Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum facts for kids
Ann Street Entrance
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| Established | 1978 |
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| Location | 220 E. Ann Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan |
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Ann Arbor Central Fire Station
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Seen from 5th Avenue
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| Location | Corner of 5th Avenue and Huron Street |
| Built | 1882 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000658 |
| Added to NRHP | January 13, 1972 |
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a super fun place! It's full of interactive exhibits. Their goal is to help kids and adults find their inner scientist. They do this by letting you experiment, explore, and learn about science.
Contents
Discover the Museum's History
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum started in 1978. It began as a traveling collection of exhibits. Local experts and volunteers built these exhibits. The city of Ann Arbor approved the idea.
In 1982, the museum opened in its permanent home. This was an old brick firehouse in the city. It had 25 exhibits on two floors. There was one staff person and ten volunteers.
During its first year, 25,000 people visited. Kids and adults loved it! This made the museum want to grow even faster. Four years later, they opened the third and fourth floors. A special grant from the Kresge Foundation helped them do this.
In 1993, the museum bought nearby buildings. This led to bigger facilities and new programs. These new areas opened in October 1999. The National Science Foundation gave them five grants. These grants helped create new exhibits. "How Things Work" and "Solve-It Central" were two of them. These exhibits traveled to many science museums in the U.S. and Canada.
Today, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum has over 250 interactive exhibits. You can learn about physics, geology, math, music, and technology. More than 200,000 people visit each year. It's a big attraction for the whole region. Over 60% of visitors come from outside Ann Arbor. The Detroit Free Press called it the "Best Museum" in 2003. It has also received national awards for its great work.
Explore Outreach Programs
The museum's Outreach Program began in 2000. It lets kids explore science outside the museum. Programs happen in classrooms, libraries, and youth centers. They cover many science topics. These include biology, ecology, physics, chemistry, and math. All programs match Michigan's learning goals. They also include activities to do before and after the visit.
Types of Fun Science Programs
- Single Visit Workshops are for Pre-K to 8th grade classrooms.
- Series Workshops last 3 to 12 weeks. These are for classes wanting to learn more deeply.
- Family Fun Science Nights offer interactive science and math activities. They encourage parents to learn with their kids.
- Virtual Distance Learning Program uses video calls. Students can join interactive programs from afar. It includes materials and a guide for teachers.
- Energy on the Road is the newest program. It teaches students about renewable energy. The DTE Energy Foundation sponsors it.
Museum News and Awards
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum has won many awards. They also get grants and good publicity. This is for their new ideas and fun learning experiences. They even received a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA).
The museum's influence goes beyond its visitors. In 2013, they teamed up with local hospitals. These were C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital. They helped fund the "Healing Through Hands-On Science" program. This program brings science and health activities to the museum and hospitals. It makes hospital stays more interesting. It also gives fun activities for siblings of patients. This helps them not miss out on learning.
The museum also worked with the University of Michigan's Mechanical Engineering department. They won an award at the Maker Faire in 2010. This was for their amazing exhibits. Students and teachers showed an inverted pendulum. This is like the balancing system in a Segway. It showed how important balance and controls are. You can now find this exhibit at the museum. It has a vertical pendulum driven by a motor. Sensors help keep it standing upside down.
The museum also has the Ferrofluid Magnetoscope. This cool exhibit is known worldwide. Ann Arbor inventor Michael Flynn created it. You can control a levitating liquid. It's one of over 250 exhibits to explore!
The museum building used to be the Ann Arbor Central Fire Station. It was built in 1882. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Explore Museum Exhibits
Permanent Exhibits
- Concourse
This is the main lobby. Visitors can try many fun activities here. You can use whisper dishes to hear sounds from far away. See the tornado exhibit, or build with "Building in a Building." Check out the Liquid Galaxy and The Inverted Pendulum. Don't forget the water table!
- All About You
This exhibit explores the amazing human body. You can climb inside a real ambulance. Listen to your own heartbeat. You can also measure your Physical fitness.
- Preschool Gallery
This area is just for kids aged four and younger. They can splash in water tables. They can dress up like fire fighters. They can also play on a child-sized fire engine.
- Legacy Gallery
This gallery shows how simple machines work. It explains how complex systems are put together. You can learn how traffic lights work. See the magnetism behind Teslas Egg of Columbus.
- Michigan Nature Discover Room
This exhibit gives you a true Michigan experience. It has nature sounds and an interactive nature wall. See native lake fish and geology samples. Many groups helped fund this exhibit. Murals were painted by Robert Zuboff and students from the University of Michigan.
- World Around You
This gallery is made to spark your imagination. It features The Bubble Capsule. You can also find cool magnet exhibits. And don't miss the climbing wall!
- Lyon's Country Store Exhibit
This exhibit looks like a country store from the 1930s. It's one of the few places where you can touch real old items. These items were once found in stores almost a century ago. See how an old cash register worked. Listen to old music on a Victrola-like speaker. Play a game of checkers on an old checkerboard set on a barrel. See old toys and games that kids played long ago. The store honors Bob Lyons. He loved collecting old things and helped start the museum in 1982.
- DTE Energy Foundation Light and Optics
Learn about light and optics here. Play the stringless Laser harp. Break white light into all its colors. Catch your shadow on the wall! See how light bends (refraction) and changes images. Observe how objects look different under various lights. Learn how [Photon polarization|polarizing] light changes its brightness and color.
- Media Works
This exhibit helps you discover the science behind television and telecommunications.
Exciting New Exhibits
- Blast Off
Fill a rocket with pressurized air. Then launch it high into the air! You can test how much pressure it takes for a rocket to reach the ceiling. Each rocket locks in place and fills with different amounts of air.
- Recollections
Dance to music, and a camera senses your movements. It turns them into colorful images on a screen!
- Block Party II
The Block Party is a creative building area. It's for young architects and engineers. You can build tall towers and structures. Use the foam blocks provided.
- Magnetoscope
This exhibit lets you control magnetic fields. You can create amazing patterns in ferrofluid. Turn the cranks to move the magnets up and down. Watch the fluid change shape as the magnetic field changes.
Images for kids
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Ann Street Entrance
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Seen from 5th Avenue
