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Take Flight at ScienceWorks


Click on the Plane to take Flight!
Click on the Plane to take Flight!

(Ashland, OR) December  15 , 2003... On  December 13, 2003, ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum  opened  ”Take Flight” – a major new exhibition celebrating  the 100-year anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers, and the museum’s own one-year anniversary.  ScienceWorks opened its doors to the public last year on December 7, 2003. Since that time, almost 40,000 people have visited the museum and its school programs have served nearly 6,000 children from all over southern Oregon and northern California. "Take Flight" is available, along with new exhibits, lectures and festivals, through August 2004. 

 

Take Flight is 1400 square feet of exhibits devoted to the creative exploration of flight. It is a testing field for flying creations offering visitors a chance to develop their own flying machines. Visitors enter the Take Flight archway and then try their hand with the Paper Airplane Launchers, the Hoverport, the Rocket Launcher, and other flight experiences. It offers a good variety of opportunities for experimentation , creating both a fun and rewarding learning environment. 

 

      The goal of the exhibit is to inspire visitors of all ages with the spirit of exploration surrounding flight. According to executive director Christy Hostetler, much of what we understand about flight comes from creative experimentation.  “We hope to stimulate a curiosity about what makes flight possible, while providing some fascinating explanations of some of the principles and forces involved,” says Hostetler. 

 

    That creative exploration is a key part of the educational program at the museum. Student groups engage in lab experimentation, science demonstrations and investigations on the exhibits. School groups will now be able to include the flight exhibition as part of their science curriculum, with students from Roosevelt Elementary and Lone Pine Elementary of Medford being among the first school children to experience "Take Flight." 

 

      Community involvement and collaborations have played an important role in the development of this first major new exhibit for the museum. Suspended above the exhibit floor are large scale plane models with five to seven foot wingspans, providing a great view of a variety of aircraft. Members of the Rogue  Eagles, a flying model aircraft club,  provided these large-scale models of aircraft. A scale model of the original Wright flyer built by Medford resident  Richard Schwegerl provides visitors with the opportunity to learn from this first successful powered flying machine.

 

ScienceWorks  and Southern Oregon Public Television are working closely to present an innovative video component exploring  flight principles more thoroughly. Currently on display is "The Evolution of Flight" - a brief survey of the innovations in flight that have brought us to this date.

 

 Other flight exhibits built by community members will be brought out over the next month.  Exhibits will present in more detail some of the principles that make flight possible. An historic photo display on loan from the Southern Oregon Historical Society will also be incorporated into the exhibit in 2004.   

 

"Take Flight" opened with a member preview on December 12 that brought out members from as far away as Grants Pass. Special holiday hours will be offered for members and all visitors on December 26 and January 2 from 10 to 4. The museum is  normally open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 to 4. Science Live performances are at 1 and 3 p.m., including a new show "Super Fly." Throughout the run of the exhibition the museum will be hosting lectures and indoor and outdoor events to celebrate the creative process of flight.  

 

 ScienceWorks is located at 1500 East Main in Ashland. Current hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 10 to 4. Call 541-482-6767 or visit www.scienceworksmuseum.org for the latest hours and events.

 

Flight Activities

 

Step On It      This Air Pump Rocket launches visitors’ creations and sends them over the exhibit entry arch. Visitors create paper rockets and adjust pressure and trajectory while aiming for targets and height.

 

Pump It Up   The Water Rocket exhibit launches a water bottle up to 28 feet through a combination of water and air pressure. Visitors adjust the ratios to determine the effect on the height of each rocket launch.

 

Wing Zinger Visitors create their own paper airplanes that they can test on state-of-the-art paper airplane launchers. The launch process can be replicated, allowing the “pilots” to fine tune their aircraft and aim the planes at targets.     

 

Hover Port    This unique blower provides adjustable jets of air that can send paper helicopters, twirly fish and other creations spinning in the air.      

 

Flight Principles

 

Fascinating and interactive informational exhibits such as It’s All About Lift, Go With the Flow and Action & Reaction encourage visitors to discover and explore properties of flight such as air flow, angle of attack, lift, drag, thrust and gravity. 

 





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