Science is an incredible discipline through which the greatest of all discoveries are made. The idea of developing a hypothesis based on what you already know from data or experience, and then testing it out to see if you’re right is such an exciting process. We often head to the museum for a little hands on science exploration and it always pays off.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore a museum at night? I have. Imagine my excitement when I spotted an invitation to attend a MAASive Lates FREE, full-on, night-time science celebration at the Powerhouse Museum right here in Sydney to open the Sydney Science Festival for 2015.
With the kids at home with T, I headed off to the Powerhouse with a few friends to see what the site looked like at night. After recovering from the shock of finding my usual parking lot demolished, we found a spot down at Darling Harbour and walked to the waiting line. Shortly after, we handed over our tickets and walked inside.
On entry, we noted the food vans: Japanese, Italian, Mexican for starters. There was also a bar with a big line. These night scientists like to drink! We grabbed a bite while we soaked in the atmosphere. It was buzzing.
With our MAASive experience passport in our hand we set off to explore. We headed upstairs first to check our an exhibition or two before finding the Taronga Zoomobile. A quick hold of the children’s python and gorgeous lizard and we off again. Next up the very popular bingo tournament and started the game.
After surviving a round of Periodic Table Bingo (some elements are very tricky to pronounce!) we headed downstairs to listen the ABC’s Surfing Scientist Ruben Meermanto interview UK space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock. With her daughter in her arms (jetlag wears the young out quickly), she discussed fostering a love of science at home so our kids will love it. I couldn’t agree more! She was such an inspiring presenter. Listening to someone who has a deep passion for science and can illustrate how it can be fun was a real thrill for me.
Next stop: Speed Meet a Geek. The room had around 20 different scientists awaiting an interview. Whilst it was ‘speed meet’ I found it a little disorganised with no speedy movement between chairs. My little group found ourselves talking to the psychologists which was quite interesting. I don’t know if I agreed with everything they said, but that’s the great thing about this area of science – it’s open to interpretation and testing.
With the night quickly fading away we wanted to cram a little more exploration into our evening. We walked around some of the exhibits before finding the Mars Rover which the scientists encouraged us to drive. Awesome fun. Before long the night was over and it was time to leave.
The Sydney Science Festival is running until 23 August, 2015 with events across the city perfect for your family.
