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View Full Version : Review: TELUS Spark Science Center



codetrap
11-21-2011, 10:10 AM
My Rating? 0 out of 5 Stars

I took my 3 Yr old Daughter and wife there on Sunday. Cost us $60 + $5 parking.

Considering the target audience is children, the exhibits were poorly designed. The whole Earth & Sky area was interesting, with some neat concepts showing erosion using water and large tables. There was also a really interesting river system table that was about 30 feet long. Too bad it was all too high for the kids to see. I could barely reach them, and the only way my daughter could is if I physically put here on the exhibit. There was a serious lack of explanation at the "experiments", and nobody around to help explain stuff. That was a consistent theme throughout the entire building.

The Being Human I though would be interesting. They basically explored the 5 senses, but not very much in detail. They also had a 6 picture display on how humans are created that ended in a display with a used? female and male condom. There was also a flirting thing where you were supposed to flirt and see if it made you sweat. Also a hugging booth that had 70's porn music to raise your Oxytocin levels. There was also some thing you could open and listen to stories about "when I was young" feature someone with a thick Southern US accent. Very relevant to Canada.

The Open Studio A huge room that had a bunch of craft stations stocked with crap. One was for taking apart a stereo or other electronics. Literally ripping them apart. Nobody there to explain it, just simply busting up stuff. Real great for small kids.. nothing like a kid tearing open a electrolytic capacitor and splattering its contents around. The rest was coloring, drawing, or gluing garbage together then putting it into a very slow "wind" tunnel to see the garbage swirl. Thanks, but I can drive by a construction site on a windy day to see that.

There was a small section dedicated to electronic music and art, where they had wands that you could use to shine light on a screen and make some sound "DJ".. but it only had basically a crappy whoooooo noise that went up and down in tone. The rest of the "power" section was advertising for O&G..

The Kids Creative Museum wasn't open when I was there, but it reads like a big indoor playground.

We caught the last 10 minutes of the Presentation Theatre.. where they demonstrated convection by putting water in a large hanging balloon and putting a candle under it. Boom.. they also put a blown up balloon in liquid nitrogen.. that was neat to watch it re-inflate as it thawed.

So, if you want a good time, go to the Zoo. You'll have a lot more fun.

stacy28
11-21-2011, 11:35 AM
I have to disagree... I would give it a 5/5.

I've now been there twice with my 4 year old, and we've spent 5+ hours there each time. The second time we went, we were with a 2 year old, and she loved it as well. Yes, some of the sections are for older kids/adults, but my son had a great time in these areas as well. He could have spent all day testing out his echoes and taking turns making noise with household items that sound like big storms for the person standing in the booth.

I liked that there wasn't a ton of explanation on anything - we got to use our imagination to do whatever we wanted at each station. Yes, the exhibits at the Earth & Sky area are too high for kids, but with some help from me, my son was able to still experience everything there, and loved it. He spent probably 30 minutes creating snowflakes that had images of himself in it.

There was an exhibit on the first floor that shows how power goes from power lines to houses, and with a couple of older boys playing around with it, my son and I had a chance to talk about why, if there was too much power being drawn, all of the lights in the houses would go out. Watching the older boys (probably around age 10) test out their theories there was a neat experience too.

After our second trip there, I bought annual passes - $90 for me, $70 for my son. This includes parking, and I see it as a great place for us to be spending many cold weekend days.

In this internet age, I think it's a great place to go and explore, and not have all of the answers, because then we get a chance to make our own answers, be they correct or not.

Totally worth the money in my opinion.

codetrap
11-21-2011, 12:43 PM
Hmm.. I guess you're the perfect target audience then. I've been to a bunch of different science type places, and even taken my daughter to a ton of museums. I'm just disappointed in it for that price.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g154913-d614128-Reviews-TELUS_Spark-Calgary_Alberta.html

I agree that the little power thing is fun, but it get's boring fast. The water stuff was very poorly designed. The snowflake thing wasn't working. Same with the do it yourself pipes. Also, the crafts section was a disaster. All the materials were on the floor, no supplies on the tables for the kids.

There is a small gear driven power generator with a spinning handle, one with a treadmill, and one with a pump. They just gear up and spin a disk with LED's on it. What would have been FAR better and FAR more instructive is to have like 5 light switches. On each switch have something tied to it, like an LED bulb, an incandescent, a small radio, tv, or something like that. Then the kids could try powering everything up and get a better idea of how much effort is really involved in power generation.

And what is the point of ripping apart electronics? Hidden method of cheap recycling? Small sharp chunks of carcinogenic materials for kids to play with?

Also, it's a science center. There should be scientific explanations for what is going on. That's the whole point, that science could be fun. To be totally honest, my daughter had more fun in the gift shop when I showed her the little balls that changed color, and explained why that was. I understand myself all the theories that are involved in that place, but my wife doesn't. There's no way she could have gone through and explained what was happening if our daughter asked her, "Mommy, how does this work?"

stacy28
11-21-2011, 01:24 PM
I would say that I'm similar to your wife in my understanding of scientific theories - I didn't have the answers, and I'm ok with that. It meant that we explored together, whether we were reaching the conclusions intended by the exhibits was not of concern to me.

I was there on Sunday too, and the snowflake thing was working, so they must be quick to fix things.

I agree, there wasn't one exhibit that blew my mind, but there's so many little bits that allow kids to explore, imagine and create. I'd much rather that he was ripping apart electronics there than at my house!

I also agree that there are different things the centre can do to make different exhibits more interactive and appealing, but I found that the small changes that happened between our visits there led me to believe that they'll be making constant improvements over time.

And again, I don't want all of the answers. With answers right there in front of me, it means that I don't have to dig into my brain and get creative. If we just "experience" science by taking in and believing what we're told are the scientific "facts" then how are our kids going to get a chance to make amazing new discoveries that could change our world?

You're probably quite right that I'm the target audience. I think that when people go there, it should be with a goal to explore, and learn through experience rather than be lead to conclusions.

spikerS
11-21-2011, 01:39 PM
I don't know, I thought it was pretty cool. I was there saturday night till 2am drinking and playing with all the exhibits. Mind you, when I am that smashed, my mind is easily entertained...

Spoons
11-21-2011, 07:27 PM
Originally posted by spikers
I don't know, I thought it was pretty cool. I was there saturday night till 2am drinking and playing with all the exhibits. Mind you, when I am that smashed, my mind is easily entertained...

TELUS Christmas party?

I didn't like it. I had my directors wife who was fucking hammered out of her mind (I was drunk to, but not even close to the same level as her) tell the bartenders that she is the directors wife and that they need to cut me off because I am too drunk, all while slurring herself and then go and trip over herself. I called her a bitch and never cut a man off from his booze. I left after that.

$7.50 drinks and it wasn't even high quality booze... And you'd think a Christmas party would have cheaper drinks. Food absolutely blew as well.

SO in turn, I now hate the TELUS Spark building, for that reason. I will lump them together.

spikerS
11-22-2011, 08:13 AM
^^LOL

Yeah, was the Christmas party. I guess I was getting ripped off, I was paying $8 per drink, but the flip side of that coin is, there was so much drunk tail around, I am hoping you managed to get some.

Having said that, that isn't the fault of the TELUS Spark building, rather the price gouging practices of the caterer. However, the sushi they were serving was AMAZING!

ClearBluewater
11-26-2011, 03:44 PM
Originally posted by Mibz
Do you ever think that you're not as happy as you could be?