During summer vacation, we always make several trips to the Catawba Science Center, located at Hickory’s SALT Block. The Science Center a great place to spend a morning or an afternoon, interacting with a variety of exhibits, watching Planetarium shows, and petting stingrays. Our new favorite thing to do at the Science Center is the latest exhibit to arrive at Carpenter Hall -- Great Balls of Fire: Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors.
Developed by the Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning, the traveling exhibit will be at the Catawba Science Center through August 26th, 2018. This exhibit boasts several hands-on, interactive learning experiences. My children usually spend a lot of time at the interactive solar system table, where they attempt to build their own stable solar system. This interactive table allows them to learn about how different components of a solar system - a star, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets - interact with one another.
My daughter’s favorite feature of the exhibit is the impact simulator. First, you use a control to cause a ball to impact water. While the impact occurs, a camera takes a recording. Afterward, you can play the video in slow motion to observe the results of the impact. You can rewind or fast forward the recording over and over, examining how water was dispersed by the impact.
The main feature of the exhibit (and my son’s favorite) is the two-seat mission simulator that takes you on a trip to the asteroid belt and beyond to collect a sample from an asteroid and a comet. Children are in control of the mission, using a joystick to guide the spaceship and answer questions about the samples they collect.
After completing the mission, check out some real meteorite samples and compare them to rocks found on Earth. Use a magnet to determine which materials are magnetic, and use a microscope to get up-close-and-personal with a meteorite. On our first trip to Great Balls of Fire, my kiddos were amazed that they could actually touch a real meteorite!
Once you have tested all of the exhibit’s interactive features and mastered your skills at identifying comets, asteroids, and meteorites, don’t leave without posing for some fun photos!
Great Balls of Fire is at the Catawba Science Center through summer break, until August 26th. Admission is free for CSC members. For non-members, the exhibit costs $1.00 in addition to the general admission ($8.00 for adults, $6.00 for youth aged 3-18). The Catawba Science Center is closed on Mondays and open from 10:00 to 5:00 Tuesdays through Fridays, from 10:00 to 4:00 on Saturdays, and from 1:00 to 4:00 on Sundays. Visit catawbascience.org for more details or call (828) 322-8169.
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