Summer 2013

Celebrate4TH OF JULYAT COSI

Avoid Summer BRAIN DRAIN!

New Exhibition!

YOUA MYTHBUSTER?

Are

opening june 8

This summer, go behind the scenes AND become a MythBuster in COSI’s limited engagement experience, MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition. COSI is one of the first venues to host this exciting exhibition featuring hands-on experiments sure to get your heart and your mind racing!

Avid fans and curious scientists of all ages will enjoy this exhibition. Not only can you explore props, gadgets, and blueprints direct from the MythBusters set, you actually BECOME the MythBuster in MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition. Put your scientific curiosity into action and uncover the truths behind these myths straight from the MythBusters show!

• Airplane on a Conveyor Belt: Can an airplane take off from a conveyor belt that is going at the same speed in the opposite direction?• Butter Side Up: Does a dropped piece of toast always land butter side down?• Big Bad Wolf: Is it possible to “blow” down a house made of straw, wood, or bricks?• Running in the Rain: Do you get wetter by walking or running through the rain? Visitors will literally have the chance to walk and run under a real rain curtain to find out!• And much more!

Don’t miss the heart-pounding live show performed by COSI Team Members testing a brave audience member’s reflexes when they dodge a paintball! Don’t worry—we provide the protective gear!

Members receive discounted admission to MythBusters:

The Explosive Exhibition. Visit cosi.org for more information

and to purchase tickets to the exhibit.

Saturday, June 8, 2013 (9am–Noon)Register by calling 614.228.2674 or visit cosi.orgMember pricing is $6.00 per person

Special MeMber preview

2 | COSI News

june 8 – SepTeMber 2, 2013

©2013 & TM Discovery Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition is organized by EDG, GMC+A, Discovery and MSI, Chicago. MythBusters Developed and Produced by Beyond Entertainment Limited.

Promotional Partner: Media Partners:Contributing Sponsor:

proceDure1. Stick the toothpicks into the marshmallow and construct some basic shapes. Can you make a cube? A pyramid?

2. Place a paper plate on top of your cube. How many weights can you add to the plate before the cube collapses? Record the number of weights.

3. Poke a hole in the center of a paper plate so that you can balance it on your pyramid shape. How many weights can you add to this shape before it collapses? Record the number of weights.

4. Construct additional shapes (or modify those you already tried by adding more toothpicks and marshmallows), and test them for how much weight they can hold.

5. As you test different shapes, sketch or describe the design, record how much weight each shape can hold, and explain why you think it either supported the weight or failed.

THinK abouT iT• Which shape is strongest? Why?• Is it better to have more or fewer sides to make a structure strong?• What types of structures need to be strong? Why?• What outside forces need to be considered when building a structure?• What types of structures are shaped similar to the ones that you built? Why?

wonDerCan you build a structure to withstand the elements? What’s the strongest shape?

reSearcHWhen designing a building or structure, architects and engineers consider many factors, including all of the outside forces—the pushes and pulls that the structure may encounter. Weather and other natural forces such as earthquakes can apply stress to structures. Certain shapes, such as rectangles, circles, squares and triangles are stronger than others, depending on how these forces attract them. A shape that equally distributes a force along all of its sides is especially stable.

TeST anD DiScoverMATERIALS:• Toothpicks• Mini Marshmallows• Paper plates• Pennies, washers or some other small items to use as weights. Note: to maintain consistency, all participants should use same weight.

leT’S Try iT ouT!

The MythBusters mix the scientific method, gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create their own signature style of explosive experimentation. Using simple instructions and easy-to-find materials, you too can discover at home!

reSulTSIn this experiment, gravity is the primary force acting on the structure you built. With real structures (and in the Big Bad Wolf exhibit in MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition), forces such as wind, weather, and even earthquakes can impact the stability of a structure. Triangles are the strongest shape because any added force is evenly spread through all three sides. Squares or cubes can be strengthened by adding a diagonal piece across the middle, making it two triangles linked together.

STable STrucTureS

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TaKe your pHoTo in THe

MyTHbuSTerS exHibiT

coSi FacebooK page!SHare iT on THe

anD

experiMenT: How To be a MyTHbuSTer

COSI Member Lawn SeatingLocated on COSI’s west lawn. Don’t forget to bring chairs or a blanket. $55 per adult, $35 per child age 12 and under. Children under age 2 are free.

Non-Member Lawn Seating$75 per adult, $50 per child age 12 and under.

