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Article for: The Davis Enterprise
Date: March 19, 2004
Author: Leslie Madsen-Brooks

EXPLORIT OPENS NEW EXHIBITION, ENGAGES IN 'MONKEY BUSINESS'

What happens when a raccoon eats an egg?

That question opens Explorit Science Center's new exhibition, "Networks in Nature: The Original World Wide Web." On the surface, the question is deceptively simple: there's one less egg in the world, and one slightly more satisfied raccoon. 

But one less egg in the world can mean one less bird, which might mean any number of things: one less predator to eat disease-transmitting insects-or an endangered frog. One less bird to breed and hatch new eggs. One less meal for a housecat or an owl.

And one sated raccoon might mean more time for breeding, which means more raccoons. It also means more raccoon scat, which means more fertilizer for more plants, which can feed rabbits or provide shelter for other animals. Life draws life, and in a blink of geological time, that raccoon poop has founded its own little ecosystem.

Even this is simplified, but the example demonstrates the ever-branching networks of living systems, a topic addressed in kindergarten classes and postgraduate research labs alike. Perhaps what's best about the raccoon-egg question is that it can engage an entire family, with each member answering it on a level appropriate to her own understanding of the world.

Fear not-the entire exhibition is not so philosophical. Far from it. "Networks in Nature" features Explorit's distinctive blend of open-ended inquiry and hands-on activities. Highlights in this exhibit include clusters of activities about snakes, birds, insects, and plants.

The exhibit creatively addresses networks at all levels-from the play of water through landscapes to food webs to communication patterns among wild birds. Visitors can construct a wall-sized food web, learn to imitate birdcalls, observe Explorit's burgeoning hissing cockroach community, and determine what impacts their own activities have on nature's networks. 

Another high point of "Networks in Nature" is the collection of living plants on the exhibition floor. Visitors can learn about the many ways plants have adapted to life in the arid desert, and then determine which plants have been used medicinally by both native peoples and pharmaceutical companies.

Simian surprise

People who visit Explorit tomorrow afternoon are in for an added treat in the form of "It's All Monkey Business," a special event presented by the California National Primate Research Center.

The Primate Center, which sits on the UC Davis campus, engages in cutting-edge medical and behavioral research that aims to improve human health. The center currently houses more than 4,000 primates-rhesus macaques, cynomolgus monkeys, and titi monkeys-and employs 300 staff. Each year, approximately 500 monkeys are born at the center, and 130 geriatric primates call the complex home.

Visitors can learn more about the Primate Center and its research into such diseases as asthma and Alzheimer's by participating in activities at Explorit tomorrow. From 1 to 4 p.m., Explorit and the Primate Center present a suite of interactive activities that include exploring monkey communication, constructing monkey masks, studying primate x-rays, and more. The program is free for Explorit members or with paid admission to "Networks in Nature."

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Explorit Science Center is at 3141 5th Street in East Davis. The current exhibition "Networks in Nature: The Original World Wide Web," runs through June 6. Public hours are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.explorit.org or call Explorit at (530) 756-0191.