Orlando Science Center: ‘Dogs!’ exhibit barks up right tree
A recently installed exhibit at Orlando Science Center addresses several burning questions, including “Are you faster than a chihuahua?” and “Is this slobbery ball yours?”
“Dogs! A Science Tail” explores what makes canines tick and their relationships with humans on scientific terms. It gets into DNA but also into everyday occurrences such as the zoomies or, as the display calls them, “frenetic random activity periods.”
“It’s a great exhibit that explores our relationship with dogs, and talks about how dogs went from the wild – being wolves, being wild pack animals – to how they evolved to being beloved domestic companions,” says Jeff Stanford, vice president of marketing for the science center.
The exhibit explores dogs in pop culture, breeds, community building and how the animals smell and hear. (There are scientific reasons for those head tilts and vacuum-related freak-outs.)
“They really experience the world a lot differently than we do,” Stanford says.
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“Dogs!” takes up more space in the science center than the typical traveling exhibit, spilling into a second hall (Kinetic Zone is on a break this summer, Stanford says).
The displays incorporate gigantic doggy backdrops that dole out science in kibbles and bits. But there are also realistic dog figures of different breeds to illustrate canine qualities.
The exhibit covers whiskers, puppy-dog eyes and “the science of cuteness.”
One section re-creates a winding park as a way of demonstrating community building among dog people, and that area leads to a wall of international dog culture that include toys from Egypt and South Korea, a dog mask from Guatemala, a rabies test kit from China and dog bells from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It sort of bites that folks can’t bring their doggos (with the exception of service animals) to the exhibit, but the pets can get recognized a few ways in “Dogs!,” including the uploading of photos, video recording of testimonials to be shown at the exhibit and a dry-erase board where puppy praises are sung.
“This is just a great topic, something that people have great interest and affection for,” Stanford says. “Then you break it down to, well, how can we teach science through this? How can we use this as a portal to science learning? … They do it in a really powerful, fun way.”
A strong visual of the exhibit, developed by California Science Center in Los Angeles, is a long wall with photos of running dogs, different breeds arranged by increasing speeds. That’s where we learn chihuahuas can go 15 mph. Visitors can do a timed run and measure themselves against different breeds, ranging from the pug (plugging along at 5 mph) to a greyhound (44 mph).
In the middle of the pack, eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt is shown neck and neck with a Siberian husky at 28 mph.
“Dogs! A Science Tail” is included in regular Orlando Science Center admission. The exhibit remains at the Loch Haven Park museum through Sept. 4. For tickets or more information, go to OSC.org.
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.
