Hi, you're listening to Cultivate
Curiosity, a.
Podcast that inspires the next generation
to stay curious.
Cultivate Curiosity is brought to you by
the Emerald Coast Science Center, a
nonprofit.
Interactive science museum and steam
educational facility in Fort Waln Beach,
Florida.
This podcast is perfect for anyone curious
about the world we live in, because.
You never know what we'll talk about
next.
Hi, my name's Harley and I'm an
educator and the community affairs
coordinator here at the Science Science
Center.
Hi, I'm Diane and I'm the director.
And hi, I'm Jacie.
I'm the social media coordinator at the
Emerald Coast Science Center.
And today we're going to be talking
all about museums ASTC, AAM, and then
just kind of the stuff we're doing
over the summer this year.
So our summer schedule is that we're
open Monday through Saturday now from 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m.
so you guys can enjoy us a
little bit longer.
We also from June 1 through September
1 have a lot of different activities
and things like that going on.
So we have our sciPAD exhibit open
Tuesday through Thursday from one to
three.
So you get to come in, play
a whole bunch of different kind of
games, just whatever you guys want to
do.
For that.
We have our Creature Features Wednesday
and Thursday at 1130 and then on
Friday at 01:30 p.m..
So on Wednesday we do snakes and
turtles.
On Thursday we do our Mammals, and
then on Friday we do our Lizards.
So you can come each day and
see different animals and you can come
more than once as well.
And then we have our Chemistry Corner
on Fridays at 11:30 a.m.
We do some fun experiments and show
you guys those things.
And then from twelve to one we
actually do activity with you guys so
you get to enjoy some hands on
chemistry as well.
Here are the following themes for
Chemistry Corner.
On June 2 was space chemistry.
On June 9 was Weather Chemistry, and
then on June 16, which is going
to be our next one, is going
to be Slime which is a fan
favorite.
So like Jacie said, there's demonstration for
about 20 to 30 minutes and then
for a whole hour if you miss
the demonstration, you can still come in
and do the activity.
On the 23 June will be eat
your science, come and make some ice
cream.
With us for our activity on June
30 is Plant and Soil Chemistry.
On July 7 is going to be
a big reactions demonstration.
So we will be doing this one
outside and then on the 14 July
it will be Human Body Chemistry and
then after that we will just be
repeating the same back in that order
for the rest of the summer.
So there is seven different topics.
So we'll do the seven and then
once we finish with Human Body Chemistry,
we'll go back again and start with
Space Chemistry.
We also have our Creation Station that's
every third Saturday from 11:00 A.m.
To 01:00 p.m..
So those are fun activities.
You're creating something that you get to
take home usually.
Just definitely check our website out to
see what that activity is.
That Saturday.
And then of course, we have our
Discover Science Saturday.
That is the first Saturday from 10:30
A.m.
To 01:30 p.m..
So we do different themes for those,
check them out.
And we also have our planetarium nights.
It's the first and third Thursdays of
the month in June and July, instead
of just the third Thursday.
So you can check those out.
We have shows at six and 07:00
p.m..
And then in June and July we
have our Steam Machine, which is Tuesday
through Thursday from 10:30 A.m.
To 12:30 p.m..
And there's new themes each week.
Here are the following themes for Steam
Machine.
These topics go throughout the whole week
and they change weekly.
The first one we did was Ozoboss.
Explore.
Force in motion.
Then the next one we're going to
be doing is DA Vinci's Bridge going
on right now during this week.
So the 13th, 14th and 15th.
Then after that will be Skin and
Fingerprints.
So you'll get to come in and
expand your fingerprint using a balloon.
Explore different ways that make you
unique through your fingerprint.
Then the following week will be Bones
and x rays.
Then the July 4, fifth and 6th
week is Nebula spin art.
So come in and learn about nebulas
and make a cool activity to take
home.
July 11, 12th and 13th is Cublit
Engineering, which is a robotic magnetic
block that you get to snap together
and.
You get to make a bunch of.
Different super cool things.
July 18, 19th and 20th is Brain
Hats.
