HANDS ON FUN: BOOTHEEL YOUTH MUSEUM FILLS TECHNOLOGY GAP; HANDS-ON SCIENCE MUSEUM'S FORTE

MALDEN -- Courtney Taylor, Kristen Wright, Caroline Haynes and Caroline Taylor, all 11-year-olds from Caruthersville, didn't have any difficulty pinpointing their favorite exhibit at the Bootheel Youth Museum.

Their list of favorites includes the bubble room, hologram light show and an optical illusion mirror. But explaining why the 30 exhibits at the museum are so "cool" is a little more difficult.

The hands-on children's museum in Malden is filled with exhibits like whispering dishes, a beach ball suspended in mid-air, a slide trombone fashioned from a drain pipe and a swinging pendulum filled with sand.

Almost every exhibit or experience is linked to a scientific or mathematics concept.

The museum opened March 9 as a way to bridge the technology gap for children in Southeast Missouri. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Extended hours begin May 26.

The Bootheel Youth Museum is the only children's museum between Memphis and St. Louis, so building it took some faith.

"It wasn't exactly like `build it and they will come,'" said Dr. Ray Vandiver, museum director.

The museum's success depends on if the region will make use of it, he said, adding that Malden was chosen for its central location in the Bootheel area.

Distance hasn't been a problem because children from Cape Girardeau to Campbell have visited the museum since its grand opening.

And every visit triggers some questions about how the exhibits work.

"I overhear that it's magic," Vandiver said. "And I find myself correcting them. It's not magic; it's science. We don't want to trick them but challenge their intuition so they see differently."

However, children aren't the only ones whose curiosity gets the best of them. Many parents, grandparents and teachers enjoy the museum, as well.

"Adults have twice as much fun," said volunteer Carol Demaree. "They want to try also."

Many area children haven't had an opportunity to see science at work in an everyday situation, Demaree said, adding that at the museum, "they get a chance to see things and explore."

But science exploration won't always be the museum's focus. "We're looking for ways to do hands-on in history, art and culture," Vandiver said. "We've been flooded with ideas."

WHAT TO SEE

Visitors can learn about science and technology through hands-on exhibits at the Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden. Here's a list of some exhibits and how they work:

"I See You, You See Me" -- an optical exhibit that uses a one-way mirror and lights to adjust the image of a person in the mirror.

"Laser Light Show" -- an optical exhibit that uses a 6-volt DC motor with a helium and neon laser beam beneath a plexiglass hood to create a light show.

"Shadow Room" -- an optical exhibit that uses a wall of phosphorescent material to capture shadows produced by a photographer's flash tube.

"Bubble Sheets" -- experiment that lets children blow into a sheet of soap film creating different shapes and colors.

"Bubble Columns" -- uses a bicycle pump to push air up through columns filled with different soap solutions; tests fluid density and dynamics.

"Sewer Pipe Trombone" -- musical exhibit built with a 5-inch drain pipe fitted inside a 6-inch pipe. When played as a percussion instrument, the two pipes create a sound pitch using an electric turntable.

"Whisper Dishes" -- communications exhibit built with two parabolic dishes which transmit sound wave energy from one dish to another. The whisper can be heard from 40 feet away.

"Illusion Mirror" -- optical exhibit that uses a concave mirror in a box. An object placed at the focal point of the mirror appears to be in the view window.

"Infinity Illusion" -- optical exhibit built from three mirrors in the shape of a triangle. Children can stand n the center and see an `infinite' number of images.

An earthquake simulation exhibit is expected to open in May.

HOW TO GET THERE (MAP)