Tag Archives: science tuesdays

Explore the Science of Watersheds at the Public Museum

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Science Tuesdays for March will focus on watersheds.

During the month of March, visitors can join the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) for hands-on Watershed Science. As part of monthly Science Tuesdays, hands-on science activities will highlight the Grand River watershed and its impact within the community.

 

Learners of all ages will be engaged by interactive activities including watercolor map painting, identifying and viewing aquatic organisms, and learning about indicator species whose presence alone give indication of the water quality. See GRPM artifacts, including historic log ends and specimens that live in our Grand River watershed.

 

Science Tuesdays take place throughout the day every Tuesday in the Museum’s Galleria and include a variety of activities and interactive displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities are free with general admission to the Museum.

 

Special Saturdays at the GRPM will have Science Saturday with hands-on activities related to that month’s Science Tuesdays theme. Science Saturdays will take place in the Museum’s Galleria and be free with general admission. Science Saturdays will take place March 4 and 11.

 

On Saturday, March 11, join the GRPM for Glow Lab – this month’s Curiosity Lab. Kids will explore and interact with organisms and objects that use a variety of strategies to produce intriguing lights and colors. This lab features glowing dinoflagellates, fluorescent minerals, color-changing plant material and other unexpected objects that kids can view in the dark and under UV light. Curiosity Labs take place at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m. Limited tickets available, recommended for ages 8 and older. Tickets are available at grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.

 

Future Science Tuesdays are themed around activities happening in the community and at the Museum. For upcoming themes and activities, please visit grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.

Grand Rapids Public Museum expands science programs to Saturday

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Science Saturday will feature programs similar to those in Science Tuesdays.

By Christie Bender

Grand Rapids Public Museum

 

During the month of February, join the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) for hands-on Zoology Science Tuesday programming. Each month at the Museum highlights a different science topic all part of the ongoing educational experience offering, Science Tuesdays, based on changing themes each month.

 

Explore the diversity of the animal kingdom by viewing a variety of animal skins, skulls, and specimens out of the Museum’s education collection. Identify various teeth structures based on an animal’s diet, try your hand at investigating a barn owl’s prey by dissecting owl pellets and use a microscope to get an up-close view of some interesting animal features.

 

Science Tuesdays take place throughout the day every Tuesday in the Museum’s Galleria and include a variety of activities and interactive displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities are free with general admission to the Museum.

 

New beginning the month of February, Special Saturdays at the GRPM will have Science Saturday with hands-on activities related to that month’s Science Tuesdays theme. Science Saturdays will take place in the Museum’s Galleria and be free with general admission. Science Saturdays will take place Feb. 18 and 25, and Mar. 4 and 11.

 

On Saturday, Feb. 25, join the GRPM to help solve mysteries in February’s Curiosity Lab.

In this lab, kids will search clues to find out who stole a missing artifact from the Collection, using the hands-on scientific technique of chromatography. This Curiosity Lab will take place at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m. Limited tickets available, recommended for ages 8 and older. Tickets can be found at grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.

 

Future Science Tuesdays are themed around activities happening in the community and at the Museum. For upcoming themes and activities, please visit grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.

Expanded, more inclusive programs part of Public Museum’s future plans

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By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

It has been almost six weeks since the millage for the John Ball Zoo and the Grand Rapids Public Museum passed with overwhelming support and during that period officials have been determining what the next steps will be.

 

About 63 percent of the votes from the Nov. 8 election favored the millage which will add .44 mills to Kent County residents’ tax bills. For a owner of a $170,000 home, that would be about $37.40 per year increase through the year 2025. Residents will see the increase with their winter tax bill.

 

Science Tuesdays is one of the programs the Grand Rapids Public Museum is looking to expand.

“It really is a strong level of support for the institutions, both of which have a long history in this community,” said Grand Rapids Public Museum Director Dale Robertson. “It was a nice validation for what we have done and gave us the encouragement to take the dreams and ideas we have for engagement and programs to the next level.

 

“It told us that the public is right with us on this.”

 

And museum officials are already moving forward on future programs. In the short term, the goal is to enhance access to the museum’s Science Tuesdays, which provides hands on science stations, by expanding the program to Saturdays. Also to create museum school lessons utilizing the institution’s vast collection that can be made available to all the schools in Kent County.

 

There are bigger projects down the road such as partnership with the Hope Network Center for Autism in creating a universal design that will accommodate a spectrum of accessible for a broader population, Robertson said. This will mean some physical changes inside the museum.

 

The millage will bring in about $9.2 million the first year. According to state law, more than $414,000 of the money raised from the millage will go to the 18 Kent County Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts that keep taxes collected on property in their boundaries for local improvements.

 

The Wyoming Downtown Development Authority would be one such organization, however City Manager Curtis Holt said the DDA would not receive any funds due to negative property value changes in recent years. Traditionally, the City of Wyoming has returned such special millages and in this case would give any additional funds from the zoo/museum millage back to those organizations, Holt said.

 

Explore science and art at the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Science Tuesdays

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Students learn through exploring at the Grand Rapids Public Museum's Science Tuesdays.
Students learn through exploring at the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Science Tuesdays.

This September as part of ongoing Science Tuesdays programming at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) visitors have the opportunity to interact with various stations to learn about science and art. Science Tuesdays is an ongoing educational experience offering science programming based on changing themes each month.

 

As part of September’s Science Tuesdays, visitors will explore the many intersections of science and art from paper chromatography to the color wheel. Optical illusions will be shown to visitors to see how color can play tricks on our brain. Families and students will also have the opportunity to interact with different hands-on activities.

 

This month Artists Creating Together will join the Museum on Tuesday, Sept. 20, with additional hands-on activities for all ages.

 

Throughout the month students from Kendall College of Art & Design will be sharing their art and explaining how it assists in interpreting science. On Tuesday, Sept. 27,  there will be a live performance at 3:30 p.m. in the Museum’s Meijer Theater for performance art that was inspired by science.

 

Science Tuesdays take place throughout the day every Tuesday at the Museum and include a variety of activities and interactive displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities are free with general admission to the Museum.

 

Future Science Tuesdays programming will be themed around activities happening at the Museum. For upcoming months themes and activities please visit grpm.org.