New MathAlive! Exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center Takes STEAM to the Extreme

It’s hard to get kids excited about math when they only think of it in terms of worksheets and homework.

But those calculations and algorithms power the things they love the most – from the video games they play to the digital music they listen to. Once they’re exposed to math in incredible, unconventional ways, they lose any fear they have and jump into the fun feet-first, ready to take on the world with all the exciting new things they’ve learned.

Starting Jan. 27, the Saint Louis Science Center welcomes young mathematicians to explore the subject like they never have before with MathAlive!, a hands-on, interactive experience that has wowed kids across the country. With more than 40 exhibits covering robotics, design, sports, and more, your little ones will gain a better understanding of math’s impact on the world and be inspired to embrace math as a key to unlocking their own potential.  

The surprising world of math

The moment they enter MathAlive!, your kids are transported to a bold new world built around mathematics. Special BotZ characters greet them upon entry with magical math googles that allow them to see math in action at every exhibit they visit for a fully immersive experience.

The 5,000-square-foot MathAlive! is divided into six themed galleries, ensuring there’s an activity any child – and every parent – will enjoy, regardless of his or her interests:

Outdoor Action – In this heart-racing and pulse-pounding display, MathAlive! connects mathematics to kids’ favorite sports to kick both their minds and their bodies into action. For starters, adventure seekers can twist, turn and fly over snow-capped obstacles in the Boardercross snowboard experience to learn about angles or race their friends in Pedal to the Peak, a mountain bike challenge that helps them better grasp line graphs.

Build Your World –Mini-engineers will construct their own cities from the bottom up, whether they’re constructing their own mega skyscraper, developing transportation systems that eliminate gridlock, or avoiding catastrophe by building a storm-resistant power grid. By designing the ultimate urban infrastructure, kids will break down the complex principles of variables and exponents into functions that are simple to understand and even easier to apply.

Future Style – While they tend to be more right-brained, fashionistas and artists use math in their careers just like anyone else. With Future Style, tomorrow’s action stars can stage their own 360° photo shoot, using the same freeze motion technique that made movies like the Matrix pop culture phenomenons, while film fans can watch how wind-powered kinetic sculptures look and behave like fantasy animals on video.

Kickin’ It – From the big screen to the dance floor, math is the star of this engaging production. Fractions take center stage as kids mix up the hits on a giant musical instrument. Aspiring directors can create their own motion pictures by finding the optimum frequency of both rotation and light to create animations while dancers can see how mathematical functions generate moving color effects as they dab, Nae Nae and Dougie to musical hits.

Game Plan – All those video games your kids play is about to pay off. With Game Developer, they can race against time to design and program a 3D game component, using variables to determine its properties and movements. They can also crack binary codes, learn about probability by playing the Flip It game, and play real video games developed by kids their own age.

Robotics and Space – Math is out of this world in an exhibit that captures the excitement of space exploration. Kids can control a NASA robot as it travels to destinations outside the Space Station, command a virtual Curiosity Rover and maneuver it past obstacles on the planet Mars, and explore images captured by the Hubble telescope to experiment with sampling and mathematical formulas.

MathAlive! runs from Jan. 27 through May 7 at the Science Center and is free to all guests. To learn more about this special exhibit, visit slsc.org.

^{Photo courtesy of the Saint Louis Science Center}