Dec 03 2012
New York Hall of Science, time to improve.
Not many times do I go outside of Manhattan. Taking the 7 to the New York Hall of Science in Queens, was a refreshing experience. I always enjoyed science museums as a kid. It was the place where you can extend your imaginations and have a chance to verify the mere theories you learn in schools right in front of your eyes. Having visited Smithsonian Museum during my short visit to American during high school. I somehow imagined it to be as grand. When I got to the entrance, however, I could not help the disappointment.
Maybe it’s the difference between going to a science museum as a kid and as an adult. Still, to make my time worthwhile, I carefully tried out each experiments with childlike curiosity. Funny thing is, visiting a children’s science museum can be a great encouragement for a person who thinks s/he has come too far away from the natural sciences. Having attended a school right next to science school for the incredibly gifted,(these kids would place first and second in most of the world class international science olympiads) I’ve thought I was not apt for sciences for there was almost no way I could compete with them in sciences. Turns out I knew and understood almost all the experiments in the science museum.Maybe the curriculum was not so different from nations to nations after all. What really amazed me was the high correlation between the exhibits in the museum to the school curricula.
However memory evoking experience this was, I could not help but recognize the several broken tools and devices just staying around. In fact, a lot of them were outdated and needed repairing. In addition, the place seemed to lack staffs. There was only one person who went around explaining experiments to children. In conclusion, I think the place needs immediate staffing and repairing. Accuracy is imperative in science. The museum should not leave those inaccurate, broken tools for they will negatively impact the children’s museum experience. It needs innovation, to attract more people. I hope next time I visit, it will have fixed its problems.
Because I was so excited to finally visit the New York Hall of Science again I kept wondering what you thought about it. Because my memories of it were so fresh in my mind I never actually realized how worn the exhibits actually were. After reading your post, I believe they do need more interactive staff and they need to renew some of the older exhibits before spending money on the newer ones.