Pizza and science draw a crowd at Explorit

A crowd swelled outside Explorit last Friday just before 6:30 p.m. That was the official start of our annual Appreciation Party for members and special guests.

When we threw open the doors, the visitors swarmed in, hungry for pizza and science.

We served up both – pizza outdoors on the Grand Plaza Patio and science indoors in our two galleries and assorted other spaces. (Woodstock’s donated a good portion of the pepperoni and cheese pizza.)

All told, more than 225 people of all ages enjoyed the evening with us. In addition to eating, they spent the time:

• Exploring “I Wonder…,” an exhibition that opened the following day. It quickly became clear that the balloon rockets and the parachute activity were two of the favorites. Little wonder – one involves loud, fast-moving objects, the other dropping coffee-filter parachutes from a second-story window. (“I Wonder…” will run through Sept. 6 in the Gumerlock Gallery and is sponsored by Northrop Grumman.)

• Sampling activities from our Birthday Party programs. We set out materials representing the six party themes. Derek “Birthday Party Guy” Woller, the ebullient staff member who leads most parties, entertained and shared party information in his white lab coat and giant hat filled with live Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

• Meeting our Summer Camp educators and getting a sneak preview of the camp T-shirts. The staff all wore the shirts, which feature “Science Superheroes,“ which is not coincidentally the theme of our annual Corporate Science Challenge in October.

• Visiting favorite stations in our long-term exhibition “Move It! Science in Action” in the Jonsson Family Gallery.

• Meeting our ball python and blue-tongued skink, both long-time crowd pleasers.

To all who attended, we thank you for your support of Explorit and our mission of engaging people in science experiences that touch all our lives.

If you didn’t make it, the exhibition activities described above are available during our public hours (2-4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
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Explorit Science Center is at 2801 Second St., Davis. Admission is $4 general, free for ages 3 and under. It’s free for everyone on the fourth Friday of each month. For more information: (530) 756-0191 or www.explorit.org.