My mom took me to the Science Museum of Minnesota today. Wow. I’d forgotten how much bigger this place has gotten since they moved into their new digs.
What’s most impressive, I think, is how crowded the place is. There were lines for a lot of things, and the place was just generally full. Every exhibit had kids playing at it, and there’s a lot of exhibits. This isn’t a school day or anything; just a lot of parents taking their kids out to the museum.
It’s sort of interesting looking at the demographics of this. Kids who are raised to think science is interesting are likely to pursue education with a little more interest, and in the long run, likely to be more successful. That makes it sort of worrisome, I think, that the demographics could be reasonably summarized as “a bunch of white folks, half a dozen Asians, and about four blacks”. I mean, I know Minnesota’s not one of the more homogenized areas, but… That seems a little off. I have no idea what the reasons are. I don’t think it’s institutionalized racism; I think some people just aren’t interested, and that means they’re raising their kids not to be interested either. Not good.
Science museums are really neat, and this one has an exceptionally broad selection of interesting hand-on exhibits. I recommend it, if you’re in the area.
Comments [archived]
From: jon1101
Date: 2004-01-18 22:42:38 -0600
That’s really great, even if the crowd could be a bit more diverse. I wish we had a nice science museum around where I live (south-western Indiana). I and my friends would have great fun, and the home-school community that I’m typically a part of would do well to be weaned off of Ken Ham.
A philosophy museum would be nice as well. I wonder where such a place exists. . . .
-jon
From: seebs_lawyer
Date: 2004-01-19 01:13:50 -0600
Quant Suff! Quant Suff!