Brain Day is also July 22, so
explore your cool brain.
And then July 25, 26th and 27th
is Spirograph.
So our steam machine is only the
months of June and July.
So if you are ever here and
you've really wanted to get on our
bus and see what it's like and
do some activities, those dates are the
time to do it.
And I think one thing that we
should stress is that except for the
Planetarium Nights, all of those other
programs that we just talked about are
included with general admission.
So you can come in, you pay
the one price to get in, and
we have all of these special activities
going on, as well as your ability
to be able to just play with
all the exhibits that we currently have.
The next thing we want to talk
about are some of the conferences that
we've been to within the past year.
The first one me and Diane went
to is called ASTC Conference, which is
the association of Science and Technology
Centers, which we've talked about in the
past a little bit, I think maybe
in our first episode about that.
We are a part of this organization,
this passport program.
So with the membership here, you can
get into all of the other museums
that are part of ASTC as well.
So basically for this conference, all of
those people that are part of it
get to go to the conference.
And it's typically hosted in a larger
city with the really nice big museums.
The one we went to was in
Pittsburgh.
And so we got to go to
the Carnegie Science Museum.
The Carnegie Children's Museum.
Am I missing him?
We went to the Andy Warhol Museum.
We went to the Andy Warhol Museum
as well, which was awesome.
But the biggest thing about those
conferences when we go to them, is
what we're able to absorb and bring
back to the science center for us
to tweak and make our own version
of it.
One of the things we've done is
our Affirmation walk, which was a service
project done by a volunteer.
A high school student came up to
us and wanted to do a service
project.
And we had seen this Affirmation walk
between the Children's Museum and their
maker Space and their Maker Space
building.
It was just outside.
It was these weird blobs of color,
but on the blobs had Affirmations like,
you are awesome.
Keep moving.
So we proposed that project to the
volunteer and she took it and ran
with it.
And now it's complete.
And you can see it at our
museum.
It's outside.
So if you just wanted to come
and look at that and boost your
spirits and not able to actually come
into the museum, you can go and
see those.
Another thing that we saw at AFTC
was this weave exhibit.
It was a huge loom and they
had just a bunch of different fake
flowers next to it.
And you could come up and weave
in your own version of the loom.
So we did that outside at our
museum.
We created a huge loom outside.
We have a bucket of fake flowers
out there, so you can come in
and add those up there.
But we also added chalkboards to the
side as well, again making it our
own version because we wanted people to
come up and draw nature as well.
So weaving in nature, but also drawing
nature.
So we call that our wild weave
exhibit.
And we also added the kaleidoscopes out
there as well, which is something that
I had seen about five or six
years ago at the Petrified National
Forest.
They had done it as an art
installation and they had kaleidoscopes.
And then people could pick up nature
things off the ground and stuff and
put them in there and then look
at them through the kaleidoscopes.
You can make it whatever you want
it to be.
That was something we had been trying
to add for a couple of years,
and now we do have that in
here as well.
So I'm going to talk a little
bit about the American Alliance of
Museums, which is another organization for
museums all across the world, actually.
But we just came back from their
conference.
Lisa and I went, and that was
in Denver last month, in May.
And this is not just a science.
So the ASTC is basically for science
museums, aam.
It's for all museums.
So it's art museums, history museums,
historical homes, science museums as well,
children's museums.
And I think one of the great
thing about the conference is that usually
the hosting museum has these really cool
parties after hours in the museum.
And so it's a great way to
really explore the museum.
And only, like other museum professionals
are in there.
It's closed to the public during that
time.
And this is where we take a
lot of pictures and get a lot
of ideas for things to bring back.
This Aam conference in Denver was
incredibly interesting because of some of
the subject material that they were
talking about, and part of that was
who gets to tell the story?
So when you go to a museum
and you read the signs or you
see the exhibit, whose point of view
are you hearing that particular exhibit or
that story from?
And what I thought was so great
about this one is because there's a
lot of Native Americans in the west,
the History Colorado Center had several
new exhibits that they had featured, and
the exhibits were told from the point
of view of the Native Americans.
