By Emily Williams
The doors of McWane Science Center have been closed to visitors for more than six weeks. There have been no spring break visitors, field trips or families gathering to explore science through educational fun.
Last week, McWane celebrated its annual Volunteer Appreciation Week – not within the museum’s walls, but online.
Similarly, Earth Day was celebrated throughout the week with science experiments and learning opportunities available online and via the museum’s social media pages.
According to McWane Director of Marketing and Communications Katie Baasen, the museum itself is now run by few staff members who consistently check the building for security and operational purposes, as well as maintaining the aquariums.
While the center is closed, the staff continues to create content for kids in a virtual setting, with a mission to, “spark wonder and curiosity about our world through hands-on science experiences.”
In response to social distancing and stay-at-home measures, the museum created a new virtual learning series dubbed “Cabin Fever.”
The series offers a little bit of everything visitors would see at the museum, including experiments, museum installation demos, educational facts and more.
Last week, education specialist Kristin Goebel virtually presented an experiment inspired by American geochemist and geobiologist Hope Jahren’s study of fossil forests. The installment was a throwback to the museum’s February programming series highlighting women in history.
The activity is all about creating your own paleontological dig site at home, with the use of various everyday household items as well as objects you can find in your own backyard.
The Cabin Fever series can be accessed at mcwane.org/cabin-fever/ and includes links to McWane’s social media and YouTube pages.
Additionally, the page offers links to activities and resources so kids can continue to explore and create their own experiments. These include downloadable Stay at Home science and Itty Bitty Science activity instructions, links to museum-recommended YouTube content and links to other online educational resources.
The new offerings, as well as the museum’s continued future, Baasen said, are only possible with the continued support of the community.
More than 70% of the museum’s revenue is generated through its admissions, as well as IMAX movie tickets, store sales, camps, classes and more.
All of these sources of funds are dependent on museum attendance. Therefore, Baasen and her fellow museum staff members are asking the community to support the future of the museum through online donations.
“Now more than ever, we depend on the support of those who value McWane and want to help us continue to serve our community,” Baasen said. “We were opened 22 years ago by the citizens of Birmingham and we want to continue to serve those citizens.”
Outside of the museum walls, the scientific community is far from silent.
“Science people are the individuals on the front lines right now, working hard to keep us safe, finding a cure or vaccine for this virus and guiding the decisions to alleviate this crisis now and help us recover once the pandemic has passed,” Baasen said. “We want to help inspire science people and want to continue to do so.”
For more information, visit mcwane.org.
