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By: Suzette Smiley
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Can anyone explain why it rained so much last year while there has hardly been a drop this year? Despite our modern computers and satellites, weather still remains unpredictable. This is due to the fact that weather is a chaotic system. Weather forecasters may be able to predict the day of rain but the precise location and time are determined by unpredictable small-scale events such as the local meeting of cold and warm air.
Explorit's new exhibit on "Chaos" focuses on such chaotic systems and the theory behind them. Chaotic systems like weather all have one characteristic in common- they are extremely sensitive to initial conditions with the result that the final outcomes are unpredictable.
In one of the exhibits, you can make your own weather prediction after measuring temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction. Weather isn't the only chaotic system in Nature. Many more examples of chaos can be identified as you wander through the intriguing exhibition on "Chaos."
"Chaos" runs until January 14, 1996. Explorit is located at 3141 5th Street in East Davis. Public hours are Saturday from 11 am to 4:30 pm, Sunday from 1 to 4:30 pm, and Tuesday through Friday 2 to 4:30 pm.
Admission is $3. Explorit members, teachers, and children under 4 are always admitted free.
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It's not too late to enter Explorit's "Membership Drive and Drawing." Memberships bought during the drive are automatically entered into the December 16th drawing. This year's grand prize is $1000 credit towards two airline tickets on United Airlines to any place in the U.S. through Davisville Travel and will make some lucky traveler happy. Other prizes include special get-away weekends, fine wine, and dinner for four at Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hubsch.
Have someone on your holiday list for whom it is hard to find something? Explorit Family Memberships make great holiday gifts. Membership includes free admission to Explorit, a free subscription to Explorit's quarterly newsletter "Science Centered," and discounts on Explorit classes and in the Explorit store.
An Explorit membership gift even makes sense for friends and family who live outside this area.; Explorit members get free admission to more than 180 science museums and centers across the U.S. and in nine foreign countries due to the Reciprocal Free Admission Program in which Explorit participates.
For more information on Explorit memberships, call Explorit at 756-0191. You need not be present at the drawing to win.
Children in kindergarten through grade six attending Explorit's Winter Vacation Classes, held December 18-29, are in for a treat. Many of the classes are filling up, but fourth through sixth graders have a number of classes to still choose from. Monday, December 18th, from 11 to 12:30 pm, they can discover what makes the notorious tule fog appear by creating their own weather conditions indoors in the class "In A Fog: Valley Weather." Participants in "Festive Geometry" held on Thursday, December 28, from 11 to 12:30 pm get to explore both their scientific and artistic sides by creating take-home geometric creations. Animals may not have the heavy jackets and cozy thermals that we do, but they still manage to stay warm in cold weather. Discover the animal secrets of "Keeping Warm" on Friday, December 29, from 11 to 12:30 pm.
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"Make Your Own Astrolabe" at the Astronomy Club's Saturday, December 9th meeting at 7:30 pm at Explorit and learn how to navigate with the stars. The astrolabe is the forerunner of the modern navigational sextant and measures angles between the horizon and objects in the sky. Host Dennis Smith will teach you how to construct your own astrolabe from paper, a plastic soda straw, string, and a nail. Weather permitting, you can put your new navigational instrument to test and see if you can determine our latitude correctly.
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Explorit staff members, Evelyn Buddenhagen and Susan Taylor, are in San Francisco today attending the Science Linkages in the Community Institute, a seminar sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A special talk on the importance of informal science education for childhood development will be given and many new hands-on science and mathematics activities for preschool and kindergarten children will be demonstrated.
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Have you been "surfing the Web" recently? While you are out there having fun, don't forget to check out Explorit's informative World Wide Web home page. To reach the page directly, set your browser to : http://www.explorit.org/ and review information on the Astronomy Club, the Winter Vacation Classes, and the Cutting Edge of Science Lecture.