September 30, 1995
Web posted at: 6:00 p.m. EDT
From Science Correspondent Miles O'Brien
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (CNN)--The kids are back in school and no doubt many of them are already complaining about a class or a teacher they find boring. Of course, in a perfect world, learning would be exciting for everyone. Well, the perfect world may actually exist, in a special museum in Tennessee.
It's not hard to spot the new Creative Discovery Museum in downtown Chattanooga. The provocative design of the building's entryway looks like an impressionistic submarine tower had punched through the pavement and stands above the rest of the glass encased museum. The design is a good indication of the energy stored inside.
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The exhibits may look like just all fun and games made of brightly colored tubes, old shoes, and various odds-and-ends, but there is a method behind the mayhem.
Executive director Andree Caldwell says the museum was shaped
by discussions with experts. Experts like student planner
Shalin Tejani and his classmates. "They wanted hands on
activities, music, art, that the kids could do, and not
electronic like other museums where all they could do is
watch," said Tejani.
What the kids wanted, the kids got. The museum has a variety of exhibits on art, science, music and invention. The results are authentic and up-to-date. (624K Quicktime movie) "We worked with real paleontologists, real artists and musicians, inventors and scientists, to develop real environments for these children. And I find as soon as children walk into this museum, they know this is their place," said Caldwell.
One museum highlight is the dinosaur dig. Here young
children can become a "pretend-a-saurus", while older ones
can do the hard work of a real dinosaur dig. The kids
concentrate on their task and will remember later what
they've done. That's the key to hands on learning, says Lu
Lewis, the museum's education director, and that's the type of
learning that sticks with you best. "When we can say 'oh,
that's when I understood it. I remember when I did that,
that's what the book is talking about. I understand that, I
did it,'" said Lewis.
The Museum of Creative Discovery caters to young minds. Lewis said schools are already good at teaching facts, their failure is in teaching problem-solving. "If you are a problem-solver, then you are marketable. If you are just a person that knows a lot of facts, and you don't really know how to use those facts in a real life setting, then you are very limited," said Lewis.
Good problem solving begins with the excitement of learning, and that's what the museum believes children will need to see their way through a complex world.
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