Archive: Arts & Entertainment

During the Sciencenter’s 6th annual community event,  Spooky Science, visitors will meet live leeches and other creepy creatures, learn about the inner workings of a pig heart, and watch a Jack-o’-Lantern carve itself during the grand finale.

On Friday, October 24, from 6 to 8 p.m., everyone is invited to visit the museum in costume and experience science that is both thrilling and playful. Spooky Science is made possible with the generous support of Kionix, Inc. and is free and open to the public.

A full line-up of special presentations, demonstrations and activities await visitors who dare to venture inside the tricked-out museum for the Halloween celebration. During this fun family event, Sciencenter educator John Alvarez del Castillo will introduce visitors to leeches, cockroaches, a tarantula, a giant slug, and other live, creepy creatures of the night (and day), while the Ithaca College Chemistry Club will share weird tricks and treats of chemistry. The creepy creatures presentation and chemistry demonstrations will take place at 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30 p.m.

The museum galleries will be transformed to include spooky, gooey twists on favorite exhibits, including “creepy crawlies” to elicit louder screams in the Scream Chamber, red colored water in “Water Gates” to resemble blood, and unexpectedly squishy, slimy things in the “Mystery Touch Box” to thrill those brave enough to use only their sense of touch. A “graveyard” featuring “tombstones” of famous scientists will be set up in one of the exhibit galleries.


In demonstrations that are guaranteed to raise the hair on the back of your neck, visitors can watch a static electricity demonstration as they learn how a Van de Graaff generator works. Throughout the evening, visitors will try their hand at chemistry by making golden paper “bleed” red, and take a sneak a peek into the spooky scientist’s chemistry laboratory.

While playing “Pin the Tail Bone on the Donkey,” kids can explore a veterinary anatomy diagram and learn about equine biology.  In another interactive life science activity, Sciencenter co-founders Debbie Levin and Ilma Levine will guide families through a “Heart Dissection” to demonstrate the inner workings of a pig heart. The pig heart exploration sessions will be ongoing throughout the evening.

Children will also have an opportunity to make creepy crafts, including piecing together a shaking skeleton puppet and creating “Floating Bat Kites,” “Bat Mobiles,” and “Jack-o’-Lantern Moon Catchers.”  At the Reinvention Station, children can create a monster by combining natural materials like seed pods and pine cones with reused materials.

For the grand finale at 8 p.m., visitors will watch as BJ Siasoco, the Sciencenter’s museum services coordinator, transforms a large pumpkin into a Jack-o’-Lantern by using a controlled explosion.

Additional parking will be available at P&C Foods, located one block from the Sciencenter.

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