An interactive, high-tech, children’s exhibit traveling to 15 North American cities
NATIONAL SPONSORS:
Pfizer Inc, produced by Evergreen Exhibitions in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health
PURPOSE:
To take the mystery out of “killer” microbes. The exhibit explores what microbes are (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa--”germs” to most people), what they look like, the history of infectious disease, emerging diseases and how researchers and individuals fight infectious disease worldwide.
SECTIONS:
1) Paris crypt, 2) Egyptian tomb, 3) Aztec ruins, 4) Early 1900s Main Street North America, 5) Microbe TV, 6) Microbial Universe, 7) Body of Disease, 8) Good Deeds, 9) Microbial Superhighway, 10) New Frontiers
EXHIBIT SIZE:
3,000 square feet
POINTS OF INTEREST:
Healer in Crypt - In the replica of a skull- and bone-filled Paris catacomb, a guide describes the bubonic plague in the year 1400 A.D. His beaked mask contains flowers and herbs thought to protect people from the deadly disease they believed was caused by poison air rising up from the earth.
Ramses Mummy - A photo of the unwrapped mummy of Ramses shows pockmarks from the smallpox virus, which attacked Ramses and probably killed him in 1151 B.C.
Aztec Ruins - An engaging, colorful mural depicts figurines dating from before 750 A.D. showing evidence of diseases from which the peoples of Central American must have suffered. Since diseases such as leprosy and small pox were not present in Central America when these figurines were made, they suggest that other disfiguring diseases attacked the peoples of what is now Mexico.
Microbial Universe - Visitors can explore a new cosmos, the hidden universe of microbes. Six colorful, volumetric holograms floating in space present different microbes, including HIV (AIDS) and Ebola, as three-dimensional models. Images from an electron microscope and large-view light microscope offer rare, close-up views of real microbes such as rabies and Ebola.
Meet a Bug - Colorful, volumetric projections present six microbes, including HIV (AIDS) and rubella, as three-dimensional sculptures.
Microbe Quiz Show - This interactive television game show tests participants’ new-found knowledge with a true-false quiz.
Gobble De Goop - Players of this video game guide munching microbes as they gobble up an oil spill.
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