Discovery Center to open ‘MathRox’ exhibit Saturday

The Discovery Center has a new formula for fun: the MathRox featured exhibit, opening this Saturday, Feb. 9.

The exhibit, which is included with general admission, allows visitors to divide and conquer a range of life-size games, puzzles and building challenges designed to multiply their math skills. Infinite variables await as guests solve brainteasers and explore hands-on activities.

More information about the MathRox exhibit is at www.explorethedc.org/mathrox.

As part of the exhibit opening, the Discovery Center is including special activities and programs throughout the day on Feb. 9:

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Nano Food: Learn how the size and structure of food can affect how much food our taste buds can taste.
• Counting Stars: Learn about the odds of getting different assortments of red and blue stars in increments of ten.
• Mosaic Animals/Objects: Use shapes such as squares, triangles, and circles of construction paper to design animals and other objects such as cars and trains.
• Cotton Ball Launchers: How far can you launch a cotton ball? Make your own catapult with the help of Discovery Center staff, and learn all about trajectory and flight paths!

Hourly Programs

• 11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.: Snake Shows – Learn about circumference, length and color patterns with our variety of snakes, including our ball python, Bill!
• 12 p.m.: Nature of Dye – Find out how dyes are made and how the dye ratios can change into different colors.
• 2 p.m.: Math of Slime – Help the Discovery Center team make some slime! You will learn about how adding different amounts of ingredients will change the slime, and how adding different amounts of food coloring will affect the hue.
• 4 p.m.: Weighty Matters – What is light and what heavy? Compare the weight of different objects, big and small!

About MathRox
Designed to inspire and spark the imagination, the MathRox exhibit provides rich and engaging experiences that:

encourage children to acquire a deeper understanding of math concepts;
make the practice of math skills surprisingly memorable and enjoyable; and
help children identify success with math as personally relevant and rewarding.

The exhibit includes brainteasers that are solved by working with tangrams and pattern magnets, a giant version of the “Tower of Hanoi” pegs-and-rings challenge, a large cube puzzle, and a keystone arch challenge. Visitors will measure and estimate how high and how far they can jump, as well as try their hand at the Sumball Machine, Shoot for the 10s and much more.