Opinion
Science Museum offers educational opportunity
March 2, 2012
This past Saturday, I went to the Science Museum in Minneapolis with Falcon Programs. My friends and I decided to go to celebrate our friend’s birthday, as she loves anything involving science. I had never been there before and I must say, it was a lot of fun!
We had a little glitch in our plan at first though because my other friend and I were unable to get tickets as they were sold out by the time we decided to go. We were bummed that we wouldn’t get to spend the day with the rest of the group but we figured we’d have a fun Saturday on our own, too.
Fortunately, two people were looking to sell their tickets, as they were unable to make it to the event anymore. We graciously accepted the tickets and were excited to get to be with all our friends and celebrate a birthday.
When we arrived to the science museum we went to the Omnitheater first and watched a short movie called “Under the Sea.” It was about life under the sea including the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.
It was neat to see the different types of animals that have made themselves a home in the sea and also to learn about how they are being endangered due to our climate changing. I have to admit, that I have a huge heart for animals so seeing all of them that are endangered kind of broke my heart a little bit.
However, it was educational and I found it very interesting so it was worth it. Not to mention the way the screen is set up, it feels like you are under water with the animals. Scuba diving is now on my list of things to do before I kick the bucket.
After the Omnitheater, my friends and I decided to go to the Real Pirate exhibit. That was by far my favorite part of the museum and it was neat walking around learning about the lives of the pirates that were being featured.
The museum focused on the slave ship, Whydah, and how it was captured and turned into a pirate ship. It included artifacts from the actual wreckage of the Whydah such as actual treasure and even a bone of the youngest pirate on the ship, John King. The treasure was neat to look at, however; the bone was kind of creepy, in my opinion.
They also have people dressed up as pirates walking around the exhibit who made it entertaining and they even had demonstrations on how to make ropes for the ship. Towards the end of the exhibit they even had a small-scale pirate ship you could walk around on which was probably my favorite part of the exhibit.
We spent a little over an hour walking around the pirate exhibit and then we made our way around the rest of the museum, including the musical stairs, which my friends and I found entertaining.
We walked around the dinosaur exhibit, the light exhibit and the biology section of the museum before we made our way to the gift shop and then headed back to the bus to return to UW-River Falls.
It was a really fun experience and my friends and I really enjoyed the trip. It was definitely a nice break from school and a fun way to celebrate our friend’s birthday. We are looking forward to more trips that Falcon Programs has planned for the UWRF student body and we are hoping we can make it another fun weekend activity in the near future.
Samantha Mayberry is a junior and is majoring in journalism. She is from Rochester, Minn., and loves to read, listen to music and take pictures.