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At Bristol: All About Us interactive exhibition
Bristol Harbourside’s family friendly science attraction, At-Bristol, has opened a new exhibition to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Called All About Us this groundbreaking £1.5 million permanent exhibition tells the story of the human body and the brain. It opened March 11th and The Spark was there to get a sneak preview.
Though all ages are catered for in this dynamic and interactive exhibition All About Us is primarily aimed at kids aged 7-13. The exhibition shows the importance and relevance of science to our everyday lives, as well as exploring the characteristics that we share as humans, with 50 interactive exhibits divided into seven vital areas: Cardiovascular, Reproduction, Locomotion, Senses, Digestion, DNA and Brains.
Several of the exhibits play tricks on your senses: Push Over, for example, challenges you to stand on one leg in front of a shifting optical illusion. Startle blows air at the unsuspecting viewer whilst filming their reaction, which is then played back to them in slow motion. It is a little unflattering seeing your own face crinkle up in slow-mo but it demonstrates the instinctual mechanisms that we have evolved to protect us. Others include Sound Bite in which previously inaudible music can be heard playing through your head by biting onto a metal bar and putting your fingers in your ears, and Vocal Vowels, which with the aid of a whistle connectible to a variety of chambers, shows how our mouths shape sounds.
Particular attention is also paid to human evolution and development, each with a series of physical life sized replicas and cut-away diagrams for visitors to touch and hold. One shows the size of the human brain as it grows from foetus to old age, another the growing unborn child, in each case you can pull the replica out of its resting place handle it and feel its accurate weight. This is often surprisingly heavy, even (for the unborn child) a little unnerving.
There is a wrist band system for All About Us that enables visitors to scan and save their experiences to be viewed later at home from the At-Bristol website, which meant that I was able to share my unflattering Startle video with friends and family. In the case of schools, exhibits such as Your CO2 Level, which measures – you guessed it– the CO2 in your breath, can later be used in classroom discussions or activities. A particular highlight for kids may also be the Live Lab, which holds dissections, experiments, and even DNA extractions for the enjoyment of visitors, who can ask questions to the professional facilitators.
With its emphasis on interactivity, tactile learning and fun the exhibition is almost as entertaining for adults as it must be for kids. The whole site is full of the miraculous and marvellous; with All About Us At-Bristol have reasserted themselves as a world class science centre, committed to educating and informing the younger generation for years to come.
For more information on At-Bristol’s latest exhibitions and events, including the new All About Us experience, see www.at-bristol.org.uk or call 0845 345 1235
Review by Alex Cater, March 2011
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