JACKSON – Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ (MDWFP) Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is excited to present a new award-winning STEM exhibit, “The Robot Zoo,” currently open through April 26. Visitors can explore the biomechanics of complex, larger-than-life animal robots to discover how real animals work. In the robot animals, muscles become pistons, intestines become filtering pipes, and brains become computers.
“A robot chameleon, platypus, and house fly, as well as seven hands-on activities, illustrate fascinating real-life characteristics, such as how a chameleon changes colors and a fly walks on the ceiling,” says museum director Charles Knight.
Sensory activities include “Swat the Fly,” a test of the visitor’s reaction time (1/12th as fast as a house fly’s), and “Sticky Feet,” where visitors using special hand pads can try to stick like flies to a sloped surface. Triggering the “Tongue Gun” demonstrates how a real chameleon shoots out its long, sticky-tipped tongue to reel in a meal.
Based on the children’s book “The Robot Zoo,” the exhibit was created by Evergreen Exhibitions, one of the world’s premier providers of traveling museum exhibits and the co-founder of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Award for Innovation.
The exhibit is sponsored locally by MDWFP, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Foundation, Field Co-Operative Association, Sanderson Farms, Walker Foundation, Ergon, Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, Trustmark, and other generous sponsors.
For more information, call (601) 576-6000 or visit www.mdwfp.com/museum. The museum is located at 2148 Riverside Drive in Jackson. Follow us at:www.facebook.com/msnaturalscience, www.instagram.com/MSScienceMuseum, andwww.twitter.com/MSScienceMuseum.