Monday, June 20, 2011

Human Respiration and Circulation - Help Name the Exhibit!

Headwaters Science Center staff wants input from its visitors in helping to name an exhibition that has been under development over a period of several years. The exhibition has been funded by Beltrami County, North Country Health Services, Bemidji Medical Equipment, and National Science Foundation through the Science Museum of Minnesota.

It will have about 15 stations that concern human respiration, circulation, nutrition and exercise. Models, videos, and activities will help visitors to understand the marvelous efficiencies of two remarkable human systems and why proper nutrition and exercise are so critical to their healthy function. The exhibition is intended to help visitors understand what respiration and circulation involve, how they work, and what can happen to make them more or less functional or severely impaired.

Originated through collaboration with B-WELL under the direction of Marti Lundin, BSU professor Muriel Gilman, Sanford cardiac therapist Susan Carlson, and HSC staff members have been planning the exhibition with the hope that it will have its formal opening in September and undergo prototyping later this summer. Prototyping is the process of setting up an exhibition in a preliminary form, with temporary signage and the expectation that changes will be made to make it more meaningful through critiques from its first viewers, our visitors.

The original name was “Save Your Breath”, but as the exhibition has developed, that name seemed inappropriate, and a “catchy” new name hasn’t come up in the developers’ minds. Some of the names that are being considered are: Body Function Junction, Circulation City, Head to Toe, Blood & Air, Tip Top Body Shop, Shape it up, The Body & How it Works, Life & Longevity, Vitalization Station, Body, Breath, & Blood, and Vital Spark.
The exhibition developers and HSC staff want a name that will be lively, appropriate to the topics involved, and be of interest to people of ages (about) 7 to 100+. They will select the most appealing name within the next few weeks. The winner will receive a yearlong family membership in Headwaters Science Center, which not only allows free access to HSC and reduced prices for programs and Science Store purchases, but free access to over 300 other science centers across the United States and abroad.

Persons wishing to submit names can drop them off at the Science Center, e-mail them to Laddie Elwell , or mail them to HSC, Post Office Box 1176, Bemidji, MN 56619. The name will be decided upon within four weeks.