canada science & tech museum

when it's raining and you have an out-of-towner for the weekend, it's definitely a struggle. last weekend, i was just in that situation and my solution was a museum outing to the canada science & technology museum.  

is it just me or does ottawa has a ton of museums? there seems to be one on every topic! but given who i was running with that day, science & tech was certainly the way to go. chris & i met up with my sister and her boyfriend, phil. let's a paint a picture, shall we? i was the least nerdiest person there. the least. so sad. 

growing up in ottawa, i had visited the science & tech museum quite a few times and even spent a week or two there at a summer camp. a few key exhibits stand out clearly in my mind from those days: the crazy kitchen, the eggs & chicks and the trains. 

after paying the $9 student entry fee ($11 for adults, $6 for children + free parking), our first stop was the crazy kitchen. 

i literally ran there (of course it was clear across the museum). for those of you who haven't been, it's a room where the floor is crooked and all the appliances and furniture are straight. long story short, it results in spatial distortion that makes you dizzy. it's a cool concept but considering how much i had hyped it up, it probably felt short of expectations. i remember as a child falling over and flinging from the rails... last weekend, i don't think any of us was the least bit dizzy. 

afterwards, we made our way through the different exhibits that make up the majority of the museum. there was lots and lots of information; it was hard to absorb. my favourite was energy: power to choose. we also took a peek at connexions: the plugged in world of communications. 

 this display entertained me immensely. i can just see it now: "look, honey, your mommy used to have one of those to listen and it would only hold 1,000 songs." 

the best part of this exhibit was a life size digital network; like a way nerdy version of a jungle gym. the slides were super dark: like pitch black. i was freakin terrified. but all the small children were just throwing themselves in the dark hole without a fear. so finally i launched myself down the slide and basically stuck out my hands and feet so i would slide as slowly as possible. big wuss. 

in the canadian science and engineering hall of fame, chris immediately noticed the picture of his prof, arthur mcdonald, on the wall. badass. 10 points for queen's. 

next, we set out for what was described by chris as "really effing cool": the trains. 

 growing up i knew that my great-grandfather had driven the same model of train as the one outside the museum so it always held a special place in my heart. as for the ones inside, there are two you can walk through to see the engine and the passenger cars. of course, there are explanations outside the trains on how they work which we chris read thoroughly. 

our final stop was the sex exhibit.why did we not go there first? no clue. this is a travelling exhibit that went to montreal and regina before coming to ottawa where it was met with a ton of controversy. 

honestly, i didn't see what was such a big deal. yes, it was somewhat graphic (there are nude pictures of children, teenagers and adults... definitely nowhere near the porn that some media seemed to think it was) and the content is mature (we are talking about sex) but the language of the displays was somewhat juvenile. though it was informative and thorough, it was certainly geared to a younger audience (probably best for 13 - 17 year old) AND it was sectioned off from the rest of the museum. there was an employee there to explain to you the content of the exhibit before your entered. personally, i can't say any of the information was novel. it's hard for me to understand what so many people in ottawa are outraged about. 

bottom line

this was a great outing for a rainy day and worth the $9 we spent. if anything, i wish i had more energy to check out the exhibit on innovation. on the flip side, some of the interactive displays (touch screens, games) were broken. some of the displays were very juvenile, which is to be expected when the topics are quite complicated. it was great to be back, but i think i've had my fix on science & tech for at least a few years.