Quindecim

Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Kaylyn Myers Boman Modine demonstrates one of Newton's principles while playing in Newton's Alley at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.

When I was in elementary school, I was always intrigued by how and why the world moved as it does.

I pushed these thoughts aside though, as I focused on writing my sophomoric 8-year-old poetry about rain and my family. These scientific thoughts crept back up on me though, when I read online about the Maryland Science Center.

Located right at the Inner Harbor, the Maryland Science Center offers a great deal for families and college students: they host "Fridays After Five" (also at the Aquarium), where after 5 p.m. admission is only $8 (normally $18).

Accompanied by Boman Modine '08, we made our way into the Center. A long line awaited us, and I could tell that many people were taking advantage of the cheap prices on Friday nights. In addition to our admission to the Science Center, we also received IMAX tickets to see "Hurricanes on the Bayou" and a wristband, which would allow us to go up to the Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory.

Because we both had other plans for the evening, we decided to not see the IMAX movie. As we ascended the first stairs to go into the three-floor museum, we were quickly introduced to Newton's Alley, an interactive exhibit that demonstrates many of Sir Isaac Newton's principles. Sit in a chair and pull yourself up with a pulley. Make bubbles with soap. Play a stringless harp. Make sparks, a tornado, and clouds.
We were instantly attracted, and spent a good half hour just playing around with all of the different stations. I pedaled a bike to make a lightbulb light up, created motion in a bubble, and raced bubbles up a tube.

We exhausted ourselves in Newton's Alley, playing with little kids and fighting for a turn to shoot marbles down a ramp, and then made our way up to the roof of the Science Center to the observatory.

Up a short, winding staircase outside, we found ourselves in the middle of a bubble. Another family, along with 4 staff workers, we stood in line to see Saturn. Yes, the planet. As I put my eye to the telescope and peeked in, I thought I was looking at a textbook instead of the actual planet.

Continued...

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