Friday, September 19, 2008

Museum of Nature & Science to unveil Your Incredible Body exhibit

By Pegasus News wire

A new gallery at the Museum of Nature & Science (MNS) in Fair Park reveals the science behind everyday – yet amazing – body functions when it opens Your Incredible Body Saturday.

The gallery focuses on how our bodies maintain temperature, digest food, fight off diseases and perform amazing physical and mental feats – all with little thought or attention from us. It teaches visitors in a fun, hands-on way how the body does this so that kids will have fun learning how and why we sneeze, sweat, digest food, think and move.

“While we call it homeostasis; kids will call it cool,” said Nicole Small, CEO of MNS. “A huge nose literally showers visitors with information about how we fight infections. Interactive games shows how smart food choices help diabetics keep their blood sugar balanced, how much their skin weighs and how germs enter the body. Another exhibit applies heat to the question of how our bodies maintain temperature and how temperature changes when we exert effort.”

Fun and funny props help hold younger visitors’ attention and make learning painless. From a big nose that occasionally sneezes on guests to models of the human body with all the parts highlighted, to computer games and tactile exhibits using chicken wire and hot plates, we learn fascinating facts about our bodies: like how much our skin weighs.

Opening weekend activities include free museum admission for educators (with their teacher IDs) and a sneak peek at a new IMAX® movie called Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France, which focuses on the mind-body connection experienced by top athletes.

Your Incredible Body, the museum’s newest permanent gallery, was created by the Museum of Nature & Science and is presented by the Harold Simmons Foundation and the Tenet Healthcare Foundation and sponsored by Medical City and the Dallas County Medical Society Alliance Foundation.

Source: Museum of Nature & Science

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