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Summer Games
Back By Popular Demand
by M.A. Jackson
The Olympic-style March Games at UPMC Sports Works were
so popular that visitors and competitors alike demanded a replay. UPMC
Sports Works staff is more than happy to oblige.
So on Friday, July 12 and 19, from 6 to 10 p.m., UPMC
Sports Works will hold "Summer Games." Here's your chance to compete against
other visitors to see who's the best of the best at running, climbing,
pitching, and a whole lot more. Vendors, experts, and special guests will
be on hand to make the day even more exciting.
UPMC Sports Works, a $5 million exhibit in the blue
building across the street from the Carnegie Science Center, opened last
year to rave reviews. The 40,000-square-foot exhibit features more than 40
exhibits and 70-plus interactive experiences--including a special area for
kids age three to seven. You can hang glide over the Grand Canyon, teeter
along a balance beam, try virtual bobsledding and mountain biking, design a
roller coaster, rock climb, ride a unicycle 15 feet in the air,have a
virtual "race" against Olympic track star Jackie Joyner Kersee,
and test your arm in the major-league pitching cage. Just about every sport
imaginable is represented. And let's not forget the sports memorabilia
exhibits and concession stand.
With
all those sports, an Olympic-type competition seemed natural --and ended up
enhancing the whole exhibit.
"It was mostly kids who played the games while the
parents watched," says Leslie Vincen, Science Center manager of
marketing and communications. "The March Games gave people a focus
they wouldn't normally have. Instead of just wandering from exhibit to
exhibit, they were on a mission to get points and win a prize."
Prizes?
Yep, UPMC Sports Works Olympians can win valuable prizes. While Vincen
refused to elaborate, she did say mysteriously, "They're
valuable." Hmm…perhaps something round and shiny in bronze, silver and
gold?
Twins Day
Double takes and double vision will occur all over the
Carnegie Science Center on Twins Day, Sunday, July 7 (double 7, get it?).
Event organizers hope to lure 500 sets of twins and triplets to the science
center for a day of look-a-like and not-so-alike contests. Visitors to the
science center will act as judges, comparing pictures (submitted in advance
to B94 radio) and real life twins/triplets in the categories of Best and
Least Resemblance. A talent show will begin at 3 p.m., and, once again,
visitors will serve as the judges. Twins and triplets will compete in three
categories--age 3 to 6; age 7 to 16; and age 16 and older. We can only hope
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen won't attend: after all, who can compete against
THAT kind of talent?
Prizes
will also be given for the youngest and oldest twins/triplets in attendance
as well as those who traveled the furthest to participate. B94
Radio DJ Bubba will broadcast from the science center
from 2 to 4 p.m. The event is
sponsored by Shop 'n Save, Borders Books & Music, and Kings Family
Restaurants.
What Do You Want to Be…
Ask a bunch of kids what they want to be when they grow
up and you're bound to get a variety of interesting responses. Exactly how
do you choose what to be when there are so many cool career paths to
travel?
On
Saturday, August 10, the "What You Want to Be When You Grow Up"
Day at the Carnegie Science Center can help confused young people narrow it
down a bit. The day, aimed at children age 2 to 10, includes appearances by
real-life police officers, firefighters, veterinarians, dentists, and a
host of other professions. Children can ask questions and learn a little
about the myriad possibilities that await them. Those who think they
already know what they want to be are encouraged to come in costume.
The
event is part of the science center's Busytown
exhibit, a 5,000-square-foot display based on Richard Scarry's popular
children's books--and filled with his most beloved characters, including
Lowly Worm and Bananas Gorilla. Scarry was known for exploring and
explaining what people do--from teachers to pilots, and Busytown expands on Scarry's books
with a grocery store, factory, shipyard, power plant, and construction
modules for children to explore, play with, and learn from.
The hands-on, open-ended environment of Busytown helps children understand
the world around them. Scattered throughout the exhibit are guides offering
strategies that parents can use to encourage learning--both at the exhibit
and at home. Busytown runs
through Sept. 8.
Busytown is
sponsored by Shop 'N Save and Busytown…[There may be a third sponsor
secured. We will know by 4/29].
Summer’s Shooting Stars
By John Radzilowicz
It’s time for the
annual summer arrival of the Perseid Meteor Shower! These “shooting stars
of August” generally put on the best performance of the year among meteor
showers.
Meteors, or
“shooting stars,” are swift flashes of light that can dash across the sky
on any night of the year. These flashes are not caused by stars, but by
tiny sand grain sized pieces of rock that collide with Earth’s atmosphere.
These pieces of space dust are moving at tens of thousands of miles per
hour as they plunge into the air. At these speeds, they are quickly
vaporized, creating a beautiful flash of light.
Occasionally, Earth
encounters large amounts of this space debris, usually left behind by
passing comets. At such times, the number of meteors seen can increase
dramatically. We call these events meteor showers. Each August we plunge
through the trail of material left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, and
meteors seem to pour from the area of the sky that contains the
constellation Perseus. The Perseid
Meteor Shower has been known to deliver more than a meteor a minute under
clear and dark skies.
Viewing the Perseids
is simple. No special equipment is needed. You’ll want to be able to see as
much of the sky as you can, so open spaces and dark hilltops would be good
locations for viewing. The meteors will seem to come from the northeastern
sky where Perseus is located, but the meteors spread out over the sky and
you may see them in any area.
Best viewing times
are between midnight and dawn on the nights of August 11th and
12th. Those times will let you see the peak of the shower, but it is also
possible to see some of the meteors at earlier times of night and for
nearly a week before and after the peak.
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