Staff Reporter
FOR THE first time in the Middle East, the award-winning touring exhibition, “The Robot Zoo” will arrive in Doha on February 13 as a joint effort between Al Jazeera Children’s Channel, Qatar Foundation and the Qatar Science & Technology Park. Based on the book The Robot Zoo, Qatar residents will have the chance to “get up close and personal” with animals they have only read about, a spokes-person for the organisers said.
“Through the complex biomechanics of the robot animals, students and families will learn about the dynamics of real animals. Along with interactive challenges and activities, “The Robot Zoo” mobile exhibition promises to be not only educational but a fun experience for all the family,” she said.
All schools in Qatar have been invited to tour the 5,000sq ft exhibition on the Doha Corniche. Visiting students will have the opportunity to explore the magic of nature as a master engineer. Eight robot animals and more than a dozen hands-on activities illustrate fascinating real-life characteristics, such as how a chameleon changes colours, a giant squid propels itself and a fly walks on the ceiling.
“We are presenting the school teachers with an activities guide to help them maximise the benefit of their tour, and carry on the exchange of information with their students”, said Malika Alouane, director of marketing and communications at the Al Jazeera Children’s Channel.
The larger-than-life animated robots include a chameleon, a rhinoceros, a giant squid with 18-ft tentacles and a platypus. Also featured are a house fly with a 10-ft wingspread, a grasshopper, a bat and a giraffe whose head and neck alone stretch 9-ft tall. Machinery in the robot animals simulates the body parts of their real-life counterparts. In the robot animals, muscles become pistons, intestines become filtering pipes and brains become computers.
Sensory activities include “Swat the Fly” a test of the visitor’s reaction time (one-twelfth as fast as a housefly’s), and “Sticky Feet” where visitors wearing special hand and knee pads can try to stick like flies to a sloped surface.
The exhibition is open weekdays from 8am to 8pm for school groups and general public, and on Friday from 2pm to 8pm for the general public.
Tickets are priced at QR5 per person, school groups are complimentary, but subject to prior confirmed bookings.
The money generated from the ticket sales, will be donated to a specialised children’s care centre in Qatar. For reserving a school group tour, call 6681988. |
