The Colon Crawl at “Ewww! What’s Eating You” at the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium.
Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium’s newest exhibit is “Eww! What’s Eating You?” a 5,000-square-foot carnival sideshow of parasites — from blood-thirsty lice and leeches to opportunistic consumers like hookworms and tapeworms.
You’ll see live and preserved specimens of human-loving organisms and insects, as well as video of infestations.
“It’s really fun, and very interactive,” said SFSC’s chief operating officer, Kate Arrizza. “Summer exhibits are really our bread-and-butter. It’s too hot outside to play so we always offer some great indoor options. One of our mottoes is ‘The brain learns what the hands touch,’ so we encourage touching, and we try to get really durable exhibits that are made to last.”
Arrizza, who grew up in Jupiter, volunteered at the SFSC when she was in high school in the late ’90s. “It really sparked my love of science,” she said. Arrizza earned a bachelor of science degree from the United States Naval Academy and a master’s degree from John Hopkins University before returning to South Florida to be near her family.
Now a mother of two, she’s reaping the benefits of her volunteer hours as one of the SFSC’s decision-makers, and her children, Cecilia, 4, and Cole, 2, “practically live at the Science Center.”
“Eww!” is designed like a carnival, and the person inviting in the kids is the exhibit’s virtual guide, the suitably creepy comic Carrot Top. As you move through the attractions, Carrot Top in a top hat describes what you’re about to see or do. This gives you ample time to opt out of a presentation that’s too “eww” for you. And everyone seems to have a different idea of what “eww” is.
Arrizza said, “Here’s what is really ‘eww’ to me: We have tapeworms on display and there’s a video of doctors pulling a worm out of someone’s foot.”
Some of the exhibits are informational: Spin the Wheel of Misfortune and see how likely you are to get infected by a parasite. Others get a little graphic: Roll around in the Colon Crawl, a tubular structure that features video of a magnified colonoscopy in which ascaris roundworm is discovered.
“I’m looking forward to the head lice display,” Arrizza said. “There are huge hairs you walk through where you encounter head lice that are trying to attach to a hair. And there’s a jumping challenge that has the kids measuring how high they can jump and how it compares to fleas, which are incredible jumpers.”
Indeed! A flea can jump about seven inches vertically, which is equal to a man with a vertical jump of 160 feet. Most athletes can’t break three feet.
This exhibition targets kids in upper elementary school and older, Arrizza said, but parents with toddlers will want to visit the new 5-and-younger play area that opens May 8 in the Discovery Center.
It’s a 1,000-square-foot space with a 16-foot-long water table, where kids can manipulate sand and water to create rivers, levees, dams and lakes. “Kids get little aprons so they don’t soaked,” Arrizza said.
“There’s also a huge light bright mural wall — think of that little Lite-Brite toy from your childhood multiplied by a hundred with big toddler-sized 4-inch round pegs — and a big story-time area. We don’t have a lot of things for the younger kids so this is a really welcome addition.”
This colorful custom-built area features another welcome addition: a seating area for tired parents.
If You Go
What: Eww! What’s Eating You
Where: The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium, 4801 Dreher Trail N, West Palm Beach
When: May 11 through Oct.18. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Admission: During Eww! What’s Eating You?, admission drops to $15 adults, $11 ages 3-12, and $13 for seniors older than 60. Free for members and younger than 3.
Info: 832-1988;
sfsciencecenter.org
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