Pacific Science Center Exhibit Icky, Smelly & Fun: Graphic ?Grossology’ Exhibit Teaches Kids About Body Functions

By Bill Hutchens, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.

Jan. 30–WHAT’S

UP?

What: “Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body”

When: Through May 6

Where: Pacific Science Center, Seattle Center

Admission: $10 general, $8.50 senior citizens and $7 for children ages 3 to 12

Special events: “Grossology” author Sylvia Branzei will be at the Science Center for special “Grossology” events during Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 16-19.

Information: 206-443-2001 or www.pacificsciencecenter.org The world looks different from inside a giant nose.

Looking out through the nostril doorways of the prone nasal-cavity cave at the Pacific Science Center, Dylan Waldner, 7, of Tacoma listened as an invisible brain tried to figure him out.

The brain complained about how there was too much junk in the nose and indicated a slight tickling sensation.

“Uh-oh,” Dylan said. “He’s gonna sneeze.”

The cave came alive with the sound of a huge sneeze and powerful winds chased Dylan and several other children out through the nostrils like so many young boogers.

The kids were part of a small crowd that got to experience a preview of the new “Grossology” exhibit at the Science Center late last week. The show, subtitled “The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body,” opened Saturday and continues through May 6.

Kids swarmed around the interactive exhibits like little germs attacking a body.

Taylor Swink, 11, of Tacoma took a few trips down the “GI Slide,” a large digestive-system play area, before he truly began to appreciate his surroundings.

Then the horror dawned on him: mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines …

“Oh, my gosh! We’re the poop!” he said as he emerged from the lower end of the lower intestine tunnel. “That’s sick!”

But the huge smile on his face betrayed his true emotions as he headed over to the “Toot Toot” station, a very loud — and very popular — display that explains flatulence.

The traveling exhibit based on Sylvia Branzei’s series of “Grossology” books for kids has taken other stops by storm. More than 400,000 visitors saw the unabashedly disgusting, intensely educational displays during their recent stay in Portland, said Pacific Science Center marketing vice president Joe Barnes.

“It’s a fun way to learn about the science of the human body,” Barnes said. “We’ve found that when the learning process is this interactive and this fun, the kids retain the information better.”

Younger children and teens have given the exhibit good marks throughout its tour, Barnes said. But, for reasons no one has been able to sufficiently explain, it also draws a high number of 20- to 30-year-old men.

During a telephone interview from Point Roberts, a Washington town near the Canadian border, author Branzei postulated that it might be because young adults are often docents at host museums

“They tell their friends how cool and fun it is, and they all end up coming in to see it,” Branzei said.

By the same token, parents shouldn’t be afraid to have fun with “Grossology” either, said Branzei, who has sold more than half a million “Grossology” books.

“It brings out the 12-year-old in them,” she said. “I think if they just allow themselves to let the kid in them come out, they’ll have a great time.”

QUEasY

QUIZ

How well do you know your body? Match the scientific terms with their gross definitions.

Terms

1. Eructation

2. Reverse peristalsis

3. Flatus

4. Rhinotillexomania

5. Vibrissae

6. Borborygmi

Definitions

A. Nose hairs

B. Stomach rumbling

C. Nose picking

D. Vomiting

E. Burping

F. Gas

Answers: E4 You’ll find a slide show of photographs by Peter Haley on our Web site: www.thenewstribune.com. GROSS displays

Here’s a quick look at just a few of the displays in the traveling “Grossology” exhibit. They may not be for the weak of stomach.

Burp Man: Pump drinks into a giant stomach and see how pressure can cause a belch.

Gas Attack! Pinball teaches kids about the foods that create flatulence in their bodies.

Listen to Your Body: Push buttons to hear body noises.

Urine: The Game: Shoot bad particles to learn about how the kidneys clear waste from the blood.

Y U Stink: Match body odors with the areas from which they originate: armpits, mouth, feet and lower intestines.

Climbing Wall: Traverse a fiberglass patch of human skin featuring various blemishes.

Patients Please! Use kitchen tongs to remove rubber bones and organs from this life-size “Operation” game.

GROSSOLOGY TRIVIA

From Sylvia Branzie’s “Grossology” books:

–Seventy out of 100 people admit to picking their nose.

–Fresh urine is cleaner than spit or the skin on your face; healthy pee is not home to bacteria.

–Men average 45 seconds to urinate; women, 79 seconds.

–Hydrochloric acid in your stomach can eat up stainless steel razor blades.

–You swallow about 1 quart of snot every day.

–More than 100,000,000 micro-creatures live in your mouth, the most unsanitary part of your body.

–The 250,000 pores in the soles of your feet squirt out about one-quarter cup of sweat each day.

–You’ll shed 40 pounds of dead skin in a lifetime. QUIZ ANSWERS

1. E

2. D

3. F

4. C

5. A

6. B

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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