time to explore with esplora

A DAY OF SCIENTIFIC WONDER

Family vacations are filled with precious days, creating memories to cherish with the ones we love. Relaxing and unwinding from the humdrum of daily life whilst spending all-important quality time with our family and friends.

What better place to spend that time than on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Malta, soaking up the warm summer sun? Take the chance to escape that heat for a day at Esplora Interactive Science Centre in Kalkara.

Would you like to see how a shadow is captured on a wall or stand inside a human-sized bubble? How about helping your kids create a customised fireworks display or figuring out how to move containers as a dockyard crane? At Esplora you can do all of that and so much more!

It is truly incredible that the mysteries of science are in fact all around us, just waiting to be discovered. Before your visit to Esplora, you might like to demonstrate this with a beach science experiment. This hands-on demonstration will allow for exciting high-quality interactions between you and your young ones, and enable you to teach them about the natural ocean ecosystems on our beautiful planet Earth.

The Esplora Interactive Science Centre

Photo: ESPLORA

Mediterranean Sea in a Bottle

You will need:

A large, transparent bottle
Blue food colouring
Mineral or baby oil
A beach

  • On the beach, pour sand into the bottle. (Enough to cover the bottom of the bottle when it is on its side)

  • Collect a few seashells, small pebbles or seaweed and drop them in on top of the sand

  • Fill the bottle halfway with sea water and add 1 drop of blue food colouring

  • Pour oil on top of the water, filling bottle up to the top so no air is left inside

  • Seal bottle with cap, turn the bottle on its side and watch all the materials settle on the bottom

You can now rock the bottle back and forth to create ocean waves! What happens to the sand and seashells if you make large waves? What happens if the waves are more gentle? Can you imagine how driftwood and debris get washed up on our beaches? Why is the oil and water separated? What happens to sea life and birds when there is an oil spill? If you add something that floats to the bottle can you imagine that it is a pirate ship on the high seas in a big storm?

Have fun exploring, thinking and imagining! When you are all finished with your experiment please empty it out correctly and recycle.

For even more family fun, come and spend the day at Esplora in Kalkara, which has over 200 interactive science exhibits plus exciting shows and workshops for all ages!

Esplora is accessible by public transport and is located on the peninsula of Kalkara, in the Grand Harbour overlooking the historic cities of Valletta and Birgu.

For more information, contact Esplora Interactive Science Centre on 2360 2300, or click here.

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