ORLANDO – On September 27, the Nature Explore “Exploring Trees Inside and Out” Traveling Exhibit opens at the Orlando Science Center through January 4, 2009. The Orlando Science Center is the third location to showcase the “Exploring Trees Inside and Out” traveling exhibit after more than 200,000 visitors have enjoyed the exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.
“Doubletree Hotels and the Arbor Day Foundation have worked together to encourage kids and adults of all ages about the importance of trees in our everyday lives,” said Mary Beth Parks, vice president of brand marketing for Doubletree Hotels. “`Exploring Trees Inside and Out’ is a natural extension of this growing relationship, which we hope will inspire thousands of people in Orlando, the state of Florida and cities across America to get out and explore the natural wonders outside their front doors.”
Presented by Doubletree Hotels and developed by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, the 2,500-square-foot exhibit is designed to create a better understanding among children ages 2 to 10 about the role of trees play. A variety of inventive and interactive elements allow children to explore trees in a multi-sensory way never before possible through its fun-packed and educational components. For example, children will be able to:
- Sit inside a giant leaf and be surrounded by the light, sound, and sensation of photosynthesis
- Help a seed “grow” into a young oak inside a huge acorn
- Explore the “heart” of a tree trunk and move the “blood” of the tree up and down its “veins”
- Smell scents from various trees, then discover just a few of the many products we get from trees
- Crawl through a log and experience it as a habitat for other living things
- Hear the sounds of animals that live in trees, and even become a forest creature in a “green screen” experience that allows children to fly like a bird and soar over the treetops
- “Perch” in a larger-than-life bird’s nest and play among the nest’s eggs and sticks
“Exploring Trees Inside and Out” is part of Doubletree’s latest effort to help raise environmental awareness among children – inspiring and empowering a new generation of children to take simple steps toward conserving and preserving the earth’s natural resources.
The Orlando Science Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Grounds stay open until 9 p.m. Friday through Saturday. The tree exhibit is included with admission: $23 for adults and $18 for children age 3-17 (kids age 2 and under are free).
For more information, please visit www.doubletree.com/thinktrees. The Orlando Science Center is one of America’s top hands-on science centers where learning is always fun. Located in Orlando, interactive learning and discovery await within the center’s more than four levels of hands-on exhibits, labs, live programs, giant screen films, and active observatory. See www.osc.org.
