions and by encouraging students to pursue them.
Teaching Standard C
Teachers of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student
learning.
Some key points as identified in this teaching standard
Guide students to understand the purposes for their own learning and to formulate
self-assessment strategies.
Help students understand the expectations for their work, as well as giving them
experience in applying standards of scientific practice to their own and others'
scientific efforts.
Help students develop skills in self-reflection by building a learning environment
where students review each other's work, offer suggestions, and challenge mistakes
in investigative processes, faulty reasoning, or poorly supported conclusions.
Teaching Standard D
Teachers of science design and manage learning environments that provide students
with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science. In doing this,
teachers
o
o
o
o
o
o
Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in
extended investigations.
Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of
science inquiry.
Ensure a safe working environment.
Make the available science tools, materials, media, and technological
resources accessible to students.
Identify and use resources outside the school.
Engage students in designing the learning environment.
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Some key points as identified in this teaching standard
Time, space, and materials are critical components of an effective science learning
environment that promotes sustained inquiry and understanding.
Creating an adequate environment for science teaching is a shared responsibility.
Teaching Standard E
Teachers of science develop communities of science learners that reflect the
intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social values conducive to
science learning. In doing this, teachers
o
o
o
o
o
Demonstrate and display respect for the diverse ideas, skills, and
experiences of all students.
Enable students to have a significant voice in decisions about the
content and context of their work and require students to take
responsibility for the learning of all members of the community.
Nurture collaboration among students.
Structure and facilitate ongoing formal and informal discussion based
on a shared understanding of rules of scientific discourse.
Model and emphasize the skills, attitudes, and values of scientific
inquiry.
Some key points as identified in this teaching standard
Respect for the ideas, activities, and thinking of all students is demonstrated by
what teachers say and do, as well as by the flexibility with which they respond to
student interests, ideas, strengths, and needs.
Working collaboratively with others not only enhances the understanding of science,
it also fosters the practice of many of the skills, attitudes, and values that
characterize science.
Certain attitudes, such as wonder, curiosity, and respect toward nature are vital
parts of the science learning community.
Communities of learners do not emerge spontaneously; they require careful support
from skillful teachers.
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CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
The following list of general learning outcomes for students in kindergarten to grade
12 have been drawn from the Pan-Canadian Protocol for Collaboration on School
Curriculum.
(http://publications.cmec.ca/science/framework/Pages/english/CMEC%20Eng.htm
l)
The IMAGINATE exhibition focuses on the skills of innovation. The learning
outcomes identified below support the development of these same skills.
PAN CANADIAN
General learning outcomes K to 12
STSE/Knowledge
By the end of grade 3
It is expected that students will...
101
demonstrate and describe ways of using materials and tools to help answer science
questions and to solve practical problems
102
describe how science and technology affect their lives and those of people and other
living things in their community
By the end of grade 6
It is expected that students will...
105
demonstrate that science and technology develop over time
106
describe ways that science and technology work together in investigating questions
and problems and in meeting specific needs
107
describe applications of science and technology that have developed in response to
human and environmental needs
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By the end of grade 9
It is expected that students will...
110
describe the development of science and technology over time
STSE/Skills
By the end of grade 3
It is expected that students will...
201
observe and explore materials and events in their immediate environment and
record the results
203
work with others and share and communicate ideas about their explorations
By the end of grade 6
It is expected that students will...
207
work collaboratively to carry out science- related activities and communicate ideas,
procedures, and results
By the end of grade 9
It is expected that students will...
211
work collaboratively on problems and use appropriate language and formats to
communicate ideas, procedures, and results
By the end of grade 12
It is expected that students will...
215
work as a member of a team in addressing problems, and apply the skills and
conventions of science in communicating information and ideas and in assessing
results
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STSE/Attitudes
K to 3
It is expected that students will be encouraged to...
400
recognize the role and contribution of science in their understanding of the world
401
show interest in and curiosity about objects and events within their immediate
environment
402
willingly observe, question, and explore
405
be open-minded in their explorations
406
work with others in exploring and investigating
4 to 6
It is expected that students will be encouraged to...
409
appreciate the role and contribution of science and technology in their
understanding of the world
411
recognize that women and men of any cultural background can contribute equally to
science
412
show interest and curiosity about objects and events within different environments
413
willingly observe, question, explore, and investigate
414
show interest in the activities of individuals working in scientific and technological
fields
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417
demonstrate perseverance and a desire to understand
418
work collaboratively while exploring and investigating
7 to 9
It is expected that students will be encouraged to...
