Aeolian landscape

January 31-August 15, 2004
Gallery 3, third floor

Exploratorium/AMNH, a collection of more than 35 engaging interactive exhibits—with text in Spanish and English—on loan from the renowned Exploratorium in San Francisco invites visitors to spin, swing, sculpt, and play as they explore fundamental principles in nature from light and reflections to spinning storms and shifting sand dunes. Many of these active hands-on exhibit elements introduce phenomena and topics that can be further examined and explored in the Museum's permanent exhibition halls including the David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth and the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Hall of the Universe. Drawing on four themes—earth processes, rotation, mirrors and illusion, and pendulums—the exhibition allows audiences of all ages and all levels of scientific knowledge, from preschoolers to professors, to experience firsthand the fun and excitement of scientific discovery. Visitors can start playing before they even enter the exhibition—two exhibits, Fog Rings and Geyser, greet visitors elsewhere in the Museum. Exploratorium/AMNH promises to spark curiosity, encourage hands-on learning, and inspire inquiry.