Interactives - Microbes

Mike Kempf — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Exhibit Sections

Exhibit content is organized into 10 sections:

1) Paris crypt

2) Egyptian tomb

3) Aztec Ruins

4) Main Street North America

5) Microbe TV

6) Microbial Universe

7) Defenders of the Castle

8) Good Deeds

9) Microbial Superhighway

10) New Frontiers

In the first four sections, the exhibit examines the history of some of mankind’s most devastating diseases.

1) Paris Crypt

Dr. Beak presented in a skull-filled catacomb below Paris describes the bubonic plague which killed about 56 million Europeans from 1340 to 1420. On display is a recreation of a beaked mask thought to protect people from the plague, which they believed was caused by poison gas rising from the Earth.

2) Egyptian Tomb

A photo of the unwrapped mummy of Ramses V shows pockmarks from the smallpox virus that attacked and probably killed Egypt’s ruler, who died around 1151 B.C. The mural also features a photograph of an Egyptian stone tablet which provided the first pictorial record of polio.

3) 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.

4) Main Street North America

This section describes epidemics of polio, flu and tuberculosis striking close to home. A three-minute video presentation describes the discovery of penicillin in 1928 and the breakthrough of mass production as a “wonder drug” during World War II.

5) Microbe TV

Microbe Man, the exhibit’s cartoon super-hero and exhibit guide, and VJ Sabrina host a 90-second animated video that illustrates just how miniscule microbes really are.

6) 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.

7) Defenders of the Castle

Exhibit-goers discover how harmful microbes invade human bodies and how humans fight back. Hands-on displays demonstrate how people fight infection both with the body’s natural defenses and with antibiotic defenses to prevent and treat infectious disease. Interactive displays include a fortified castle that illustrates our dependence upon our hair, skin and even mucous (yuck!) to protect us from disease-causing microbes.

8) Good Deeds

This area offers a more light-hearted look at the beneficial and essential roles microbes play. Humorous narratives by talking, cartoon-like microbes relate how microbes affect the everyday fare people cook and eat. Players of the Gobble De Goop video game can guide munching microbes as they gobble up an oil spill. The Microbe Quiz Show, an interactive TV program hosted by Microbe Man, invites visitors to a true-false test of their microbial knowledge.

9) Microbial Superhighway

Visitors learn how modern transportation, overcrowding and pollution foster the spread of infectious disease around the world. Hot Zones, featuring brilliant and colorful images of microbes taken using an electron microscopy, illustrates the global distribution of age-old and emerging diseases.

10) New Frontiers

A video presentation describes advances in medical research, including gene therapy--delivering therapeutic genes to cells--and the creation of synthetic drugs.

Interactive Displays

Interactive displays located throughout the exhibit offer children of all ages hands-on discovery of scientific concepts.

1) Simulated Electron Microscope (Microbial Universe)

Visitors get a rare view of real viruses such as HIV {4 millionths of an inch (0.0001 mm) across} as they would appear through an electron microscope--a microscope of extremely high power.

2) Large-view Microscope (Microbial Universe)

Exhibit-goers can peer through a large-view microscope that reflects light off an object to magnify the image, observing fungi, protozoa and bacteria as they appear 250 times larger than life.

3) Lines of Defense (Body of Disease)

A foosball-style game demonstrates the body’s natural lines of defense against infectious disease.

4) Microbe Quiz Show (Good Deeds)

Microbe Man, a cartoon super-hero and exhibit guide, hosts this interactive television game show. Players can test their microbial knowledge with a series of true-false questions.

5) Gobble De Goop (Good Deeds)

In this video game, visitors use a joystick to guide munching microbes as they gobble up an oil spill.

6) Defenders of the Castle

In this interactive display, visitors learn about our dependence upon our hair, skin and even mucous (yuck!) to protect us from disease-causing microbes trying to invade our bodies through our nose, mouth and other orifices.

7) Talking Good-Guy Microbes (Good Deeds)

Hand-held phones allow visitors to hear humorous narratives by talking, cartoon-like microbes. These microbial “good guys” describe examples of microbes at work in the kitchen making cheese, helping bread rise and making compost.

8) Hot Zone Map (Microbial Superhighway)

An interactive display illustrates the global distribution of age-old and emerging diseases featuring brilliant and colorful images of microbes taken using an electron microscopy.

15-Dec-09 5:00 PM

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Interactives - Microbes