Reserved Table SeatingIncludes the Fireworks with COSI package plus a reserved table seat, offering a wonderful view and convenient dining experience. Seats will be assigned based on the number of people in your party. Full tables of 8–10 are available upon request. Limited quantities available. $100 per person.

ReservationsOnline at cosi.org/boom, or call 614.228.2674. Limited tickets available. Tickets available for purchase before June 25 or until sold out. Rain or shine. Tickets are non-refundable.

Back for its fourth year, Fireworks with COSI offers a front row seat to the biggest and best Independence Day fireworks celebration in the Midwest. This exclusive event not only gives you a great seat and the ability to play at COSI, but all proceeds from the Fireworks with COSI event support COSI’s mission to inspire an interest in science through access to engaging, interactive learning experiences.

All tickets include:• Exclusive viewing section on COSI’s west lawn for an up close view of the fireworks. (Bring your own chairs or blanket.)• Convenient parking pass for lots next to COSI.• Vouchers for meal and refreshments in COSI’s Atomic Café and concession areas.• Easy access to all Red, White & Boom festivities and parade.• Access to most COSI exhibits. (Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition and Adventure excluded.)• Entertainment and COSI experiences before and after the fireworks.

C SIWednesday, July 3, 2013Doors open at 4pm

4 | COSI News

Ah, Summer! How long have your children been counting down the days until that much anticipated last day of school? The possibilities of summer seem endless when the school year comes to an end, but with that end comes a downside—most students experience a loss of academic skills and knowledge throughout the summer known as summer learning loss. Research shows that elementary and middle school students typically lose between one to three months of learning, depending on grade level, subject matter and socio-economic differences. Two areas of greatest concern are literacy and mathematical computation skills.

So, how do you prevent summer learning loss? Here are some informal learning suggestions to combat summer learning loss:

• Read to your children and have them read to you! Participate in local library reading programs. Use reading level information likely provided on your child’s grade card and ask a librarian for appropriate materials for your child; then let your child lead the process of choosing books. Encourage the use of a variety of types—fiction, non-fiction, magazines, etc.

• Look for fun educational experiences your child can participate in, like camps and classes at places like COSI, other museums, zoos, local recreation centers, and churches, available at a variety of price points.

There’s always time for learning...especially in the summer.

By Jen Cassidy, VP for Programs

FIREWORKS with

Plus: COSI is open on the Fourth of July so you can play on Independence Day! We will celebrate our annual Messy Science Day with our favorite messy science experiments. Don’t miss “squishy worms,” flubber, oobleck, or our explosive shows that test the properties of water!

COSI is excited to announce its first new permanent exhibition since 1999, and it opens this summer! It’s called…Energy Explorers! This brand new exhibition will help guests of all ages understand where energy comes from, how energy powers the world, and why the energy choices you make are choices that matter.

This new exhibition is consistent with our strategic area of focus of Energy and Environment. When we were charting our course to bring a new experience to COSI through many public forums, the topic of energy and environment came out on top as one of the themes our guests and community would like more information about. People felt it was important to make informed decisions about using energy and living a more sustainable life. COSI also came out as the natural choice in the community to inspire people to want to learn about making those informed decisions in a fun environment.

Energy Explorers includes 27 hands-on exhibits on energy, including:

• Energy Explorers—The Game: Choose your “Energy Explorer,” and make choices throughout the exhibit that challenge you to become an energy hero.

• Errand Race: Can you bike to the grocery store faster than someone driving? Can you walk or run faster than a person on a bike?

• Plan It Green: Plan and build your own virtual energy-efficient community of tomorrow. See cosi.org for a preview of the game.

• Energy Vampires: Find the energy vampires in your house and eliminate them.

• Switch It: There’s a blackout in the neighborhood. Can you redistribute power and get the lights turned back on?

Brand New Permanent Exhibition Opens This Summer at COSI!

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• Ask Questions! Even if you don’t know the answers, you can model an attitude of curiosity and lifelong learning while you enjoy discovering them together.

• Spend time together doing fun learning activities. > Choose a topic your child is interested in to focus on for the summer. > Cook together—measuring ingredients is a great math activity! > Plan and plant a garden—a container garden is great if you have a small space. > Plan a summer trip together—whether a vacation or a trip to the store—use maps, clocks and money. > And, no list would be complete if I didn’t say, come see us at COSI!

Above all, enjoy your summer. Explore with your children and encourage them to keep learning—you’ll have a fun summer and be ready to go back to school in the fall!

Member PreviewJuly 20, 2013 Watch member e-News for more info.

See the enclosed Programs Catalog for more information on Summer Camps at COSI!

