The Michigan Science Center is opening its new 8,000 square-foot prototype exhibit “Level Up” Wednesday with a traveling exhibit aimed to foster career ideas in children.
Sponsored by General Motors, the exhibit is meant to address the needs of a successful 21st-century career, said Terry Rhadigan, vice president of Corporate Giving at GM, in a press release.
“The Level Up exhibit does a wonderful job showing how play inspires cognitive development and we’re certain it will inspire students to find a new or renewed interest in STEM,” he said.
The traveling exhibit, Electric Playhouse Travels, connects videogames to real-world problem solving skills.
Electric Playhouse Travels is a digital interactive experience, using projection mapping and sensors to offer a fully immersive experience, according to the press release.
“As a STEM engagement hub, we use informal learning approaches to demystify challenging concepts and place them into everyday contexts in ways that help to augment K-12 education,” said Christian Greer, the science center’s president and CEO.
The exhibit will run through Jan. 3, with Level Up remaining open through the academic year, according to the Monday news release.
Level Up also features a variety of virtual reality and console games, board games, an arcade zone and the Ames Room, which challenges patrons’ perceptions of reality.
“(The Ames Room has) this effect (that) causes objects and people in a seemingly ordinary room shrink or grow depending on their position in the room,” according to the release.
Tickets for the Level Up and Electric Playhouse Travels exhibits are included in general admission price and can be purchased at www.mi-sci.org. The Michigan Science Center is located at 5020 John R in Detroit.