Announcements

Music Night!
Science House's Inaugural Music Night will take place on Thursday, December 4 from 6-9 p.m. This event is open to all Science House Members and Friends. Bring your acoustic instrument and jam with Science House staff and patrons. If you would rather listen than play, we'll have adult beverages, snacks, and games on hand. We'll pull out our tuning forks and Vernier probes as well. Hope to see you here! Please RSVP for this event by calling (651) 221-4563 or emailing sciencehouse@smm.org.

We are so excited about the enthusiasm that everyone has shown for Science House. We would like to send a friendly reminder that Science House hours begin at 3:30 p.m. We are unable to accommodate visits before 3:30 p.m. Please continue to send us feedback about how our hours and policies are working for you.

Winter is coming! Feel free to bring a pair of inside shoes (Crocs, slippers, or whatever you like) for your visits; you can even leave them in the vestibule if you want. To help keep our facilities clean, we don't want to track sludge through the building, so we do ask that winter visitors take off boots and outside shoes when they visit.

Don't forget to register for the MnSTA's Annual Biology & Life Science Teachers Conference on December 12. "Get your genes on!" Download the flyer here.

Upcoming Professional Development Seminar

Science House Book Club: Can We Talk about Race? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
For All Science House Members
Wednesday, December 3, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
We will be discussing Chapter 3. You do not need to have attended the first book club or read the chapter to attend this meeting.

Please RSVP for this event by calling (651) 221-4563 or emailing sciencehouse@smm.org.

The next meeting of our book club will be:
Wednesday, January 7, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Chapter 4 & Afterword

Scratch Session
For All Science House Members
Thursday, December 18, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Please RSVP for this event by calling (651) 221-4563 or emailing sciencehouse@smm.org.

See the Science House Calendar for more information about these and other upcoming events.

January Educator Preview

Water Special Exhibition
Friday, January 30, 2009, 6-8 p.m.
The Science Museum is pleased to invite educators to attend previews of special exhibits. Relax over a meal with your colleagues while you feed your intellectual curiosity. Learn about the topic from experts and return home with useful teaching guides and a thoughtful book on the topic. Open to all formal educators. Space is limited. Reserve your spot online.

Item of the Month

Introduce the fundamentals of geometric optics and the combination of color with our versatile, light box equipment set. Intended for tabletop use, the light box has a robust plastic housing and is virtually unbreakable. A movable convex lens mounted in front of the light source can be used to produce parallel, convergent and divergent light beams. Four apertures for light to emerge are located at the ends and the sides for use in experiments. Both lateral apertures are equipped with two hinged mirrors for experiments on color mixing and shadow casting. The light boxes come with a magnetic table to mount the mirrors and lenses on.