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Science Museum reopens with a dash of green

Danielle Edwards with Katherine Lissitsa, O-ZONE
November 17, 2017

The Canadian Science and Technology Museum reopened Friday after an extensive rebuild, featuring a new exhibit on how people use natural resources — and how that affects the environment.

After three years and $80 million in renovations, the museum opened its doors to an eager crowd.

“It’s been a mix of feelings, a feeling of achievement. A three-year odyssey,” said Ralph Daguilh, an assistant researcher at the museum. “We’re actually able to bring to the public a new face of the museum.”

The renovated museum is still housing its older favorites, but has incorporated new exhibits as well. One of the additions is the From Earth to Us exhibit, showing visitors the ways in which natural resources are collected, processed and used. The exhibit also highlights the effects that collecting natural resources has on the environment.

As visitors walk through the various sections, they learn about mining, climate change, energy and water. A particularly popular installation, especially for children, was the interactive nuclear reactor.

Jean Mathieu, an environmentally-conscious parent, thinks it’s important for museums to have installations that not only appeal to adults, but also make science and environmental issues accessible to kids. He says people should be more considerate of the planet we live on.

“My neighbours have three young people there, I think they’re 10, eight and five, and they just don’t do any composting or recycling. They just throw everything in every bin. There’s still a lot of issues to address.”

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