Contraptions

I went to a meeting of science and technology center folks this past weekend in Philadelphia and spent a lot of time talking to people about bringing science to the public. It was a great affair and always fun to talk to professionals who are pointed the same direction I am. While I was there I played with lots of ‘hands-on’ contraptions that museums and science centers like to use to teach the principles of science.

There’s certainly a place for hands-on, since much of science comprises the tinkering we all like to do with objects and processes. Physics, for example, lets you test how things move and interact with each other based on the laws of physics. We all know what those are — the laws of motion (which describe the forces that act on objects in motion), the law of gravity (which defines and describes the attractive forces between objects), and the laws of conservation of mass-energy, momentum, thermodynamics, electrostatics, the speed of light and so on.  These aren’t laws that people made in order to force the universe to do things — these are principles that describe what happens to objects and processes in the universe.  They may look forbidding at first (the words that describe them might be the first barriers) but if you dig even a little into physics and other sciences and apply what you learn to understanding everyday things (like rolling a ball across the room for your cat or dog to play with), they lose their mysterious fear-mongering power.  It’s even better if it’s part of a game.

So, over the weekend I was talking to a fellow who works at a museum in Ohio and I told him about this online game I’ve been playing. It’s called Fantastic Contraption and it uses game play to teach physics.  He had an internet connection and so I showed it to him.  He got hooked, just as I did a couple of weeks ago when I first found out about it.  We talked for a while and then I moved on to another exhibit. But, each time I walked by, I noticed that when he wasn’t busy, he was playing it.  It really hooked him… maybe it’ll hook you, as it did me, too.  Go check it out and get a little physics on your brain!