A little lesson in physics...

There are moments when I look at my children and see the spark of learning in their eyes. They are little thinkers, and to watch their faces as they discover something new is a great pleasure. David is quickly coming upon his fifth birthday, and this time next year will find us getting ready for his first day of kindergarten. He is so ready to learn. He asks so many questions, and the way he explains his discoveries to me in such detail lets me know that he is processing the world around him just fine.

Thursday we made a trip to the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. The purpose was mostly to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in IMAX vision. It was a blast. What David really left there with came from visiting the shopping center inside of Strawberry Square. There in atrium stands a two-story network of billiard balls and tracks. A huge clock, where the various chimes and knocks and dings are triggered by the motion of the balls. David was so excited about this...


We watched a chain lift system take one ball at a time up and up and up... then another ball would come spiraling down to wait in line...


Gears were turning...balls were rolling... an arm holding them would get heavy with the last to join the line...tip gently... then all the balls would spiral down again to another area... David and Samantha were mesmerized as they waited to see what would happen next...then so excited to see the result....

More balls would roll down and wind up in this funnel where they would rapidly race around the perimeter...eventually dropping out through the hole and beginning a new journey...

I'm curious to bring the kids back again when they are older to see how they react to this work of art and science.