Here are the 13 exhibits that constitute the Maryland Science Center's "Wonder Warehouse"
1) Whackaphone
What it is: A calliope made of PVC tubing that you play by whacking the open ends with a flip-flop
What it demonstrates: properties of pitch and tone
2) Keystone Zone
What it is: A race to build an arch
What it demonstrates: compression
3) See Saw Science/Tiltometer
What it is: two big and two small seesaws
What it demonstrates: leverage, balance and pivot points
4) Totally Terroidal
What it is: Two parts: a giant membrane that, when pressed, blows smoke rings, and a shooting gallery using compressed air to knock down targets
What it demonstrates: air vortexes
5) Flaming Acoustic Harmonophone
What it is: A 10-foot steel pipe out of which flames dance to music
What it demonstrates: harmony, oscillation, sound waves
6) The Goobulator
What it is: A cylinder filled with liquid that turns to solid when sound is pumped into it.
What it demonstrates: viscosity
7) Equal and Opposite
What it is: Two sleds mounted on a rail, facing each other
What it demonstrates: Newton's Third Law, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
8) Light Doodles
What it is: Light-emitting pens are used to draw in the air
What it demonstrates: exposure, how light can affect certain photosensitive surfaces
9) The Fryzooka
What it is: An air cannon that shoots a potato through a mesh screen
What it demonstrates: Compression
10) Light Cube
What it is: a room in which light is manipulated using mirrors, lenses, etc.
What it demonstrates: Light refraction, reflection, color wave length
11) Oxidizer Optimizer
What it is: a small unmanned rocket shoots across the gallery on a cable
What it demonstrates: propulsion
12) Tinker Tables
What it is: Rotating demonstrations (including a wind tunnel, tiny programmable computers and pencils that draw sound) on three tables
What it demonstrates: ingenuity
13) Laugh Garden
What it is: A wall covered with video monitors that laugh at you as you walk by
What it demonstrates: "It's just really fun," says the science center's Alex Van Ness
Chris Kaltenbach