Opens July 2o, 2o13

Visionary Sponsor:

2013 Summer Calendar

8: Titans of the Ice Age 3D opens on COSI’s Extreme Screen

15–23: The Science of Big Machines (Open Daily)Explore bulldozers, backhoes, and dump trucks at COSI! More than a dozen pieces of construction equipment will be available. It’s BIG fun for the whole family! Included with general admission or COSI Membership.

15: The Science of Big Machines Member Preview (8:30am–10am)See cosi.org/membership for details.

29: MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition Science Day (11am–3:30pm)

JUNE8: MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition opens and MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition Member Preview (9am–noon) See page 3 for details.

14–18: Farm Days (Keep checking your email for special member hours) Huge farming equipment—including a combine, a four-wheel drive tractor, antique tractors, and more—will be arranged on COSI’s West Plaza. Grab your boots and learn about

raising crops and livestock. Check out huge farming equipment, see a baby chick hatch, “milk” COSI’s fiberglass cow, and grow your own seed necklace. Included with general admission or COSI Membership.

AUGUST

6 | COSI News

SEPTEMBER2: MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition closes

3–20: COSI Closed for annual maintenance and cleaning

21: COSI reopens. Open Wednesday–Sunday.

21: Curious George: Let’s Get Curious opens and Curious George™ Meet & Greet

28: Get Active Play Day (10am–2:30pm)

Remember: The last Friday of each month is Family Friday Night from 5–9pm. Not only can you play late at COSI for FREE as part of your member benefits, but you can also catch the Family Friday Night film for $3.50!

20: Energy Explorers opens and Energy Explorers Member Preview

JUly3: COSI Closed for Fireworks with COSI event. See page 4 for details.

4: Messy Science Day (10am–3pm)

13: Spider-Man Meet & Greet (10am–3pm)

14: Spider-Man Members Only Meet & Greet (11:30am–4:30pm) Free timed tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis at the COSI Box Office. Limited quantity available. Please consider arriving early to secure a ticket to meet Spider-Man.

MARVEL, Spider-Man™ 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

2013 Summer Calendar

Materials Needed• liquid and dry measuring cups• 1 box cornstarch• water• aluminum pie pan• newspaper to cover area• large mixing spoon

Procedure 1. Cover your work area with newspaper.

2. Place the pie pan in the center of the table. Using the dry measuring cups, measure 1½ cups of cornstarch and place it in the pie pan.

3. Using the liquid measuring cup, measure ¾ cup of water and add this to the cornstarch.

4. Stir until the mixture is smooth (this will take some time).

5. Add more water or cornstarch until you get a mixture that “cracks” when you quickly scrape your finger through it and then “melts back together again.”

ExperienceNow, explore! Rub a very small amount of the COSI Quicksand between your fingers. How does it feel? Gently pull your fingers through the COSI Quicksand. What do you observe? Scoop up some of the COSI Quicksand. Can you roll it into a ball? Does the ball keep its shape? Can you stretch it? Will it ooze between your fingers? Place a metal paper clip or other small, flat object on the mixture. What happens? What happens if you punch your hand into the COSI Quicksand in the pan?

What Did We Learn? COSI Quicksand is a suspension (a liquid containing small solid particles that easily separate out of the mixture) of cornstarch in water. This substance has, under varying conditions, the properties of both a liquid and a solid. It is called a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that it sometimes doesn’t behave like a liquid should according to Newton’s Laws. Upon impact, most liquids splatter and splash. In a non-Newtonian liquid, the physical structure of the material changes, increasing the thickness of the solution, making it behave more like a solid. Why? Good question.

Scientists don’t know exactly why non-Newtonian liquids behave the way they do. There are many theories. One theory suggests that water can’t easily get between the cornstarch particles when there is a sudden pressure or movement. This makes it harder for the cornstarch particles to slip against each other, and so the COSI Quicksand behaves like a solid. There are other theories as well. Perhaps you will be the scientist who solves the puzzle of non-Newtonian liquids some day!

Summer Activity: COSI Quicksand

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Last fall we renovated little kidspace® and and refreshed Big KidLab for older siblings. This fall, during our annual closing for maintenance and cleaning, we’ll be renovating little kidspace with some changes we think you and your children will really enjoy. We are still working out design details for the renovation but we can tell you the theme will be “farm to table” and will include ways your child can explore this topic. Why all the change? Early Childhood Education is a strategic area of focus for COSI. We want to inspire a lifelong joy of learning in young children and families by providing opportunities to play, explore, and investigate while developing the skills necessary for school readiness. Look for these changes this fall, and in the meantime, we’ll hang drawings around little kidspace so you can see what we’ve got in store for your little ones! So exciting!

little kidspace®

just keeps getting better!