And the stories were absolutely
fascinating.
And I think this is a point
of view that normally we don't see
in museums.
So I think if you pay attention
to museums at all, you're going to
see this shift occurring in the next
couple of years.
And even the Denver Science and Nature
Museum has opted to close their whole
entire section, which was based on
Indian relics and artifacts and how they
were talking about the Indian stories,
because they thought that maybe they
weren't telling it from a holistic
approach.
They weren't telling it they were only
telling it from one narrative, from a
Eurocentric narrative instead of from a
more organic Native American narrative.
So they will be closing that whole
section this summer, which I thought was
incredibly interesting.
And the two speakers at the keynote
speaker and then the plenary session
speakers were groups of Native American
artists, and so they got to talk
about the art that they do.
And it was just a really incredible
experience to be in Denver, and we
got to visit a lot of museums
in Denver.
It's also really great to see how
other people create exhibits.
The Denver Art Museum, which is
incredible.
It's huge.
It's incredible.
If you're ever in Denver, please be
sure to check that out.
Also, their science museum has a huge
dinosaur section that you walk through,
and at Least and I are just
like.
Oh, so incredibly jealous.
Number one, they have a lot of
space, which we don't have.
That was a really great experience.
And Lisa and I spent a lot
of time looking at the vendor area,
which is where you can also pick
out what are the new and latest
trends and exhibits that are coming out.
And one of the things that we
really looked at was, like, museum store
items, and so what are people selling
in their stores?
And every time we go to these
different museums, we also look at what
they're selling in their stores.
And so after years and years and
years, we were finally able to find
a stuffed sugar glider.
Now, that may not seem like a
big deal, but we have how many
sugars?
Six sugar gliders.
Five.
Six sugar gliders now.
And so we have been trying to
find a stuffed sugar glider because
they're so cute.
And so we were finally able to
find a vendor that does create stuffed
animal sugar gliders.
And they were at an affordable price
point that we thought would be manageable
in our museum store.
Look for those when you guys come
in and check those out as well.
So I think one of the things
that as people are traveling and getting
ready to go out on the road
this summer, one of the things that
we always do, my family personally, is
we always hit museums when we visit.
We went to New York the first
week of May to do the Five
Boroughs bike tour and of course, went
to the American Museum of Natural History,
which is the great big, huge museum
in New York.
And it was, again, absolutely fascinating.
We went to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art.
Another must see, I think, put it.
On your bucket list.
And we went to the Tenement Museum,
which was a very unique experience and
not at all what we thought it
was going to be like.
But I think that's kind of fun
sometimes because you will come upon these
museums that may not be like the
really big ones that you would think,
okay, I have to hit this one
and this one and that one.
Sometimes you come across these ones that
are smaller, and your experience there is
just something that you're like, wow, that
was different.
Now, I thoroughly enjoyed the Tenement
Museum, and I would highly recommend it,
but it's not what you think it's
going to be, so I'll just leave
it at that.
Just a little teaser out there for
you if you think you're going to
walk through and just look at stuff,
that's not the case at all.
So Jacie is going to explain a
little bit about Explorer Galoosa and some
of the museums in our area.
Yes.
So Explorercaloosa is a museum coalition.
We have ten museums now that are
a part of it, and they're all
spread out through Okalusa County.
So that's us.
We have Baker Block Museum, heritage
Museum in northwest Florida.
Many, many more, all a part of
it.
And you can just visit them all.
They're very great.
They have varying things like we're
science, we have a lot that are
history, just a lot about our area.
And you can visit Exploreclusa.org to
learn more about each museum.
And then you can also follow us
on social media.
Just look up, Explorecaloosa, and we'll be
on Facebook and Instagram for that.
And then just to talk about some
other experiences that you could see
locally around here in Crestview, there's
the Emerald Coast Zoo.
It's very highly recommended.
We have visited and you can visit
Emeraldcosu.com to learn more.
And I highly recommend following them on
social media as well.
I love seeing the photos that they
have of their animals and stuff like
that.
