“Ewww,” the Diedrichsen Elementary School student exclaimed.
But beneath the little girl’s scrunched-up nose lurked a smile. Kennedy was one of the first to explore the gross science behind Grossology, a new exhibit at the May museum at Rancho San Rafael Park. The animatronic dung beetles and realistic skunk smells combine the slimiest secretions with science to create a kid’s play land and buoy up teachers’ curricula. The exhibit opens to the public today.
Kennedy had just squeezed the handle on a small exhibit that asked children to identify what function each smell performed in nature. In the case of the skunk, the correct answer was defense.
“This is cool,” she added.
The girl came with her mother, Beth Henry, one of many teachers invited by Washoe County Parks and Open Space to preview Grossology and consider incorporating a field trip into their curriculum.
“I want to teach my kids that science can be fun,” said Henry, a first grade teacher at Diedrichsen elementary. “Lately the pressure has been on the numbers, returning good test scores, for example. Learning can be fun.”
Henry was still unsure about bringing her class in, but teacher Pat Plowden was already taking notes and developing a curriculum for her Verdi Elementary School second grade class.
“I will put together worksheets so they will have a little guidance before they come,” Plowden said. “We are not coming until March, but we will talk about it beforehand in the classroom.”
The exhibit is open to the public until April 18.
Animal Grossology aims to incorporate all the slimy, grimy and gross stuff that many kids enjoy into a scientific learning experience, according to county Parks and Open Space spokesman Bob Harmon.
“It teaches you that you may not want to eat anything a fly has landed on,” Harmon said as he stood next to one of the exhibits.
The large animatronic fly sat on a giant cookie and bobbed its head up and down while explaining, in a New York accent, what it eats and how its saliva gets on human food.
Across the room, a tapeworm made its way through a graphic of the digestive system while bugs on a nearby TV screen oozed blue blood.
In the interactive blood exhibit, children were asked to identify which animal had red blood, which had white blood and which had blue blood. When the game started, a photo appeared on the TV screen and the children were asked to press the red, white or blue plastic splat in front of them to match the blood.
“The animals that have backbones have red blood,” Bill Ware, a programming coordinator for the May Museum, told the kids Friday.
Other portions of the museum-wide exhibit ask children to match the feces to the animal that left it on the penguin’s party floor. Meanwhile, the animated penguin laments that he invited all these guests to his house for a party and they left messes for him to clean up.
The exhibit came from Seattle and is based on a series of children’s books by Sylvia Branzei. Each of the exhibits sections is animated and is produced by Advanced Animation.
Oozing with disgusting science and interactive learning games, Animal Grossology aims to provide a unique perspective on the least-loved members of the animal kingdom.
Animal Grossology is supported by a grant from the Wilbur May Foundation. Additional sponsorship is provided by the Reno News and Review.
Museum hours have changed due to county-wide budget tightening, according to Harmon.
The exhibit is open each Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for children and seniors and groups of 15 or more get in for $5.50 per person.
For more information, call 823-6500.
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