Effective this month—you will see an easier, more convenient experience with the parking lots surrounding COSI. COSI will be assuming responsibility for the parking lots adjacent to the building beginning May 1. Not only will this extend our high standard of customer service out into the parking lots, but it will also allow our members and guests to pay for parking inside at the box office while checking in, or by credit card using automated kiosks as they exit the parking lot. The most important thing to remember is to bring your parking voucher in for validation when you check in at the member desk to get the COSI member rate. The cost of parking helps us pay for the cost of maintaining the lots and also goes to supporting our mission. It also ensures there are enough spots available for our COSI guests in the downtown area where parking is at a premium. We have been working to keep the costs as low as possible to our members. COSI members get 50% off the downtown daily rate of parking in the lots and 20% off the COSI general admission rate.

Parking Rates: $4/COSI Member Rate

$5/COSI General Admission Rate

$8/Downtown Daily Rate

Parking Improvements

little kidspace Presenting Sponsor:

With your COSI Membership, you’re IN!If you’re hitting the road this summer, don’t forget to pack your COSI membership card. Why? Because it gets you free admission to more than 300 science centers worldwide! Plus, Premium & Supporting Family members can get 50% off at nearly 200 children’s museums. Check out cosi.org/membership/member-faqfor more details.

333 West Broad Street | Columbus, Ohio 43215–2738614.228.COSI | cosi.org

Return Service Requested

SUMMER HOURSOpen 7 days a week through Labor Day!Monday–Saturday, 10am–5pmSunday, Noon–6pm

Closed July 3, 2013

COSI NEWS | Volume 14, Issue Two, May 2013COSI News, the official newsletter of COSI, is published three times annually as a benefit of membership.

Non ProfitU.S. Postage

PAIDColumbus, OHPermit No. 687

Institutional Sponsors

O N C O S I ’ S E X T R E M E S C R E E N

Stay connected with COSI: Text “COSI” to 20731 for special offers on your phone.

Visit cosi.org to subscribe to COSI’s monthly enews.

This film transports viewers to the beautiful and otherworldly frozen landscapes of North America, Europe and Asia ten thousand years before modern civilization. Peer through the 3D canvas to an ancient world of ice, the dawn of our species, a time when man shared the tundra with majestic woolly beasts.

Opening June 8, 2013

C O S I M E M B E R S P E C I A L O F F E R

SAVE 10–15%

C O S I M E M B E R S P E C I A L O F F E R

SAVE $10WHEN YOU

RENEW YOUR COSI MEMBERSHIPbefore your expiration date

C O S I M E M B E R S P E C I A L O F F E R

SAVE AN ExtRA 20%ON INFANt WORKSHOPS

AS A FIRSt-tIME AttENdEE June–October 2013

WHEN YOU BOOK 2 OR MORE SUMMER CAMPS

C O S I M E M B E R S P E C I A L O F F E R

SAVE 35%ON tHE All-NEW, lIVE

StAgE SHOW MYTHBUSTERS: BEHIND THE MYTHS TOUR

StARRINg JAMIE HYNEMAN & AdAM SAVAgE

June 23, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio

Save an extra 10% off the member price for summer camps when you book 2 camps for your family during the summer 2013

Camp COSI season. Or, save 15% when you book 3 or more camps. Reserve early; camps subject to availability. Camps must be reserved by August 1, 2013 and must be booked during same

transaction to be eligible for discount.

Visit cosi.org/families/camp-cosi for summer camp details. Call 614.228.2674 for reservations.

10% off – Coupon code 360 OR 15% off – Coupon code 361

Renew before your expiration date and save $10.Renew at COSI, cosi.org, or by calling 614.228.2674.

Present or mention the Promotional Code to receive your discount.

Offer excludes Family Access and Supporting Family Memberships.Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.

Valid for membership renewals through August 31, 2013.

Promotional Code: NEWS$10

cosi.org

Save an extra 20% off the member price as a first-time attendee for one of COSI’s Infant Workshops. Special offer

valid for workshops scheduled for June through October 2013.

Visit cosi.org/families/family-workshops for details.Call 614.228.2674 for reservations.

Coupon code 378

cosi.org

Save 35% on tickets for MythBusters: Behind the Myths Tour. Special offer valid Sunday, June 23

for 3pm & 7pm performances.

Visit cosi.org/membership/events-discounts for details & promo code.

cosi.org

cosi.org