I thoroughly enjoy going to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.
I have gone many times with friends, family and dates. Going by myself is OK. Going with someone interested in STEM (Science, Technology and Math) is enjoyable, but going with someone with lots of energy and not as much scientific knowledge is the best.
On a recent weekend my husband and I took two boys, family friends, ages 7 and 5. I found it baffling what they enjoyed. I mean racing the dinosaur makes sense, but what is it about the calories-in versus calories-out scale that made it so great? One would get the scale tipping to one direction and the other would step in to try to balance it. They quickly grasped that hamburger and fries weighed more than anything else and tried to use that whenever exercise seemed to be winning.
When I suggested that we look at X-rays and MRIs of a human they immediately rejected it as too disgusting. As a kid, I thought those kinds of things were awesome.
We raced against this guy 5 times! Along with famous athletes and a cheetah. (Perot Museuem)
It was interesting that they are still learning what is exists and what does not. After racing the Tylosaurus five times we went to see the Tylosaurus skeleton. Being an aquatic dinosaur it is displayed in an area designed to look like it and the visitor are under water. The display area Includes other skeletons of ancient aquatic animals like a Dallasaurus and a giant turtle. While the kids got the whole ancient bit, they did not appear to understand the aquatic aspect. They imagined that giant turtles could fly through the sky.
I love taking kids of any age to the Perot. They remind me just how amazing science is. I live with science day in and day out so I sometimes forget how wonderful it is. Sometimes I just need someone to stop and say, “That rock is so weird” or “Hamburgers and fries are more [calories] than playing baseball (60 minutes)”. This makes me appreciate the crazy and orderly world of science.
It’s great there is a place where energy used by muscles can be equated to energy supplied by food, and where sometimes a bunch of weird shells get clumped together into one strange looking rock. It’s a place where one also can learn that not everyone enjoys looking at people's insides because, hey, we’re all a little different.
My name is Caroline Storm Westenhover. I am a Senior Electrical Engineering student at the University of Texas at Arlington. I am the third of seven children. I enjoy collecting ideas and theories and most enjoy when they come together to present a bigger picture as a whole. Perhaps that is why I like physics and engineering. My biggest dream is to become an astronaut.