By Sara Thompson
Special to the Enterprise
Explorit Staff and Board of Directors are very excited to welcome guests back to Explorit! Our capacity is limited, so please visit our website at https://www.explorit.org/events to reserve a timed entry for your family. Admission and checking Member status will still be done at Explorit, online reservation is simply for guaranteed entry.
Our new exhibit is Healthy Planet, Healthy You. We are connected to the world around us. When our planet is healthy, it helps keep us healthy. Guests will explore the ways the choices we make affect the world where we live. Activities include descriptions and interpreting the Air Quality Index, as well as view healthy and diseased lung samples under microscopes. Young engineers can build windmills with different types of materials to see if any are more efficient than others. Guests will observe different types of water and soil samples and learn what different tests can tell us about the health of an area. Building food webs and seeing how the elimination of a single organism can affect an entire ecosystem. And more!
With the help of our local Master Gardeners, Explorit has updated our back-pollinator garden for guests to explore. Several new Native plants have been planted alongside those already in place, to increase the health of our Native pollinators. Painted murals of our local pollinators are lining a picnic area in our garden for guests to take a snack break. Even though a lot of work has already been done, more is still needed. Flags in the garden mark where more plants are needed either by donation or sponsorships.
Guests can also visit our Animal Alcove and see your resident animals. All our animals continue to thrive in their enclosures with new substrates, food and water dishes, and enrichment items. We still have three varieties of cockroaches, including orange spotted, Madagascar hissing, and giant cave cockroaches. Our Chilean rose haired tarantula will also be displayed for our guests to observe. We also have our two California kingsnakes, Lizzie and Felix, on display with new, larger water dishes for them to curl up and submerge in. Lastly, our blue-tongued skink, Tiger, is also available for our guests to view. Our smallest visitors will have fun exploring our new Discovery Den, designed for those five-years-old and younger. The Discovery Den includes a variety of tactile toys and books related to science and nature to help develop those budding brains.
Visit us during our public hours: Fridays 1-4pm, Saturday and Sundays from 10am-2pm. Admission includes explorations through our new Healthy Planet, Healthy You exhibit, viewing the progress of our pollinator garden, visiting our live critters in our Animal Alcove, and a make and take craft in our West Wing classroom. Watch our website and social media channels for the most up to date information on our re-opening schedule and other open times. To reserve a timed entry time for the month of October please visit https://www.explorit.org/events.
Explorit's coming events:
• Like many small businesses the closures have had a significant impact on our income and sustainability. Now is a great time to donate and help Explorit continue to educate and inspire the scientists of tomorrow: https://www.explorit.org/donate.
• Continue to support Explorit during this uncertain time by becoming a member. An Exploit Membership not only support us but grants the recipient with free visits to Explorit’s regular public hours, discounts on events, summer and after-school camps, and workshops, and gives you ASTC benefits to visit other museums throughout the world. For more information visit https://www.explorit.org/membership or call Explorit at 530-756-0191.
Comments