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The White Hat Guide to Scienceworks

‘Get a Grasp of Science’ at Scienceworks.

Pull it, push it, spin it, bang it. Through hands-on exhibits, live demonstrations, tours, activities and shows, the whole family can have fun exploring the mysteries of science and technology at Scienceworks.

Incorporating the Melbourne Planetarium, the historic Spotswood Pumping Station, the electrifying Lightning Room in the Victoria University High Voltage Theatre and a number of themed exhibitions, Scienceworks is a great day out for curious minds and active bodies of all ages!

Special school holiday activities are provided.

Melbourne Planetarium Using some of the most stunning images of outer space ever shown together with awesome special effects, a planetarium show will take you to the stars and beyond while you recline in comfortable seats. Suitable for ages 5 and up. Visit www.museum.vic.gov.au/planetarium for session information.

The Lightning Room Have a hair-raising experience in the Lightning Room in the Victoria University High Voltage Theatre. Find out all about electricity and lightning through spectacular demonstrations in this live 30 minute show. Highlights include a 2 million volt lightning demonstration

Sportsworks Scienceworks’ favourite exhibition Sportsworks, has had an extreme make-over. This long term exhibition features over 20 hands-on and body-in experiences and provides the ultimate sporting challenge. Discover your body’s talents and sporting profile, be a wheelchair athlete, a soccer goalie or an extreme snowboarder.

House Secrets Explore the science behind all the familiar things in our homes. This exhibition presents all sorts of wonderful things we might find around the home, from the food we eat, to the appliances we use, to the animals we share our living space with.

The Muck Bunker Storm Water Exhibition Find out about stormwater pollution through Scienceworks’ new interactive exhibit, The Muck Bunker. Cigarette butts, dog poo, grass clippings and paint; all kinds of rubbish can end up polluting our oceans after being washed away into stormwater drains. Nitty Gritty Super City Nitty Gritty is a kid's own city to explore! Check out the new developments. Filled with smells, sounds, and things to touch, this exhibition is ideal for 3-8 year olds. Get behind the controls of the new mini-excavator, peddle out a tune on the pianola and take a closer look at yabbies and other underwater pond life. Children can take a trip through a mini Melbourne or get to work building a wall in the construction area. Help them explore a kid size house filled with old fashioned appliances. Closed for refurbishment February 2006.

Scienceworks and Melbourne Planetarium 2 Booker Street Spotswood Vic 3015 Phone: (03) 9392 4800 Fax: (03) 9391 0100 Email: scienceworks@museum.vic.gov.au www.scienceworks.museum.vic.gov.au

Admission Adult $6.00 Child Free Concession Free Additional charges apply to Planetarium shows, The Lightning Room and some special exhibitions.

Open Daily 10 am to 4:30 pm, excluding Christmas Day and Good Friday

Getting to Scienceworks is easy! We are located in Booker Street Spotswood, 5km from the centre of Melbourne at the western end of the West Gate Bridge (Melways 56 B1). Limited parking is available free of charge for cars and buses. Trains to Spotswood leave the city regularly on the Werribee line. Scienceworks is just a ten-minute walk from Spotswood station. You can come to Scienceworks by ferry, running between Southgate, Crown Casino, Polly Woodside, Scienceworks and Williamstown.

The Melbourne Planetarium

Immerse yourself in astronomy, cosmology, space exploration & the night sky. This planetarium creates an experience of moving through the universe, sit back in reclining chairs, enjoy the amazing feature show & watch the night sky unfold on the dome high above.

Midweek 2pm & weekend hourly 11am-3pm
Check availability

Purchase a Smartvisit Card to obtain free entry to this attraction

Scienceworks
2 Booker St Spotswood
Tel: (03) 9392 4800

More information on Scienceworks can be found at Scienceworks.

Some useful resources on inventions and inventors:

Aboriginal Inventions
Alfred Nicholas
Australian Inventions
Australian Inventors
Developing Inventions
Henry Sutton
James Harrison
John Furphy
Lord Howard Florey
Pro Hart
Who is the Inventor?
William Ramsay

• You will find numbers of useful resources in our free newsletter - Inventions & Innovations - the White Hat guide
• The White Hat listing of forthcoming events related to inventions and innovation
• The Australian Institute for Commercialisation (AIC) is a leading service organisation helping innovators achieve commercial success. Around Australia they help business, research organisations and governments to convert their ideas into successful outcomes.
• Scienceworks in Melbourne, the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the CSIRO Discovery Centre in Canberra provide excellent resources in understanding Australian inventions and innovation.
• The ABC television series Landline regularly features Australian innovation and inventions. Unlike many gee-whiz pop science programs, Landline usually provides thorough and unhysterical coverage of Australian breakthroughs relating to country Australia together with their commercial ramifications. (You do need to watch the Sunday broadcast however, rather than the shortened Friday version.) Unfortunately, the same is not true of the current series on the ABC called The New Inventors. Made in infotainment style it chooses to present only a cursory investigation of the invention and skates over the top of the issues involved in successfully bringing an invention to market.
• You will also find useful information at Intellectual Property (IP) Australia, The Inventors' Association of Australia and The Triton Foundation (founded by George Lewin, inventor of the Triton Work Bench) and Innovic (A Victorian organisation who provide advice on the bringing to market of innovations)..