New Science Series Encourages Parental Involvement at Museum of Discovery
By Katie McManners, Marketing Director of MOD - 3/2/2010
Little Rock Family Staff

The Museum of Discovery (MOD) introduces a new event series designed to strengthen parental involvement and family-school-community partnerships: Museum of Discovery Family Science Nights.

At a MOD Family Science Night, all the students from a designated school are invited to bring their entire families to visit the museum. Students can bring parents and siblings, and teachers are invited as well. The school can provide buses from the campus or let the families transport themselves.

Modeled after a very successful program at The Donald Harrington Science Center in Amarillo, Texas, MOD Family Science Nights are designed to accomplish the following goals:

1. To encourage families to learn together

2. To make learning fun with innovative, interactive exhibits

3. To make science, technology and math accessible and comprehensible

4. To increase the collaboration and the dialogue among parents, teachers and schools

"In Amarillo the response to this program has been huge," said Nan Selz, executive director. "The Amarillo Independent School District pays for the program using funds from the Recovery Act. The Museum of Discovery has a long history of working successfully with schools in central Arkansas, and we hope school leadership will recognize the benefit of this unique program."

After the museum closes to the public, families have the museum to themselves from 6-8 p.m. In addition to 25,000 square feet of hands-on interactive exhibits, visitors can view science demonstrations on a variety of topics. The demonstrations range from dissecting a pig's heart to demonstrating states of matter, and they are repeated several times during the evening. Programs on electricity using the Van de Graff and the Tesla Coil are held in the museum's theater and some of the museum's 51 species of live animals are brought to the floor where visitors can hold or pet them and learn more about their habits and habitats.

"Almost every educator can tell you the importance of parental involvement in children's education in relation to academic achievement and social adjustment," Selz said. "Family Science Nights at the Museum of Discovery are in keeping with our mission to ignite a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment."

For more information contact Beth Nelsen, Family Science Night reservationist, at 396-7061.