Gateway Science Museum

Fall 2013

When the Earth Shakes

When the Earth Shakes event posterA young girl interacts with Quake Karaoke

Jump on the Quake Karaoke platform while attempting to match a historic earthquake seismogram. Complete Puzzled Earth, the plate tectonic puzzle, before time runs out and the pieces fall. Spin through geologic history using the video Spin Browser to see continents move and reform. See where global earthquakes happen on the Seismic Monitor in real time. Watch fast-paced videos of engineers working to make our world safer. Be an earthquake engineer as you design and build structures to withstand earthquakes on a shake table.

When the Earth Shakes was developed by Sciencenter in partnership with Cornell University and funding by the National Science Foundation/Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation.

Three students engage with the shake table at the When the Earth Shakes exhibitStudents piece together parts of the Earth at the When the Earth Shakes exhibit

Spin, Balance, Rock & Roll

Spin, Balance, Rock & Roll event poster

As modern playgrounds have become "safer" with the removal of teeter totters, merry-go-rounds, and even swings, many children are missing out on informal ways to explore balance and motion. Spin, Balance, Rock and Roll is an exhibit where visitors explore simple forces and motion.  There are over 30 interactive stations with investigations and challenges involving pendulums, spinners, levers, and more.  Signage offers brief explanations of the phenomena on display, but the main purpose of the exhibit is experiential and experimental - visitors will have fun while they are learning basic ideas of physics.

Mushrooms: Keys to the Kingdom Fungi

Mushrooms: Keys to the Kingdom Fungi event posterExplore our region's land and water! This interactive map exhibit allows users to explore in-depth data about watersheds and water conservation in the I-5 corridor from Williams to Redding, California. Using layered maps of Northern California, this custom application resides on state-of-the-art multi-touch high definition digital table, providing simultaneous multi-user access.  The exhibit allows users to navigate through maps, images, and informational content about groundwater, surface water, geology, climate, land and water use, and the industries and communities dependent on it.

Project funded under the California Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Fund of 2002. Administered by the State of California, Department of Water Resources.

A cluster of mushroomsTwo brown mushroomsOrange mushroomsPhotos by John Whitlesey & Jennifer Jewell

The story of fungi is integral to the story of life on planet earth. Wherever there is life, there are fungi - helping the life cycles of all other living organisms. Like apples on an apple tree, mushrooms are the fruit of many fungi. Sometimes beautiful to look at, sometimes gruesome, sometimes highly sought after gourmet delicacies, sometimes deadly poisons - fungi are everyday facts of life, and at the same time complex, intricate and mysterious. This exhibit is based around photographs of mushrooms taken by Northern California plants-people and naturalists John Whittlesey and Jennifer Jewell. The aim of the exhibit is to increase awareness of and appreciation for the importance, beauty and diversity of fungi in Northern California and beyond.