New exhibits at Thanksgiving Point showcase space and motion

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Get out of this world and launch into some fun at Thanksgiving Point this summer with the new iWorlds Space Experience and Notion of Motion.

iWorlds Space Experience opened in May and will stay at Thanksgiving Point until September and possibly beyond. The interactive exhibit provides participants an opportunity to embark on a space camp adventure and fly aboard a spacecraft simulator. Everyone aboard has a specific assignment and becomes an integral part of the mission.

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The interactive iWorlds Space Experience runs through September at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.
Blake Wigdahl, director of programming for Thanksgiving Point, explained the iWorlds exhibition is a joint collaboration between Thanksgiving Point and the iWorlds organization.

“They’ve designed it like a spaceship,” Wigdahl said. “It feels very much like you’re in space.”

According to the iWorlds website, the iWorlds Space Center has been developed in cooperation with the popular Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center, or Space Camp, in Pleasant Grove that hosts field trips for schools in the Alpine School District.

The day camp provides educational experiences about learning to interact with different types of people as well as learning about space and the science of physics. Now that experience has been opened to children of all ages looking for adventure.

“They’ve created a space simulation experience with several different missions you can go on,” Wigdahl said. “The hope is that there’s a huge demand out there for these types of educational experiences.”

The activity is popular with groups, couples and even single riders. Advance reservations are recommended.

Another exhibit has opened next door to iWorlds Space Experience in the Museum of Ancient Life.

“It’s called Notion of Motion and its focus is on the physics of movement, how the earth moves, how we move, ” Wigdahl said. “This is our newest temporary exhibition from our partnership with the Exploratorium in San Francisco.”

The exhibition opened July 2 and will be there for a year. It includes more than 30 exhibits which are all hands-on interactive.

“These are your classic, your best of the best science exhibits,” Wigdahl said. “You can really experiment and play.”

The turntable experiments with curving motion. Patrons can experiment with moving objects on and off the table. Objects in the center move more slowly than objects on the outside.

“The turntable is definitely one of the most popular,” Wigdahl said. ” [It provides] one of those great moments for transformative family learning.”

So far, Notion of Motion has been a success with patrons.

“Ever since it opened it’s been crazy busy,” Wigdahl said. “This will be an exciting year for us.”

The admission to Notion of Motion is included in the ticket price to the Museum of Ancient Life.

Museum hours are Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The museum is closed Sunday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Admission is free for members, $10/adult, $8/child (3-12) and $8/senior (65+). For more information visit thanksgivingpoint.org.

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