Every town or county ought to have one: a Discovery Place, for educating the kids about this wondrous, energy-rich world in which we live.
Acton, Mass. has one—it’s a very special, educational place . . .very special because the entire facility is electrically powered by roof collectors on site.
The Discovery Museum in Acton, as I discovered today, goes beyond merely educating kids about science and the physical world in a way that is playful and fun. The community education organization is providing, all the time, every day, proof that our sun in the sky up there. . . really does cast energy upon our world every day . . . and that that solar energy can actually be collected on a couple of long parking lot roofs and then stored on site, in batteries. . . and used to run the building that houses the Museum.
Those linked-up roof collectors that shelter the parking lot have a dual purpose; in addition to providing energy to run the building, they minimize snow accumulation or rain discomfort in the parking spots.
So. . . any time, visitors can . . . say, in winter, park on a clear spot, tromp over to the building, walk inside. The kids can have a good time learning in a hyper-educational play environment that is lit up, warmed and made comfortably useful by energy that has been collected, stored and re-activated on site.
Now, today— a lovely New England autumn day— we had a grand ole time touring the museum's displays and play-stations while granddaughter skipped from station to educational play station, thoroughly enjoying herself in play while interacting with the other kids and learning a little bit of science--especially the kinetic kind-- all along the way.
If you're ever in Massachusetts looking for something special to do, head on up to Acton, an hour's drive north of Boston, and check it out.
On the other hand, you could get together in your own town or city and drum up some funds to do a similarly carbon-neutral play station for all the local young'uns. I highly recommend it. . . might be a good idea to keep children educationally and playfully occupied on a December day. . . or a hot July day, what'ya say?
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