Today I watched the live science show “Sounds Amazing” at Esplora for the first time.
I was really struck by how engaging the presenter was, she did a great job of getting over 60 kids excited and involved, without losing control. That’s quite a feat!
She also gave them lots of opportunities to interact with her, by inviting answers to questions, taking polls, or creating mini activities for the whole audience to do. Quite a few audience members also got to go on stage to help with various demonstrations (the kids really loved that, almost as much as when she got their teachers to participate!).
From a science point of view, the show covers quite a lot about the nature and properties of sound waves, for example pitch, volume, vibration and longitudinal waves, and always using very clear language and lots of visual aids.
Much is of the show is given over to exploring different types of musical instruments, such as percussion and reed instruments, and includes the construction of a large instrument on stage! (I’m not going to say any more, to avoid spoilers 🙂 )
I was a little disappointed that nothing was said about practical uses for sound, for example ultrasound medical scanning, using seismic refraction to search for new oil and gas reserves, using ultrasonic waves to clean items that are too intricate or fragile to physically wipe, the use of sound for human communication, and echolocation used by bats and dolphins. Â On the other hand I recognise that these live science shows need to appeal to a very (very!) wide age range, and it was probably a wise decision to stick to music rather than risk losing audience members, especially the little kids who may not be able to follow more technical content.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and I do recommend it, especially for families looking for activities that everyone from the littles to nannu can enjoy (do phone first to confirm times and availability).
One caveat is that children who are bothered by loud environments might not like how noisy it gets when the whole audience is answering/participating, but on the other hand Esplora is very accommodating with regards to special needs, and will let you exit and enter the theatre as necessary.