Above and Beyond Exhibit - Field Trip

In February we were fortunate enough to go to the Above and Beyond Exhibit with some friends.  This exhibit is actually a traveling exhibit, that focuses on flight and aerospace in a hands-on, interactive way.

When we first went in, we watched a short video on the history of air travel, including by balloons for the Civil War, airplanes, and spaceships.  Our group seemed like a true school group in some ways... with 4 adults and 13 kiddos!

Then it was off to an open room with LOTS of hands on mini-exhibits.  One area was almost like a Wii game, where you could be a bird and use your arms as the wings.  Almost all of the children in our group wanted to do that one!  There was also an area where you could learn about the different aspects of airplanes, and then use that knowledge to "build" your own, on the computer.  Once built, you could take it for a test flight, and see how it did as far as speed and maneuverability.  And of course, there were lots of models of airplanes - past, present, and future.

Being birds...

Test-flying our airplanes...

Overall it was a fun field trip.  For those interested, in will be in St. Louis MO until May 8th, Charleston SC until March 13th, and in Seattle WA from May 28th until September 10th.