422
appreciate the role and contribution of science and technology in our understanding
of the world
423
appreciate that the applications of science and technology can have advantages and
disadvantages
424
appreciate and respect that science has evolved from different views held by women
and men from a variety of societies and cultural backgrounds
425
show a continuing curiosity and interest in a broad scope of science-related fields
and issues
430
persist in seeking answers to difficult questions and solutions to difficult problems
431
work collaboratively in carrying out investigations as well as in generating and
evaluating ideas
10 to 12
It is expected that students will be encouraged to...
436
value the role and contribution of science and technology in our understanding of
phenomena that are directly observable and those that are not
437
appreciate that the applications of science and technology can raise ethical
dilemmas
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438
value the contributions to scientific and technological development made by women
and men from many societies and cultural backgrounds
439
show a continuing and more informed curiosity and interest in science and sciencerelated issues
445
work collaboratively in planning and carrying out investigations, as well as in
generating and evaluating ideas
http://publications.cmec.ca/science/framework/Pages/english/CMEC%20Eng.html
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THEMES AND EXHIBIT LIST
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THEMES and EXHIBIT LIST FOR
IMAGINATE
DREAM BIG / BIG DREAMS
Innovation is often a response to
intense motivation – a big dream or
extreme passion that one must
pursue. This exhibition and its choice
of exhibits highlight examples of how
ideas grow and how intense
motivation can be a driving force for
innovation.
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Science is a process of questioning.
Unexpected answers are not always
recognized for their value.
Observation is one important skill that
allows people to look beyond the
obvious. Fresh eyes can allow what is
considered an error or wrong results in
one field to become a major
breakthrough in another. The choice of
exhibits gives participants a chance to
examine the properties of various
materials and see how those
properties lead to innovative products
and technologies. They are also
encouraged to take risks and to
experiment, where there is no such
thing as a wrong answer.
COLLABORATE OR COMPETE – FEEL
THE PRESSURE
Colleagues or competitors can spur us
to achieve more than we would alone.
We are also forced to think more
clearly and deeply when we have to
explain something to others. This
experience cluster invites participants
to interact with others, communicate
their ideas and then grow them with
the contributions of fellow
participants.
TRY, TRY AND TRY AGAIN
To be innovative, you need
opportunities to create, test, re-test
and even start over. In this series of
experiences, patience and observation
allows participants to investigate
materials and their properties, tell
stories piece by piece, tweak, observe
and tweak again and learn that
nothing beats experience and
perseverance when it comes to
creating something.
LOOK TO THE WORLD
We rely on innovative processes and
the making of innovative products to
survive in our various environments.
As we live in different parts of the
world, we meet different challenges
daily. But our common drives for food,
shelter and water throughout the
world show the diversity in innovation
and how what we see and experience
on a daily basis influences our drive to
innovate.
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EXHIBIT LIST
DREAM BIG/BIG DREAMS
Paper Airplanes
Who is innovative and how does it
happen? Flight has always been a
concept that has intrigued people,
ignited passions and entertained. And
sometimes that which is simple while
inspiring curiosity is one of the best
entry points to start to think about
being innovative. Pre-conceived
barriers are taken down and you can
start to say “I can do that”.
Make an ordinary paper airplane
become an extraordinary experience.
Test out different airplane designs.
Which ones flies further, more
accurately? Alter the design to
increase speed, lift and distance. In
this experience you can build, test,
observe and retool as many times as
you need to perfect your design.
Tumbling Dice
What sparks curiosity? What makes
you to want to ask more? What is our
fascination with flying? Sometimes
things spark innate curiosity because
they are unexpected, loud or just fun.
In this case, all three of these are
rolled into one exhibit with
participants spending lots of time
watching what appears to be a very
simple phenomenon.
Here participants will be facing a
number of vertical tubes in which they
can place an object and watch it fly up
the tube. The airflow in these tubes is
controllable and so when placing the
objects in the tubes, they will be
challenged to control its ascent or
descent, as well as the objects ability
to react. Not only can they control the
airflow but they will be able to control
the object that goes in thinking about
material and shape with which to test
the concept of aerodynamics.
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So You Think You Can Fly
How many of us growing up thought
that we could fly? When was the first
time that you asked, “Why can’t I do
that?” The desire to transcend the
physical body that keeps us on the
ground has been one that has a long
history. It is a history filled with
people dreaming big and then
dreaming bigger the next time. And
those dreams continue to this day.
As a child did you ever just want to
flap your arms and fly? How fast does
the bird have to flap their wings to get
lift off? Can you sustain this rate? How
long would your wings need to be to
fly your body weight? How would you
need to position your arms to get the
maximum lift from them? In this
experience, put on a pair of wings and
a sensor will record the flaps per
second. What are the other
components that are important to
achieve flight?
EXHIBIT LIST
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Materials Playground
Have you ever looked at something
ordinary and thought of a way to make
it extraordinary? How many great
ideas failed to be great ideas just
because they were missing a key piece
of information? The key is to see what
everyone else has seen but think what
nobody else has thought.
