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| Vol. 21, No. 10 |
| June 1, 1999 |
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Color Your Summer with Razzle Dazzle
This summer in Houston, you won't need rain to find a rainbow. Just visit the Museum of Health & Medical Science where you can split white light into multiple rainbows, create your own lightning and bend a laser beam! They'll even provide you with special rainbow glasses so that you can see the invisible colors produced by neon and argon gases. In a whirling, swirling, razzling, dazzling, kaleidoscopic spectacle of light, color and scientific discovery, the museum presents "Razzle Dazzle Sparkle & Shine: An Exhibit of Light, Color & Vision," on display June 4-August 29. Sponsored by the Hermann Eye Center and the department of ophthalmology and visual science at The University of Texas-Houston Medical School, visitors of all ages can see the science behind light and color while learning more about vision and their amazing eyes.
The eyes are the focus of this "Light & Color" traveling exhibit, which was created and is circulated by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Ore. The exhibit allows visitors to view amazingly lifelike holograms, see their reflections with their cheeks flipped backwards, and witness a scientific phenomenon called a three-dimensional real image. With interactive displays appropriate for preschool children and adults alike, the exhibit consists of 19 stations where visitors can learn about the properties of light and why we see color and mirror images. The focal point of this sparkling new exhibit is a giant kaleidoscope, designed by the museum's exhibit department and fabricated by United Metalsmiths especially for "Razzle Dazzle Sparkle & Shine." Nearly 12-feet long and fully functional, this giant kaleidoscope will turn the museum's stately George and Barbara Bush Grand Hall into the most razzling, dazzling destination in town. In addition to the built-in components of this rainbow-wrapped traveling exhibit, the museum's education staff has created a variety of special program enhancements, activities and demonstrations that will provide even more opportunities for family learning - and fun. From making rainbow prints, erupting bubbles and pinhole cameras to interacting with on-line color exhibits, creating shadow puppets and extracting color from plants, the "Razzle Dazzle Sparkle & Shine" exhibit is guaranteed to add a splash of color to your summer activities. For example, in the shadow of the giant kaleidoscope, visitors can make and take home their own kaleidoscopes at special craft tables. And, in the Learning Centers, they can see firsthand how to make stained glass during scheduled demonstrations by local artists. There also will be craft stations for guests to make their own "stained glass" windows-perfect for hanging in your own windows or adding to your refrigerator art. At the Periscope station, you can learn more about reflection by peering through a periscope to understand how the two mirrors reflect the images to your eyes. The world of color is also brought to light with Color on Color, Spinning Disks and Benham's Disk, where a black and white patterned disk tricks the eye into seeing color. And, to encourage visitors to tour the Amazing Body Pavilion and learn more about the amazing human eye and other body organs, colorful "eyeballs" will be hidden throughout the exhibit - find them all and win a special prize. For those interested in the inner workings of an eye, they'll also have scheduled demonstrations of cow eye dissections. If you want to learn about the physics of reflection - or just want to see our holograms on parade - join the museum this summer for an entire spectrum of light and color activities. Call 713-521-1515 for more information on hours and admission fees. - DEBRA MAURER
©2006 Texas Medical Center E-Mail: tmc-info@tmc.edu URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/06_01_99/page_08.html |
