Lawrence Hall of Science

The Lawrence Hall of Science is a science center near UC Berkeley which has several exhibits about science. At the entrance, there is a whale and a giant DNA sculpture. In the Ingenuity in Action exhibit, you can make things out of paper and pipe cleaners and put them in a wind chamber to see how high they go. You can also make cars and test them on a track. In the Science on a Sphere exhibit, you can see a huge sphere which is a model of the earth which shows things about the earth like where temperatures are rising, where tsunamis are, and how the gulf oil spill's surface area rose. In the Math Around the World section, you can play games from all around the world that have to do with math such as Nim, Magic Squares, Three Men’s Morris, Mills, Kalah, and Hex. In the nanoZone, you can experiment with things that are really small and learn how geckos stick to things. You can also measure yourself in nanometers and learn about scientists who specialize in nanotechnology. In the Kapla exhibit, you can make complicated things out of simple building planks. I didn’t get to do Kapla but I saw people building cool things. You can’t do everything in one day. The Kid’s Lab is a place for kids kindergarten and under. Outside in the exhibit Forces that Shape the Bay, there is a great view of the Bay Area and you can learn about earthquakes, erosion, and weather. You can even see the Golden Gate Bridge! There is a featured exhibit called Scream Machines which is about roller coasters. You can stand on a revolving platform, go in a roller coaster simulator, and walk through a spinning tube that makes it feel like you are turning upside down. You can even build a roller coaster and roll balls down model roller coaster slopes. There is also a planetarium which has interactive shows. One of the shows is about learning astronauts do things in space and how people launch satellites. The second show is about the moons in the solar system. The last one is about constellations. In the Math Rules section, you can complete math challenges made with simple objects. In the Animal Atrium, you can visit an excavation site and see a full skeleton of a Mastodon. There is an Animal Discovery Room in which you can learn about yourself and other animals and hold animals. One of the special programs is Ingenuity Lab. In it you can make things and test your design. There is a new challenge every month. I think kids 4-12 will like this place a lot. In my opinion, the nanoZone and the math exhibits are a must see. The Lawrence Hall of Science is named after Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a great scientist in chemistry who invented the cyclotron. You can learn more about him in the Lawrence Memorial.

References:

http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/