Ben Hernandez

Exploratorium virtual field trip

May 10, 2023

In this virtual field trip, I watched six different videos that displayed exhibits in the

exploratorium. The videos explained what was happening in the exhibit and how it was

working. When you look at bubbles and see the flowing colors, that is soapy water that

is trapped between the soap molecules. I learned that cells can be kept alive for many

years as shown in one of the exhibits. Scientists removed cells from a woman's brain

and have kept them alive for a long time as they have multiplied. In another exhibit I

saw an aquarium containing a large amount of visible, growing bacteria. Light can have

a large effect on the growth of the bacteria because the side with less light had a

completely different growth pattern. Colored shadows are possible. They shine red,

blue, and green light on a wall and it looks white until the light is intercepted by an

object, which will make all of the colors appear as shadows. There is a screen in the

exploratorium that displays a digital representation of a droplet of water when a lens is

placed over it. The droplet of water can show the types of plankton in an area of the

world. The final video showed two sheets which were separated in the middle by a rope.

At first, the two sheets seem to be the same shade of white, but when the rope is lifted,

you can see that they are different. There is a darker border in the middle that seems to

separate the two sides. The guide then explains that both are the exact same, but there

is a color difference from left to right that is too subtle to immediately notice.

The videos were very interesting to watch. They displayed fascinating

phenomena and cool illusions. I found the soap sheet video interesting because I have
always wondered why bubbles would shine with flowing colors. I also found the gray

sheet video interesting. I am always surprised by optical illusions because of how our

brain can be tricked by the slightest perspective change. I think the plankton video is

important because the guides also talk about how plankton produce about 50% of

earth's oxygen. This is an important subject because it is critical to keep our oceans

clean. Without our oceans, most humans would not be able to survive.

This is a painting I made. It is supposed to be a representation of the plankton in our

oceans and all the trash that is polluting the ocean. I made this because I thought that

the exhibit in the exploratorium about plankton was very interesting.