Participants can test out various
properties of materials in this
materials testing playground.
Exploring the properties of materials
can lead to innovative thinking and
behaviour. Some of those materials
come from nature and in this
collection of materials participants will
be exposed to animal and plant
materials that have inspired the
creation of something new.
Ferrofluid Experiences
What happens when a new set of eyes
looks at the same material?
There are many amazing stories where
one person’s dead end may become a
major breakthrough in an unrelated
field. NASA’s development of
Ferrofluid is one such story.
What can you do with tiny magnetic
particles in a fluid? This experience
will give participants a chance to
explore a remarkable and intriguing
material that moves in response to
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magnets as well as audio cues. By
looking at the various uses of this
material, one sees how this fluid
developed by NASA became a
component of the music industry.
What would you use this fluid for?
EXHIBIT LIST
COLLABORATE OR COMPETE –
FEEL THE PRESSURE
Tell Tale Heart
Experiences can change when they are
shared with others.
Interactive Projections
Are we able to predict all reactions?
What is it that will engage people to
test and retest, try and retry?
In this experience, walking across a
surface can trigger a reaction in the
floor upon which you are walking.
What are the various reactions? Can
you discover the various trigger
points? Careful observation and fun
testing and re-testing combine in this
playful experience.
Participants here are invited to place
their hand on one of several sensors
that read the nerve impulses that
represent their heartbeat. In turn,
their collective impulses will affect the
behaviour of a large sculpture in front
of them - sounds, lights etc. This
inspirational iconic exhibit will have
participants working together, sharing
a common experience and pushing
each other to join in.
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Making Faces
Do you always have to be working
directly with someone for it to be
called collaboration? Are these
unknown contributors of facial
features still considered
collaborators?
One face, many different contributors.
In this collaborative experience, the
contribution of many is very important
as each participant will get to add
facial parts, from an available
collection, to their own face making up
a new final and bizarre image.
Sound Panels
Colleagues or competitors can spark
us to achieve more than we could on
our own. Our interaction with peers
can influence us to go in directions
that otherwise we might have ignored.
This has an impact on our ability to be
innovative.
In this large room with music and
lights, participants will create a
musical masterpiece involving rhythm,
light, pattern and emotion. This
experience naturally encourages
collaboration as participants will
spontaneously react to one another
creating a cacophony of sounds. Is it
just noise or will it be ‘music’?
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EXHIBIT LIST
TRY, TRY and TRY AGAIN
Gear Tree /Kinetic Sculptures
Innovation requires creating and
testing; it requires experimenting and
sometimes immersing yourself in the
experience. Where do you get your
inspiration? How many different ways
can you build on a single idea?
In this experience, participants will
create their own kinetic sculpture. By
using some innovative mechanisms
and various materials, the challenge is
to program a sculpture to move. Closer
examination of gears and how they
move objects at different speeds and
in different directions will allow
participants to see how simple
inventions can lead to innovative
outcomes.
Create Something New
Test, tweak and try again. What is it
that attracts someone to spend an
hour working on something?
This dynamic area will give
participants the opportunity to create
a traditional item using non-traditional
materials. As they create new material
combinations to meet various
challenges, they will discover the
possibilities that materials present
and how various designs can
sometimes solve the same challenge.
Stop-Motion Animation
Sometimes innovation takes patience
and small changes along the way.
In this experience, participants will
communicate ideas, stories and
emotions by creating stop motion
animation videos. Challenge yourself
by using unexpected materials and
accepting novel suggestions along the
way. The process of stop-motion
animation is one that requires careful
thought, planning and many small
changes. But where does inspiration
come from – is it an event, a memory
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or just a material that you find along
the way?
EXHIBIT LIST
LOOK TO THE WORLD
Friction Zone
Many good innovations come from
understanding the properties of the
materials. That takes keen
observation and repeat
experimentation.
By experimenting with the surface
properties of a range of materials,
participants will discover which
combinations yield the fastest or
slowest run. These are important
considerations if you are a skier,
snowboarder, curler or just like
walking. They will also discover how
rigorous testing and observation lead
to discovery and further investigation.
What’s the world have to offer?
We all are faced with the same basic
need to survive. We all require food,
water and shelter and are influenced
by the environment that surrounds us.
Whether we are in the frigid Arctic or
the wet rainforest, we rely on
innovative processes and the creation
of innovative products to survive.
Around the world, we find examples of
innovative thought and products,
highlighting the diversity of how we
reason and what motivates us.
Here participants will find a series of
low-tech, grassroots innovations that
were driven by the basic human needs
of food, water, shelter, energy and
health. How were these innovations
influenced by the materials abundant
in that area of the world? How does
staring at a material over a long term
basis become an influencing factor in
the creation of something new?
