EXPLORATION PLACE VISITORS TO INVESTIGATE PARASITES WITH NEW TRAVELING EXHIBIT – EWW! WHAT’S EATING YOU?

Step right up and see the eighth wonder of the world — parasites!

Exploration Place visitors will enter this fascinating side show full of these critters with the new traveling exhibit Eww! What’s Eating You? opening Saturday, Sept. 13!

In a fun carnival setting, visitors will investigate the complex relationship between parasites and humans and get an up-close look at creepy creatures including tapeworms, fleas, lice, mosquitoes and ticks with this immersive, hands-on exhibit.

The events and education programs surrounding Eww! What’s Eating You? will enhance the visitors’ experience, including the return of last year’s sell-out adult zombie event, Museum of the Undead; new Senior Wednesdays; School’s Out Edventures and more!

 

The exhibit covers the questions:

What are parasites?

How do parasites interact with humans?

Why do parasites have such complex life cycles?

Visitors will learn about two types of parasites –

ECTOparasites – ones that cling to the outside of their host. Visitors explore life from a parasites’ perspective.

ENDOparasites – ones that live inside their hosts. Visitors will get to see the parasites’ skills needed to navigate life inside a human host and the resulting health consequences of these kinds of parasites.

Visitors will:

Journey through an oversized scalp and explore head lice in a forest of enlarged human hairs.

Pull on the elongated hookworm to view its amazing journey throughout the human body.

Jump as high as they can to ring the top bell and recognize the world’s highest and longest jumper.

Spin the vintage wheel-of-fortune and find the probability of being host to a parasitic disease.

 And remember, the morbid nature of this exhibit is balanced by its carnival-like setting! 

Eww! What’s Eating You? Events and Programs

 

• Members’ Night, Friday, Sept. 12, 5 – 8 p.m.  Exploration Place members will get to meet the “stars” of the parasite world before anyone else in this exclusive, members-only event. Members will save 20% in the Explore Store and see the new live science show, Parade of Parasites. And they will talk with staff from the Kansas Humane Society (KHS) who will be here with the Exploration Place Pet of the Week. KHS staff with share how to prepare for a new pet in your home, protect your pet from parasites and more. Free for members.

 

• Kansas Humane Society Staff Demos, Saturday, Sept. 13 and Sunday, Sept. 14, 1 to 4 p.m. Talk with staff from the Kansas Humane Society. Meet the Exploration Place Pet of the Week, find out how to prepare for a new pet in your home, protect your pet from parasites and more. Located in Eww! What’s Eating You? Included in general museum admission, free for members.

 

• Little Explorers Preschool Playgroup, Tuesdays in September, Theme: Bugs, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Children ages 3 – 5 and their parents will enjoy a fun and educational hour during these hands-on sessions that include a special craft, science experiment, exhibit gallery activity, and more – all related to the monthly theme! Included in general museum admission, free for members.

 

• Parade of Parasites, Live Science Show in the Kemper Creative Learning Studio

Visitors will look inside the strange world of these cunning creatures and learn which are helpful and which are harmful. Included in general museum admission, free for members.

 

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! • Museum of the Undead 2: Zombies vs. Parasites, Thursday, Oct. 9 and Friday, Oct. 10, 6:30 – 10 p.m.  Something has crawled its way back and now we’re battling more than zombies! Parasites are the new enemy. Guests must be careful not to become prey – zombies lurk everywhere. After saving the museum, guests will enjoy drinks, food, music and more! Exploration Place and YPW Member: $20 Nonmember: $25 (per person, per night). For adults 21 and older.

Registration required at www.exploration.org/undead or 316-660-0620.

 

• Itty Bitty Bugs School’s Out Edventure, Thursday, Oct. 9, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Kids grades K – 4 will discover the millions of parasites that live inside their mouth to ones that live outside of their food! Member: $30 Nonmember: $35. Registration required at www.exploration.org/schools_out or 316-660-0620.

 

• Homeschool Class, Your Healthy Habitat, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2 – 4 p.m.

One body is the home of millions of tiny living bacteria and parasites, helpful and harmful. Homeschoolers will examine which has the healthier habitat – human or parasite? Member: $10 Nonmember: $12.50.

Registration required at www.exploration.org/homeschool_edventures or 316-660-0620.

 

• Senior Wednesday, Protect Yourself: Wichita Bugs in You and On You, October 22, 1:30 p.m.

Find out how to protect yourself from local parasites that call your body home in a presentation by Deborah B. Fromer, Epidemiologist at the Sedgwick County Health Department. Admission: $4 per person (plus tax).

 

• NEW Family- Friendly Halloween Event! Spooky Science, Saturday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 26, Noon – 5 p.m.

Oozing eyeballs, slimy snakes and glowing goblins! Visitors will encounter some of the ghostliest Halloween science experiments. Families will see candy set on fire, make their own potions, work their way through a spider web obstacle course and more. Included in general museum admission, free for members.

 

• Bridging Art and Science Final Friday Opening featuring Beauty and the Bugs by Susie Cunningham and Susan DeWit, Friday, Oct. 31, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Guests will see these creepy creatures in a whole new way through insects engineered using paper and various media. Art will be on display until Sunday, Feb. 22. Free admission. (exhibits are NOT open)

 

Eww! What’s Eating You? is produced by Exhibit IQ. Special thanks to the City of Wichita Public Works and Utilities – Environmental Health Division for program content assistance and volunteers. The exhibit is open at Exploration Place through Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 and is included in general museum admission, free for members.

 

Exploration Place offers visitors of all ages interactive environments, hands-on experiences, Kansas’ largest domed theater – the Boeing Dome Theater and Planetarium – imaginative spaces, and outdoor recreation, all located on a 20-acre site along the scenic Arkansas River in downtown Wichita, Kan.

For more information, visit The Exploration Place online  http://www.exploration.org/

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