The schedule for the rotation of the 8 exhibits among the 8 participating libraries is available on the exhibit rotation page.

You can load a larger version of each photograph by clicking on the thumbnail image.

Feathers and Flight, created with Howe Library, Hanover, NH

Feathers and Flight is an inquiry into how birds achieve flight. Videos of high-speed photography allow visitors to examine the subtle movements of bones, muscles, and feathers that together enable a bird to fly. A mounted specimen invites visitors to feel the structure of a wing (and to discover the degree to which a wing is composed mostly of lightweight feathers, not muscle or bone). Layered drawings of the structure of a bird's wing will reinforce this discovery, showing how the feathers, skin, muscles, and bones relate to each other.

Bibliography

 

Dividing Time, created with Lathem Memorial Library, Thetford, VT

Dividing Time introduces the concept of dividing time into small units. A pendulum swings, marking off seconds and minutes, but a visitor sees that their own heartbeat or other natural rhythms can just as easily be used to divide the passage of time. Participants will be able to compare the time units measured by their heartbeat with those of another visitor, and will be able to see how the second hand on a clock controlled by their own pulse rate measures time in a new way.

Bibliography

 

Shapes in Structures, created with Lyme Town Library, Lyme, NH

Shapes in Structures shows how different geometric shapes are used in construction. Visitors will be able to assemble common shapes used in building trusses to discover how well they can hold their own shape, and are then invited to build a bridge utilizing some of the shapes to which they've been introduced.

Bibliography

 

The Colors of Light, created with Fiske Free Library, Claremont, NH

The Colors of Light is an investigation into color filters. Visitors will see that color filters admit only certain parts of the light spectrum, and will learn how combinations of filters transmit only the colors that the filters pass in common. Visitors will be able to manipulate small colored filters to view both color chips and images presented on a light box, and will also be encouraged to use filters to view their surroundings and each other.

Bibliography

 

Plumb-Level-Square, created with Richards Free Library, Newport, NH

Plumb-Level-Square looks at the physics and mathematics behind some simple measuring tools. A carpenter's level works because a bubble in liquid rises to the highest point, indicating horizontal. Conversely, gravity pulls the weight of a plumb bob precisely towards the center of the arch, indicating "true vertical." A carpenters square uses the properties of a right triangle to indicate a true 90-degree angle. Visitors will have objects to measure and parts to assemble their own angle-finders and levels.

Bibliography

 

Quick as a Wink, created with Tracy Memorial Library, New London, NH

Quick as a Wink will invite visitors to test the speed with which they can respond to something they see and/or hear. Visitors will be able to measure and compare reaction times using their dominant and non-dominant hand. They'll also be able to measure reaction times when they hear and see the stimulus.

Bibliography

 

Crankin' Rhythm, created with Norwich Public Library, Norwich, VT

Crankin' Rhythm shows the relationship between mathematical ratios and how they can be expressed as sounds. The exhibit features six wheels, which are turned by a hand crank. Pegs set into the rims of the wheels trigger sensors, which respond by emitting a sound or flash of light. Adjusting the position of pegs can change the rhythm of the sounds and lights.

Bibliography

 

Resonance, created with Lebanon Public Library, Lebanon, NH

Resonance introduces the concept of resonance, the principle that applying small forces to an object at just the right time can result in large movements. A set of springy rods of varying lengths resonate according to the small forces gently applied by a visitor to an attached paddle.

Bibliography