New educational tool, exhibition coincide at WOW

Jonathan Trent, a NASA astrobiologist and researcher for the exhibition, will present at the launch of “Education Solutions Global Network” ¬– an Internet-based video network for students that is equipped with instant text messaging and live polling.

Fifth-graders from local schools will gather for the presentation, which will be broadcast live to classrooms across the country and in Mexico. Students can submit questions by e-mail, and Trent will answer them live.

Trent will speak again tonight at a 5:30 public reception and will lead a tour of the new exhibition. Tickets are $7 for WOW members and $10 for nonmembers. Reservations are required and may be made by calling (417) 890-9453.

The traveling exhibition will be on display through May 29. It features a 16-foot multi-screen multimedia display showing deep-sea footage, five monitors showing extremophiles in their natural environment and graphic information panels and photographs of the bizarre creatures.

The exhibition will open to the public beginning Saturday.

Two programs are planned around the exhibit. The first, “Ocean Conservation Day,” will be March 18, and the second, “Jellyfish, Squid and Squishy Things in the Sea Day,” will be April 8. Both will educate visitors on oceans and deep-sea creatures.[[In-content Ad]]