Science Suffers
Hooked by the challenge and interactivity, I went to to Ice Station Antarctica, the Natural History Museum's temporary exhibition,. I asked how long it would take to go around and was told it would take 1 hr. For the £7 ticket price, an hour of edutainment seemed reasonable. I'd pay a bit more or a bit more cinematic entertainment.
I went into the exhibition and the first room was about the only place in London that was colder on the inside than on the outside. It was cooled to -10 deg C which I learnt is a hot day in Antarctica.
I was disappointed with the exhibition as there were only 2 interactive exhibits - a snowmobile simulator and a divers' simulator. They were both superficial but fun. I was denied more than 2 goes on each simulator as I needed to get my ticket scanned - so my score can be accessed on a website. I'm not sure why I need to do that.
The rest of the area comprised of photos, text, videos, equipment and a mockup of a room in a polar base.
I finished going around in 1/2 hr and felt ripped-off. I wrong in the comments card that it was only worth £3.50.
It seemed to be an advert for their main sponsor: British Antarctic Survey which I had to pay to experience.
On the plus side, I did learnt that divers work in the Antarctic, people drive snowmobiles to hunt for meteorites and scientists look at penguin droppings to find out what they eat.
I then went to the Science Museum to window shop in the gift shop. There were lots of toys and interactive experiments but I was shocked to see that they had eliminated every single book. In the good old days the shop was lined with books on several walls. I know kids have to be entertained but this dumbing down has gone too far.
I went into the exhibition and the first room was about the only place in London that was colder on the inside than on the outside. It was cooled to -10 deg C which I learnt is a hot day in Antarctica.
I was disappointed with the exhibition as there were only 2 interactive exhibits - a snowmobile simulator and a divers' simulator. They were both superficial but fun. I was denied more than 2 goes on each simulator as I needed to get my ticket scanned - so my score can be accessed on a website. I'm not sure why I need to do that.
The rest of the area comprised of photos, text, videos, equipment and a mockup of a room in a polar base.
I finished going around in 1/2 hr and felt ripped-off. I wrong in the comments card that it was only worth £3.50.
It seemed to be an advert for their main sponsor: British Antarctic Survey which I had to pay to experience.
On the plus side, I did learnt that divers work in the Antarctic, people drive snowmobiles to hunt for meteorites and scientists look at penguin droppings to find out what they eat.
I then went to the Science Museum to window shop in the gift shop. There were lots of toys and interactive experiments but I was shocked to see that they had eliminated every single book. In the good old days the shop was lined with books on several walls. I know kids have to be entertained but this dumbing down has gone too far.
Labels: Antarctica, book, diver, Ice Station Antarctica, meteorite, museum, Natural History Museum, penguin, polar, Pole, science, Science Museum, South Pole
posted by Iconochasm at 11:43 pm
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