Small wonders Small wonders (November 03, 2004)

Junior Museum and Zoo celebrates 70th anniversary

by Tony Burchyns

It's closing time at Palo Alto's Junior Museum and Zoo, and as usual a pack of children don't want to leave. They stick to the fence at Alexander's pond, watching the gray gander waddle into the water with his mate, Roxy the snow-white goose. Around the water's edge, rabbits nibble on clumps of grass.

"C'mon now, the animals are going to bed," negotiates one mother.

Slowly her children slink away as the old gander offers one more terrific honk.

It's a typical day's end at a not-so-typical museum. Here, the staff knows many patrons by name, and the high frequency of visits is made easy by the cost of admission -- it's free. Children are encouraged to poke and prod in an interactive science gallery, and outside they can explore bobcats, ferrets, Egyptian Fruit Bats and other wildlife.

In October the Junior Museum and Zoo celebrated its 70th anniversary by unveiling a colorful new sign by the entrance on Middlefield Road and opening a new shark tank exhibit with baby leopard sharks on loan from the Monterey Marine Science Institute.

Like San Francisco's Randall Museum, Walnut Creek's Lindsay Museum and San Jose's three Youth Science Institutes, Palo Alto's Junior Museum and Zoo provides a cozy hands-on learning environment for kids in the community.

"Personally, I like smaller museums," said Zookeeper Rob Steele, an employee here for 15 years. "Kids can pass through in 20 minutes and come back week after week."

Founded in 1934 by Josephine O'Hara, the museum now sees 150,000 visitors a year and has a budget of more than $1 million. It was originally a traveling exhibit until it found a permanent home in 1941, next to the Lucy Stern Center and Rinconada Park.

"This used to be the edge of town," said Director Rachel Meyers, who used to work for the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

In recent years parts of the museum have been refurbished, the zoo has been re-landscaped, and a new bat house and a San Francisquito Creek exhibit have been added. Plans for a rain forest exhibit are germinating.

But in many ways, it's still the same old Junior Museum and Zoo. Some of the animals have been there for years, including Alexander, who arrived in 1976 after being rescued by the Monterey County Humane Society.

"When kids come in, they say, 'Where's Scully (the African Gray Parrot),' or they run out in the zoo and say, 'Where's Alexander?' Because kids feel so comfortable, they learn more," said Education Director Karen Miel.

Miel said one little boy often greets her in the morning by pressing his face up against the window and saying, "I see you."

His connection with the small museum is sacred, she said.

"He owns it," Miel said.

With children romping around her in the final moments before closing, Carrie Jeffries of Palo Alto watched her children, 3 and 6 years old, immerse themselves in this year's "Gizmos and Gadgets" exhibit.

"Each year there's a new exhibit, and it's so enclosed the kids get to know it so well -- and it's really safe," she said amidst the din of shrieks and laughter.

As Jeffries stood and shared her thoughts, a group of boys tumbled past into a pile of geometrically shaped pillows while a team of girls raised balls from the floor by turning a giant Archimedes' screw -- a large spiraled tube curled around a sloping axis. Meanwhile, little boys and girls across the room tiptoed onto a seesaw called "Lever Lift Off."

"They kids really have the run of the place," Jeffries said smiling.

Every aspect of "Gizmos and Gadgets" encourages hands-on exploration.

"We've gotten bigger turnouts and better feedback for this exhibit," said Curator Joe Victory, who oversees the construction of the museum's scientific displays. Most of the carpentry and construction for this exhibit is the work of local craftspeople, he said.

Duveneck second-grader Molly Mackris said she likes coming to the museum to do the "Dead Lift," an exhibit that allows her to lift three bowling balls at once using ropes and pulleys. Her brother Jonathan, a third-grader at Duveneck, said he likes checking out the fish and raccoons outside.

"The exhibits are creative, and they challenge their minds," said mother Laura Mackris, adding that the three of them visit once a month.

In addition to its science gallery and zoo, Palo Alto's pocket-sized children's museum also offers a variety of education programs throughout the year.

"We used to have people camp outside to get into the summer camps," Miel said. "We decided that was a bit harsh, so we went to a lottery system." During the school year the museum's staff travels to local schools to conduct science workshops, Miel said.

Instead of teaching gravity on the blackboard, they show kids how to make marble roller coasters out of foam and tape.

"How can you learn about motion unless there's motion?" Miel said. "If you look at a lot of great scientists, they got to mess around with things when they were kids."

A former classroom-teacher herself, Miel said she's certain the Junior Museum and Zoo plays an important role for students.

"I know we have things that schools don't have -- like a giant catapult," she said.

Victory worked on the catapult and trebuchet, which can shoot beanbags across playgrounds with ease thanks to the principles of physics.

Meyers said giving kids the option to explore often leads to them to learning physics, geometry and ecology without even knowing it.

"We need to give kids the opportunity to tinker," she said.

In fact, one of her goals for the future is to add a "tinkering room" to the museum, where members of the community can come in and work with kids on open-ended projects.

"I happen to think kids are amazingly talented," she said. "They have their own investigative skills -- you just need to provide the right environment."

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