Class Reflection — Carnegie Science Center

While visiting the Carnegie Science Center there was a variety of exhibits that had a varying degree of inclusivity amongst genders. The way they were designed affected who interacted with them and how they interacted with them. Below are the observations of what I saw on my visit and my experience with the exhibits:

Water Table

• Workers/monitors were present
• Labels=handprints
• The worker helped the girls and parents helped the boy
• Encouraging words were used
• Dad is uninterested
• Mom was telling the kids to move on
• Familiar materials were used — wood and styrofoam
• simplistic designs were recognizable

Rocket Launch

• 3 women and 1 5year old girl
• Each played once
• The girl is excited to play with the exhibit — “Follow me”
• She was confident in what she was doing and wanted to show the adults
• Supportive from mother
• 2 kids — girl and boy
• Boy: “How do you do this” vs girl: learning on her own
• Use of drawings but lack of human factor
• Very playful exhibit, but lacks the homey feeling because it was very technical being space-themed
• All the kids started playing together because it was accessible from all sides and easy to watch.

Field Station

• Mostly boys
• Exhibit type, not interactive
• Felt very Earthy with no natural light, wood accents, “randomly” placed exhibits
• Boys explored alone when mom was explaining
• The daughter was not interested
• The girl was at a fake weather station pretending to be a reporter
• A weather station was homey and familiar
• One at a time, but everyone could watch
• Open-ended as the kids could do anything
• Boy was fascinated by bugs vs mom said “ugh I can’t”
• The girl was using the microscope with her dad

The exhibits that girls were most fascinated with were the rocket launcher and the water table due to their ability to participate and interest. On the other hand, the ones where they were least interested were the Field Station and the Robots. My choice of what I am going to change would be the Field Station and the Rocket Launch. The field station could take elements from the water table as it could be much more interactive and open-ended instead of an exhibit. This would allow it to be more attractive and be more attractive to those with different interests. The Rocket launch could improve on its design with familiarity and the human factor. Adding a video or explanation with a person could help the visitors understand the concept and feel more relatable.