There's also Navarre, beach, sea, turtle
conservation center in Navarre.
They're a really great I can't remember
the name of their turtle, but they
have one that's there Sea Turtle.
They do have an injured slipper.
They can't really exactly like Shelley or.
Shirley, something like that.
Yes.
And they actually are expanding as well.
I think they're adding like a whole
new building that you can visit too.
So definitely check them out.
Their website is Navarbeachsea.org and
obviously they have social media too.
Then we also want to talk about
Emerald Coast wildlife refuge.
That's also in Navarre.
They obviously take in animals and take
care of them, but you can also
visit them.
So definitely check out their website,
Emeraldcoastwildliferefuge.org, and follow
them on social media as well.
So I'd like to close with a
Google review that we got one time,
and this is a couple of years
ago.
So the guy had written something like,
well, if you've ever been to the
bigger museums and he might have named
one specifically, but I can't remember
what it was, he goes, Then you
might want to give this a pass,
because this is so much smaller and
you're not going to have the same
experience as if you went to a
bigger museum.
So then I responded to the review
and I said, hey, I think
that small museums are great.
I think you should visit every single
small and museum that you come across
because the only reason that small and
museum exists is because somebody is
incredibly passionate about that
particular subject.
I mean, I think about our own
museum here, and the only reason that
we're still here is because everybody on
the staff here really, really cares about
this place and is willing to go
above and beyond.
I think there was just a quote
by one of the Nobel Prize winners.
I follow Nobel Prize on social media,
and it was something like, you can
get twice as much work out of
a person if they're passionate about
something.
So anyway, I responded to like, yeah,
visit every single small museum you come
across.
They exist only because somebody loves
what they're doing.
And I left the review up and
then I went back and like a
couple of days later, checked it again.
Well, he had changed his review.
He had edited his review, and he
had taken out some of the remarks
about if you've been to the bigger
museums, there's no reason to come here.
And then I was like, okay, now
my response seems a little weird.
Like, it doesn't align with what his
review was.
But then I also saw somewhere on
social media, I think it was like,
what's your favorite museum in the world?
And people were responding with what their
favorite museums were.
And years and years ago, my husband
and I went to Prague in the
Czech Republic, and there's a little
museum.
It's called the KGB museum.
And so it's like the history of
the KGB.
And so they have all these spy
tactics and all this stuff.
But the guy that worked there, like,
when you walked in, he would give
you this personal tour and would tell
you all about it, and he would
get so excited, and the energy level
was so high when he was talking
about this stuff.
And so I responded.
I'm like, okay, well, it's got to
be the KGB Museum because that guy
was crazy.
And like, a couple of other people
replied to my comment, like, oh, my
gosh, yes, I remember that guy.
He was just so great.
So if you're out and about this
summer, visit the little ones, because
you're going to have an experience there
that is going to you're only going
to get there.
And that's because of the people that
have poured their souls into creating that
place, and that's why it's going to
be so unique, and you're not going
to get it anywhere else.
Also, this is a great website to
check out museums for all or so
it's museums Number for all.
And this is a program that allows
people that have a Snap card or
an EDT card to get free or
reduced admission to museums.
So if you're traveling and you are
a participant in either of those programs,
you can look this up and it
will tell you by state what museums
participate.
So some of them will give you
free admission.
Some of them will give you $3
a person, up to four people on
your Snap card or your EDT card.
We are now a partner in that
program.
So if you are a participant in
either of those programs, you just show
your ID, show your card, and you
will get $3 per person admission here.
So that's another great resource as you're
out and about this summer looking for
fun things to do with your family.
And definitely check out the ASTC Passport
program, especially if you are a member
with us because you don't know what
museums you're traveling nearby.
So definitely make sure to look at
that before you plan your trip.
So hopefully you guys will come and
visit us this summer.
We're going to have a lot of
fun, and we'll see you guys again
in two weeks.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's
episode of Cultivate Curiosity.
If you have any questions, feel free
to email us at socialmedia@ecscience.org.
Tune in for our next episode in
two weeks.