Sultans of Science

Last week, we went to the Sultans of Science exhibition. I wish I could take home the timelines, videos and hands-on activities they had for homeschool but I don't think they allow that! : ) So, we spent like almost two hours there reading about and experiencing the works of Muslim scholars, mostly during the time of Al-Ma'mun (that rings a bell about a history class many years ago at PERGAS)and the institution of Baitul Hikmah. The exhibition covered scholars in medicine, physics, chemistry, etc but these scholars also tend to be well versed in many other branches of knowledge too, so in actual fact its hard to separate them that way. I was awed by the surgical equipment of al-Zahrawi for different types of medical needs. People then not only made things for function but also beauty. When we came in, there was this beautiful timeline on the scholars relative to what was happening in the West, and Montessorians love timelines! This had nice pictures too. It was nice because I think our children are exposed mostly to western tradition and this gives them a base to connect with what was happening in the Muslim world then. The hands-on materials provided inspiration for simple experiments that could be done with the children like the reflection tracing exercise where you had to trace a star from its reflection in the optics section and blocks to make an ogee arch compared to a regular arch. I was also intrigued by the water clock. Remember those maths questions that asks you about the volume of water in a container after a certain amount flows to another at a certain speed and the like? I was thinking, what can be a better living example than this where the flow of water sets off a chain of actions that moves a clock? They even have figurines playing music at certain times. Schools should get these so chidlren can understand why we have to calculate water flowing back and forth between containers : ) I am planning to make a scrapbook of what we saw at the exhibit and insyaallah,of course, a timeline...Then there are books to be explored and scientific history and theories to be revisited like the Wright brothers and the Muslim scientist who was the first man in history recorded to have flown on gliders and of course Da Vinci and so much more- methinks another visit to the exhibition is warranted.