FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD)- The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History reopened Friday for the first time since COVID-19 hospitalizations started increasing at the end of 2020. The museum opened Friday with the addition of a new exhibit called, "Current Science Studio."
"I think the pandemic has made the public more aware than ever of the role science plays in our lives," says Dr. Morgan Rehnberg, chief scientist at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. "We're all here today because of the efforts of so many doctors and scientists."
Current Science Studio includes information about vaccines and pandemic but also has information about how weather systems work on Earth along with space travel. The exhibit includes a 3-dimensional sphere that can show facts and geography about the Earth, moon and other planets.
Rehnberg says the exhibit will change in different parts of the year, saying they may add information about hurricanes or wildfires later in the summer.
"We worked, over the course of the pandemic, in partnership with Facebook to develop this exciting new gallery," he says. "It is focused on telling the stories of the science that is happening in the news right now."
The museum opened the exhibit using a $255,000 grant from Facebook, which announced in December it would expand its data center in Fort Worth.
Mayor Mattie Parker cut the ribbon on the exhibit Friday with hers and several other families.
"This is an experience for young learners that gets them interested in a traditional classroom setting, understanding why reading is important, traditional science is important," Parker says. "This is what sparks their interest at a really young age."
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History closed at the end of 2020 but had been limiting "hands-on" exhibits since the beginning of the pandemic. Rehnberg says all exhibits have reopened with the same features they had before the pandemic.
"We experience life one handful at a time, and we want people to experience the museum in the same way," he says.
The museum is still cleaning more frequently and has hand sanitizer available in more locations. The museum follows CDC guidelines, encouraging people who have not been vaccinated to wear a mask.
Parker says the opening of the museum along with an exhibit that highlights the science behind current events can help develop a life-long interest in science.
She says the museum represents the latest option for people dealing with cabin fever from the pandemic and record cold last winter.
"Our kids felt different. 'Why can't we go to the dinosaur museum?' That's what my kids call it, and we'd explain to them it wasn't safe," Parker says. "For it to reopen now is really special for our community."
The Fort Worth Museum of Science is open Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Details are available HERE.
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