As you look around and admire the incredible renewal of green life that occurs in the spring season, remember that spring also is a great time to renew your Membership to Discovery Place and Charlotte Nature Museum! And, there has never been a better time to be a Member as we wrap-up the renovation of Discovery Place in June and premiere some highly-anticipated new exhibitions including Fantastic Frogs and World Alive and two additional Explore More labs.

As Members, we hope you have had a chance to attend the special Member previews of the new exhibitions – Cool Stuff, KidScience, Discovery 3D Theatre, Project Build, Science Buzz and Think It Up. We’ve been hard at work to create entertaining and educational experiences that engage you and your family in the wonder of... Keep reading.

What causes the electrical shock I receive when getting out of a car during the winter? --Vicello (age 36)

The shock you get when getting out of your car, particularly in the winter, is from static electricity. Static electricity often occurs whenever two dissimilar materials are rubbed together. When electrons, or the negative charge, are removed from one material and deposited on the other a static charge results. When you are in a car the seat is one material and your clothes are another when you move you create friction and build up a static charge. Once your body accumulates enough of a charge and then touches a good conductor, usually metal like the car door the charge quickly leaves you and you feel the shock.

The reason you feel this shock more in the winter than in the... Keep reading.

Hours into my crazed, holiday shopping, I did the unthinkable: I quit. I was pooped. I was tired of struggling to find the perfect gift for the perfect people in my life and frankly my feet were screaming in pain after their third trip around the mall. I plopped down in one of the chairs and began to re-think my idea of what a gift should be. I wanted something that was easy, affordable, memorable…Something that was exciting…Something extraordinary. The word extraordinary brought to mind one thing: Discovery Place. I think of all the faces, young and old, that I see in the Museum and how what we do here at Discovery Place changes their idea of what science is. Why not share these experiences with the ones I care about? Why not give the gift of Membership? I thought of the many... Keep reading.

At this time of year, people often wonder why or how they can support
Discovery Place. We asked one of our Supporting Member families to help
explain.

Karen and Henry Chow have been Supporting Members since 2001. They come to Discovery Place about ten times a year with their son Christopher (age 10), who loves experiments with science and technology, constructing machines to solve problems, and being creative. Karen and Henry are grateful that Christopher can fulfill all of these things at Discovery Place. His favorite exhibit, by far, is Kapla Blocks where he can build tall towers and small cities. He even has his own set at home.

Karen and Henry both enjoy the IMAX® movies and special traveling exhibitions like A Day in Pompeii and SHIPWRECK! Pirates and Treasure. ... Keep reading.

This week we reached a significant milestone in our renovation — the reveal of the first major new exhibition areas — but even as we unveiled these new activities, we are not yet finished. Additional new exhibitions and activities will continue to open throughout the first half of 2010 until we arrive at a totally reinvented and re-imagined Museum in June.

First, we are delighted to welcome you to the first major new exhibitions developed by Discovery Place. Cool Stuff and Explore More Stuff are now open and available to help you to understand why things do the things they do. Cool Stuff gets you involved with physical science in a unique and fun way that sparks curiosity. Through galleries of interactive contraptions and manipulatives, you experience and investigate... Keep reading.