Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

My first day was on June 29. First, I was introduced to all the staff members and volunteers working in the Innovation Studios, five glass-walled studios called Inventor, Doodler, Designer, Imaginer and Explorer. The purpose of these rooms is that they are engaging learning spaces that support lifelong learning for families, educators and adults. In these five rooms, the kids can nurture their imagination, curiosity, and creativity and support STEM education.  

During my first and second day, one of my main tasks was to spend a good amount of time in each room and write down observations about the kids and adults. I wrote many observations and paid close attention to what specific stations in each room were used the most and least. Moreover, I had an opportunity to go on a short museum tour with a high school camp called Camp Fire. During this tour, the students were introduced to the Human Resources Department and behind the scenes of the Omni Imax Theatre. Human Resources educated the high school students on the topics of how to get a job at the museum, what questions an interviewer will ask, what attire to wear, background check and drug test. During the OMNI Imax tour, one of the employees talked about how to operate the film and machinery. Afterwards, my supervisor gave me the opportunity to promote the YAP Program to them. I highly encouraged them to apply and told them the purpose of Washington Week and the highlights of such an amazing opportunity. 

Then, on Friday, July 1st, I reported all of my observations to my supervisor. In addition, I was able to talk to her for an hour about the YAP Program and showed her the Prezi that we created and explained it to her. Furthermore, I was able to provide thought-provoking ideas about future exhibits while gaining new knowledge about the museum and how the adults make the decisions about what exhibits to be presented. My supervisor loved the Siempre Presente Idea and she was really amazed at our hard work. 

Overall these past few days, I arrive and turn on the machines, turn on the lights. Once visitors start coming into this section of the museum, I welcome them and explain what they can do in each room. I also tell  them the special demos and activities going on throughout the day. Another responsibility I have is to help the kids when they are building a tower made of blocks, cutting a Sky Spinner, drawing, making a hut out of dowel rods, or answering any other questions while always spending some time in each room to clean up each station. 

I have learned so much about how a museum functions and the history behind it as well as  how to use the demos and teach the kids. For example, at the museum, we are working on an activity called Plastic Fusion, where you can create wallets, bags, etc out of plastic bags. Additionally, the children today learned about electricity and how to make electricity run through Play-Doh, a conductor (Squishy Circuits). To sum up, I have been exposed to an age group I am not used to, I have learned how creative and cool the demos are and I have learned new aspects of science( electricity, SpinArt, AlkaSeltzer Rockets, 3D glasses).