Energy?
Energy is a very difficult topic to convey to the lay person or children, we can’t see it so how do we know it’s there? The Energy display at the Science Museum aims to do this. It is able to do this by showing how energy is harnessed, how we use it now and how we will have to use it in the future.
As with the usual Science Museum displays it is very hands on, with many different computer games and scenarios. The problem with this is the lack of substance in these games. For instance in one game all you have to do is get the engineer to the fuse to fix the blackout. No information how he would do this or why there was a blackout in the first place.
Where the exhibit does succeed is in the future of energy. To What lengths would people go for renewable energy, would you save your poo to heat your house?
Although some of the displays are very biased to non-fossil or Nuclear power it does present the topic well and give an idea of wanting to change the public’s view of renewable power. One display, aimed at the older group, informs you of the most environmentally friendly ways of cooking, cleaning and transportation.
2 comments:
We'll be visiting the Energy gallery next term (in our museums class) so will have lots more opportunities to discuss it then. I certainly think it's an interesting case study, and at just two and a half years old it's one of the museum's newer galleries.
I'm interested that you think that the Energy Futures section 'succeeds' while the others don't. What is your criteria for success?
A student did a really good essay on Engery a few years back. If I remember rightly, his point was that the exhbits didn't give much opportunity for visitors to take their learning further than just what the gallery provided - he pointed out they could easily have a library section, or just the opportunity to email yourself links to websites, etc (similar to your complaint about the games lacking substance,maybe)
Post a Comment