In recent years, people in the Midlands have experienced all sorts of
bizarre weather, from flash floods in the height of summer to
window-shattering tornadoes. This autumn, Thinktank, Birmingham
science museum has a new programme of events and activities to help
visitors find out the fascinating science of extreme climates in our
world. The Extreme Climates season is running from September until
December 2008.
During weekend and school holidays, families can
take part in the new science show, ‘Extreme Weather’. Audiences will
see lightning as it happens, and witness an amazing fire tornado!
Little ones can join in the fun with ‘Wanda and the Weather Woman’ for
an exciting journey around the world. In this interactive storytelling
session under 8s get to encounter different climates, understand why
there are seasons in the year, and find out what the weather is like on
the other side of the world.
In Thinktank’s digital planetarium
the new full-dome show ‘Extreme Climates’, is also available to
visitors. Audiences will be taken on a trip around the globe to find
out how as our planet’s climate changes, the human race must search for
new worlds to inhabit. What we discover in our brand new show is both
shocking and fascinating.
With hundreds of hands-on exhibits to
get to grips with, lots of fun tours and amazing demonstrations,
visitors will be swept up in the wonder of science!
Family Events & Activities
All events are FREE to Thinktank ticket holders unless stated otherwise
Extreme Weather Family Science Show
Be astonished by our indoor clouds! Be amazed by our tornado of fire! Be astounded as we create thunder and lightning before your eyes! Watch us make all sorts of extreme weather in our brand new fun and interactive science show - you will never complain about the weather again!
• Weekends & school holidays
• 2.15pm
‘Wanda the Weather Woman’ Storytelling
Come and join ‘Wanda and the Weather Woman’ for an exciting journey around the world. In this interactive storytelling experience you will encounter different climates, understand why there are seasons and find out what the weather is like on the other side of the world! Specially designed for the under 8s.
• Weekends & school holidays
• 12 noon
Next generation LEGO Robolab
Program our LEGO robots to carry out exciting challenges in our new workshop, which features the latest Mindstorm LEGO technology. Suitable for ages 7 and upwards.
• Weekends & school holidays
• 12.45pm
• LEGOLab, Level 1
• £2 to Thinktank visitors
Live Silversmith Demonstrations
Our resident silversmith uses traditional Birmingham craftsmanship to create decorative items out of silver bullion. Join him every Saturday for a lively chat and demonstration.
• Most Saturdays
• 10.00am – 4.00pm
• Free to Thinktank ticket holders
Sensational Sea Life Safari
In this multi-sensory experience, sight, sound, smell and touch are used to explore a range of creatures that live and have lived beneath the waves. Great fun for all and suitable for families and young people with sensory impairments.
• Every day
• Advance booking essential
Why Wash Tour
Join one of our lively Gallery Enablers for an exciting session looking at a variety of microbes that are just waiting to infect you! Find out what they are and what they can do to you and how we have tackled these diseases through time. Ask a Gallery Enabler for more details.
• Weekends & school holidays
• 3pm, subject to availability
Sensational Sea Life Tour
In this multi-sensory experience, sight, sound, smell and touch are used to explore a range of creatures that live and have lived beneath the waves. Great fun for all and suitable for families and young people with sensory impairments.
• Advance booking essential
Early Years Activities
Stay and Play
Thinktank runs exciting educational activities for organised early years groups. Join us for a 90 minute event full of fun, stories, galleries and ‘Make and Take’ activities.
• Prior booking essential
• minimum number of 8 children (adults go free)
Face painting
From delicate cheek art to gruesome injuries and everything in between, our face painters can transform you into beauty or the beast!
• 27 - 31 Oct 2008
• 11am to 3.30pm
Early Years Club
Come and join us during the week for some highly interactive drop-in sessions aimed specifically at families with under 5's. Combining storytelling, activity sessions and creative play, we will entertain and encourage your children to express themselves within the learning environment of the museum. Buying a season ticket will never have been such good value and remember that under 3's come into the museum for free!
• Wednesday mornings
• 11.30am
Special Events and Activities
Speckled Monster Performance
The speckled monster (better known as smallpox) stalked the world for over five thousand years; it killed ruthlessly and indiscriminately, cutting down entire communities. This play tells the remarkable story of how the monster was stopped dead in its tracks. In partnership with the Birmingham REP theatre and the University of Birmingham Medical School.
• 13, 20, 27 Sept, 4 Oct
• 12 noon and 3.00pm
• 50 minutes, promenade drama (no seating)
The Lunar Society weekend
Join us to celebrate the history of one of the most prestigious organisations in the world - The Lunar Society. Erasmus Darwin, Matthew Boulton and James Watt were all once members who used to dine under a full moon whilst discussing the issues of the day. Celebrate the history of this Society through interactive experiments and demonstrations, tours and exhibits that marvel at their brilliance.
