Visitors to Birmingham's new Science Garden work together to operate Wacky Wheels
“Choosing a favourite exhibit is harder than I thought it’d be. I’m really torn between the Hamster Wheel and Wacky Wheels exhibits. They both provide such different experiences and learning outcomes.
Clara Lim has a go at the Hamster Wheel
Playing on our preconceived notions, it encourages us to make our own assumptions about how ‘silly’ or ‘uncomfortable’ riding on square wheels will be. This is akin to developing a hypothesis – a key skill in employing the scientific method.
Visitors then get to test their hypothesis, and are often pleasantly surprised by how smooth the ride is. This surprise provokes cognitive conflict, and acts as a springboard for learning to take place.
It is also a ‘bodies-on’ experience, meaning that visitors experience physical phenomena on a real-world scale. This is something very difficult to achieve in the classroom, labs and inside the museum. The kinaesthetic learners amongst us are well catered for by this exhibit.
Although it may seem like it’s just a lot of silliness or ‘re-inventing the wheel’, Wacky Wheels is just so striking and attention grabbing.
At Thinktank, we plan for exhibits like this to give our visitors ‘YouTube’ moments – or simply, social media opportunities.
This is becoming increasingly important if we want to successfully engage the youth of today. The idea is that there are no pictures, it didn’t happen.”
- The Thinktank Science Garden is open Monday-Sunday 10am-5pm. Tickets £12.25/£8.40 (family ticket £39). See our Preview.
