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From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. |
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It was not just another day in a classroom recently for some young people in Washington D.C. |
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Student volunteers visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to test a new program. |
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Some students explored the mysteries of human bones, other students examed an insect under a microscope. |
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The student volunteers were among the first to help test a new exhibit at the museum. |
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The program has an unual name, spoken as Q-rius and written as Q, -, R, I ,U, S. |
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The exhibits are designed so young people can learn about science by taking part in experiments. |
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Program combines the newest technologies and scientific equipment with more than 6,000 museum objects, both real and digital. |
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Students from local schools helped develop the exhibit. |
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Teachers will bring their science students to the exhibit in the mornings. |
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In the afternoons, the exhibits will be open to everyone. |
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Many of the students already have their favorite activities at the center. |
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Nate Reistetter, who is 13 years old, said he liked exploring the specimen drawers. |
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"There was a cast of a dinosaur bone and you can scan the QR code |
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on the computers and it will tell you all about where it was found and all sorts of stuff about it," he said. |
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Addie Alexander is 12 years old, she likes the bee display. |
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Addie said the bumble bee and the yellow bumble bee |
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when they're not under the microscope look pretty much the same except one's bigger than the other. |
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But she said when she looked at the two insects under the microscope, they were very different. |
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Student Ben Werb said he likes the learning center's openness, |
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and he enjoyed in an exhibit that lets people use their senses to learn more about objects. |
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For example, he said a butterfly smells a little like tea. |
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Involving the senses -- |
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smelling, touching, hearing -- |
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is one of the exhibit's major goals. |
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At one display, students recreated the sounds of insects called crickets, |
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and they handled human bones in a laboratory. |
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The scientific investigation of human remains is called forensic anthropology. |
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It is often used to identify a person who has died and to learn the cause of death. |
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Olivia Persons, who is 18 years old, is one of seven teens who helped develop the space, |
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She said the laboratory was her favorite display area. |
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"There is a lot of digital stuff, there is a lot of computer screens and touch screens, |
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but in here they are actually able to touch real human bones." |
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Q-rius can also be found online, this means visitors can continue their experiments after they leave the museum. |
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And that's the Education Report From VOA Learning English. |
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I'm Jerilyn Watson. |