• 4 - 5 Oct
• 11.00am to 4.00pm
British Sign Language Assisted Day - Saturday 11 Oct
- Stars and Stories Planetarium show
11.00am - £2.50
- Wanda and the Weather Woman, storytelling for the under 8’s
12 noon - Free
- LEGO Robolab for the over 7s
12.45pm - £2.50
2.15pm - Free
Meet the Scientist
Have you ever wondered what scientists actually do? Come and meet real research scientists for a fun and exciting day.
• Selected days from 27 - 31 Oct
Remembrance Weekend
Join us on the 90th anniversary of the end of World War 1 to remember those that have suffered and died in conflict in the service of their country. Explore life as it was during the two World Wars and discover what others have endured to give us the freedom that we know today.
• 8 - 9 Nov
• 11.00am to 4.00pm
Dino Day
100 years ago this year, the Triceratops skull displayed in our Wildlife gallery was excavated from the ground. 50 years later it came to Birmingham and has been a central part of the cities Natural Science collection ever since. Join us to celebrate the wonderful world of dinosaurs and try our new activities that will let you get closer to them than you have ever been before!
• 13 Dec
• 10.00am - 4.00pm
Planetarium
Experience the UK’s first purpose-built digital planetarium, where you will not only enjoy the stars and planets as you’ve never seen them before, but also travel through the human body, shrink to the size of an atom, and be immersed in music and light.
Available to Thinktank ticket holders only.
Extreme Climates Planetarium Show (presenter led)
(25 mins, all ages)
As the Earth’s climate changes, we search for new worlds to inhabit – both within our Solar System and beyond. What we discover in our brand new show is both shocking and fascinating.
ENTRANCED (Fulldome film)
(30 mins, Not suitable for young children)
Selected weekends only
ENTRANCED is Thinktank Planetarium’s digitally animated dance music show. It blends anthemic dance music, mind-blowing immersive animations, and state-of-the-art technology into a musical presentation unlike anything else! See the music explode to life on the Planetarium’s 10 metre dome!
Molecularium – Riding Snowflakes (Fulldome film)
(20 mins, all ages)
This digital dome experience takes you on a journey with Oxy, Hydro and Hydra aboard the most fantastic ship in the universe; the Molecularium. Catch a ride into the nanoscale universe with these friendly atoms and learn about the 3 states of matter as you fly into a cloud, watch a snowflake, and count the number of water molecules in a raindrop!
Tonight’s sky (presenter led)
(40 mins, over 7s)
Explore the West Midlands night sky, spot naked-eye objects and have astronomy notions explained. Complete your adventure with a question and answer session and our locally produced FULLDOME film ‘Journey to Infinity’.
The Future is Wild (Fulldome film)
(30 mins, over 5s)
Travel 50, 100 and 150 million years into the future and watch plants and animals adapt to a changing world. Based on our knowledge of what has gone before, witness the Earth experience another ice age as a new supercontinent begins to form.
IMAX Cinema
Deep Sea 3D
(40 mins, PG)
Through the magic of IMAX 3D technology, be transported below the ocean surface to swim with some of the planet’s most unique, dangerous and colourful creatures, from the unusual Wolf Eel to the Giant Pacific Octopus. Narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, Deep Sea 3D brings you face to face with these underwater inhabitants to witness their peculiar and amazing behaviour.
Sea Monsters 3D
(45 mins, PG)
Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animation transports you back to the Late Cretaceous. National Geographic’s Sea Monsters 3D follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history.
Wild Safari 3D
(45 mins, U)
A giant screen 3D adventure in search of the most dangerous and spectacular animals in South Africa. Africa’s most exciting animals, the Elephant, the Cape Buffalo, the Rhino, the Leopard and the Lion, known as the ‘Big Five’, have long been considered the continent’s most dangerous.
T-Rex 3D - Back to the Cretaceous
(45 mins, U)
Dinosaurs are very much alive - at least in the mind of teenager Ally Hayden the daughter of a paleontologist. A museum accident transports Ally into a wondrous pre-historic adventure, she is magically transported back through 65 million years to the Cretaceous Period. Be thrown into a 3D adventure back in time to explore the territory of dinosaurs, and thrust nose-to-nose with a 20-foot tall, 15-tonne Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Space Station 3D
(45 mins, U)
Travel 220 miles above Earth at 17,500 mph to experience the greatest engineering feat since landing a man on the Moon. Narrated by Tom Cruise, Space Station 3D is the story of this unique partnership of 16 nations building a laboratory in outer space.
Polar Express 3D
(99 min, U)
Back by popular demand, The Polar Express 3D returns this festive season to IMAX Cinema. Don’t miss this delightful Christmas classic in magnificent 3D! Experience the magical animated story of a young boy, and his journey to the North Pole to find out if Santa really exists.
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