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Question of the Day
One of the ways to gather information
is to ask people’s opinions. It is those
very opinions that can sometimes
influence the direction that an idea
takes.
Challenge Area (OPTIONAL)
We rely on innovative processes and
the creation of innovative products to
survive in our environments.
How would you design an ambulance
to traverse rugged terrain? What could
you use to navigate the islands of the
South Pacific if you didn’t have a
compass? What are the different ways
to raise water from one level to
another? Forget your modern tools!
This is a space where many of these
stories and other challenges can be
posed with visitors participating in
rapid idea generation with the end
result to find and build solutions.
Participants will be challenged by this
large, unusual and quirky display. It is
meant to remind participants to the
exhibition that they have an opinion
about things and their opinion
matters. Often the direction that our
creativity takes us is based on the
opinion and feedback of others.
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Stories of Innovators – Big Dreams
People are influenced by many things
along the pathway to innovation.
These stories will show participants
how curiosity, wonder and dreaming
big can spark ones imagination also.
They will also see that there are
different pathways that people take
that make them innovative and these
pathways are not exclusive to ‘others’.
All of us can develop the skills of
observation, questioning, divergent
thinking that make us more innovative
thinkers.
By telling the stories of innovators,
participants will see that they too can
develop certain skills that lead to
being more creative and therefore
better innovators. Can you ask a good
question? How good are your powers
of observation? Do you recognize
when different variables are at play?
They will also see how these are not
just important in the areas of science
and technology but for many
disciplines and aspects of life.
Stories of Innovators – Peer
Pressure and Collaboration
People are influenced by many things
on the pathway to innovation. One of
those influences comes in the form or
colleagues or competitors who push
us to achieve more than we could on
our own.
The impact that associates and
competitors have on our work can be
varied. Sometimes those influences
can be negative and sometimes they
can be positive. Would Edison and Bell
have been as driven and accomplished
if they didn’t have the pressures they
likely felt from each others
achievements? What about Paul
Ekman? For over forty years, he has
commited his research to studing the
facial expressions of people ,
determining that facial expressions of
emotion are universal across human
cultures and therefore biological in
origin. How did the work of
anthropologist and other
psychologists spark his drive and his
passion.
Stories of Innovators – Innovation
by Accident
People are influenced by many things
on the pathway to innovation. But a
common hindrance to moving forward
is the fear of making a mistake. But
are mistakes always failures? Not if
they cause you to look at things from a
different point of view. Science is a
process and many discoveries happen
by mistake.
Who is innovative? What does it take?
Do they have special skills that we do
not? Participants will see that they too
can develop certain skills that lead to
being more creative and therefore
better innovators. When is it worth
taking a risk to try something
different? Do you recognize when
different variables are at play? With
these stories, they will see that to be
innovative you have to make mistakes
but also be willing to learn from the
mistakes and look at things
differently.
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Stories of Innovators – Never Give
Up
People are influenced by many things
on the pathway to innovation. Some
will spend their entire careers working
on something with many small steps
being achieved along the way. That
perseverance and tenacity is often
critical for reaching that breakthrough.
Innovation does take a lot of trying
something out, testing, trying again
and then re-testing. Sometimes it
involves breaking stuff, testing the
limits of something or testing many
different iterations of the same idea.
To be innovative you have to try and
keep trying, you have to be willing to
make mistakes but also be willing to
learn from the mistakes and look at
things differently the next time. And it
can take time.
EVOLUTION OF INNOVATION
Speech Synthesis
Voice synthesis and modification
created unique experiences for early
Science Centre visitors. Years later,
many remember the impact this
innovative technology had on their
lives. Sound synthesis is more
accessible now than it has ever been.
Many products that we use today have
a long history of innovative behaviour.
Looking at their history offers a
glimpse into the various pathways that
people follow. From computergenerated noise to people being able
to mix their own sounds on their home
computers, the evolution of this
technology represents many of the
themes in this exhibition.
Sound synthesis was very cutting edge
40 years ago bringing together a
series of computer generated noises
to form a single word. This exhibit
follows the evolution of voice
synthesis and voice modification, the
two technologies employed in the
many early technologies that focused
on the synthesis of sound.
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3D Evolution
Many products that we use today have
a long history of innovative behaviour.
Looking at their history offers a
glimpse into the various pathways that
people follow. The evolution of 3D is
one such technology that has been
filled with examples of innovative
behaviour representing many of the
themes in this exhibition.
This exhibit will showcase how 3D
technology has evolved from
stereoscopes to 3D glasses, lenticular
images and now 3D screens that can
be viewed without glasses. The steps
in this innovation will be explored –
what allowed the steps to occur?