Science Centre's 35th Anniversary Open House

The Science Centre is 35!

(So am I, by the way, which is pretty neat, considering that my parents used to bring me to the Science Centre quite a bit as a child. Guess I've really grown along with it!)

Anyway, in celebration of the milestone, the Science Centre is having an Open House from 8 to 11 Nov! Which means, yes, free entry to the Science Centre, though the usual admission charges still apply to other gated attractions.

This is a great opportunity to visit the Science Centre's many (many many) galleries and watch some of the shows. Our personal favourites include The Mind's Eye right at the entrance, the Marine Alcove, Earth: Our Untamed Planet, and the Kinetic Garden, and our super hot favourite Waterworks! Also, don't miss the Fire Tornado Show, which is really mighty impressive. This happens at 3pm, with an extra show at 7pm just for this Open House.

In conjuction with this, the Science Centre is also playing host to the first-ever Science Street Fair! The name is a bit of a misnomer since it's not exactly on the street, but scattered in and around the Science Centre. There are plenty of games and activities with the science twist to it for the whole family.

We headed down to check it out yesterday afternoon, and as we studied the Science Fair Stall Listing Pamphlet, Noey zoomed in on the Paintball and F1 Car Kids Ride. I had fully intended to let him try the activities, but we had limited time so I nudged us in the direction of the what I wanted to see.

We arrived at the Inflatable Planetarium where I thought it would be fun for us to view constellations, stars and planets, something that isn't easy to do in our night-time sky. Sadly, we just missed the start of the show and it was 2 hours to the next one. So we decided to move on instead. (Planetarium shows are at 11.30am, 1.30pm, 3.30pm and 5.30pm, with an additional show at 7.30pm on Saturday only.)

We rounded the corner and found the DNA Lab where, hurray, we were able to secure seats for DNA Extraction Workshop that was about to start. This costs $5 a person, though they did not charge me for Meips. We shuffled in and were given our gear -- lab coat and gloves, check.

Even with lab coats, you must always assessorize!

The real scientist and the pretender! @nerdymumsg was also at the workshop with little D.

After everyone was ready, we were introduced to DNA -- ie. deoxyribonucleic acid and given a short and simple lecture on what it is and how it is the building block of life. All my Biology lessons came flooding back, I can tell you that! It was a bit beyond Noey really, but he did his best to try to understand and even tried to answer some questions when they arose.

Ms Praba, who led our session of the workshop.

Even though the topic was complex, the workshop itself wasn't. It was pretty exciting in fact that we were going to be extracting DNA from various organisms through the use of a simple chemical process by which the DNA would be precipitated. Just two basic chemical processes are necessary to achieve this effect:

1. Adding detergent/soap the the cells to dissolve the cell wall/cell membrane; and
2. Adding ice cold 99% ethanol to precipitate the DNA out of the solution.

We were given a variety of samples and asked to discover which samples do and do not contain DNA. Noey was certainly raring to go!

Two of our samples: Kiwi and Strawberry. I think Meips was a bit disappointed they were not for eating.

Ready with the soap solution! This was warm at 61°C to speed up the process.

Giving our samples, to which soap has already been added, a good shake to help with the breaking down process.

Our results, after adding the ice cold ethanol! Where you see a white cloud floating above the sample in the ethanol, that's DNA! Our samples are, from left to right: Strawberry, Kiwi, E.Coli, Wheatgerm and Nestum.

It was quite a thrill to see the white cloud of DNA precipitating out of the samples. Fascinating. It could be seen clearly in the Strawberry, Kiwi, and most evidently in the Wheatgerm. For some reason, our E.Coli sample didn't yield any results, though it ought to have done so. Nestum, of course, doesn't yield any results as it's a heavily processed food.

The white cloud in the Wheatgerm.

My little scientist studying his results.

My other even littler scientist conducting her own experiment.
"What would happen if I turn the tubes upside down?" Answer: The results would be destroyed!

It was a lot of fun, and I'd totally recommend doing this at the Science Fair this weekend! I've also made a mental note to try to introduce and explain a bit more about DNA to Noey at home.

Lab partners!

We didn't have much time to check out the rest of the Science Fair as we headed over to Snow City to check out Singapore's Tallest Snowman (5.2m!). Admission is not free but you get 50% off this weekend with Science Street Fair coupons. While at the Science Centre, do check out the Titans of the Past exhibition, which we feel is really excellent, but I haven't had time to write about yet! There's a 10% discount on admission charges with Science Street Fair coupons too.

We barely scratched the surface of everything that's on offer so we might have to make a trip back. There are retro games and other activities at GEEK Singapore, as well as the Tesla Coil Chain Mail demonstration and the Inflatable Planetarium (which we were too late for!) which we want to check out. Maybe we'll see you there!

Xav, Meips, D and Noey, our happy little scientists!

Science Centre Singapore
15 Science Centre Road
Singapore 609081