The Life Science Centre offers the perfect half term holiday visit, a family friendly mix of permanent and temporary exhibits with a varied rolling programme of presentations within the Planetarium and Science Theatre, as well as a motion ride and under 7's play area.
A brand new 'make it' interactive 'zone' ….and along with it, a brand new Maker* in Residence, Helen Schell, herald the new Spring phase of Life…
With the 'Wallace & Gromit Present…A World of Cracking Ideas' exhibition well on its way to pastures new, the new 'make it' interactive 'zone', along with temporary exhibitions: Ancient Wisdom and Classics make up a brand new area to be unveiled in time for the regions half term (11-19th February) and an expected 10,000 visitors.
Helen Schell is a visual artist and educator based within the NewBridge Project in Newcastle. Following an arts education encompassing Sculpture, Theatre Design and Glass making, she is known for throne making (recent works include Space-Time and Time-Travel Thrones) architectural glass techniques and community planted art projects and has exhibited in Durham, Winchester and Gloucester Cathedrals, locally here at The Centre for Life and Discovery Museum, and has had international residencies and exhibitions in the USA, Canada, Cuba, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and Japan.
Her new 'make it' zone will house up to 10 stations dedicated to construction, modelling, printing and design experiments with Helen in residence to inspire and show how it's done….and there's at least 10 kg of Lego to keep everyone busy!…
The accompanying Ancient Wisdom exhibit gives visitors the opportunity of shooting down a castle wall with a Roman catapult, building an aqueduct to guide water to a village, using the Greek way of using the Sun to burn the enemy's ships and lift water with an Archimedes Screw….and Classics is a collection of Life's favourite exhibits like Sound Mirrors, Magnet Tables, and Giant Lenses.
A special 'Make It Big' workshop is available from the Monday to Friday of half term (13th-17th Feb)…with microscopy as the theme; the workshops run throughout the day and are free upon purchase of entrance tickets; visitors are simply asked to sign up at the reception desk.
As ever the Planetarium offers a rolling programme of astronomical presentations suitable for a family audience. The new Shared Skies tells the story of how different cultures in as many countries have interpreted the stars and planets to create their own stories and legends; Naughty Monsters in the Sky is also a recent addition to the programme and is particularly suitable for under 7's with its simplistic explanations of rainbows, raindrops and the night sky…and We are Astronomers explains the history of astronomy from the first attempts to create telescopes to today's developments of the huge space telescopes which enable us to see into the far reaches of the galaxy. The popular motion ride features Deep Sea, a plunge to the ocean depths to search for whales, giant squid and other creatures of the deep.
The Science Theatre's All in the Mind presentation, run throughout the day, explores brain patterns, illusions and tricks of the mind and explores how we can fool ourselves and others into seeing things not as they really are!
Half term also sees the end of Skating@Life with the very last opportunity to skate at 5pm (weather dependent) on Sunday 19th February. The unique 'combo' ticket, allowing a visit to the Centre as well as an opportunity to skate, is the most popular purchase during holiday periods and visitors are encouraged to check the website for the latest information, prices and special offers. www.life.org.uk
Ends
Notes to editors:
* The 'Maker' moniker follows on from the highly successful Maker Faire element of previous year's Newcastle Science-Fest activities and is a recognized international (initially the USA) name for 'geeky' related science craft projects. Previous incarnations of Maker activity profiled at Life have included Arc Attack's Tesla Coil experiments, Paka's dragon and horse automatons, Robo Challenge's power tool racing and Popular Mechanic's Rubik cube puzzle solving robot - Think Mad Max/Steam Punk and a pinch of pure genius.
Helen Schell is available for interview
At the forthcoming 2012 ScienceFest (8-15th March) Helen will be presenting a special Make-It programme of activities featuring Guest-Makers to complement the festival programme and act as a central core exhibit within the Centre.
For further press information please contact: Vicky Pepys/Nicola McIntosh Centre for Life Tel: 0191 243 8209 Vicky.pepys@life.org.uk /nicola.mcintosh@life.org.uk
Information is updated regularly on the website www.life.org.uk
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