Wild Music: Sounds & Songs of Life at ScienceWorks

BRAND NEW WILD MUSIC EXHIBIT PROVIDES A MUST-SEE, MUST-DO,
MUST-HEAR EXPERIENCE
Wild Music: Sounds & Songs of Life opens February at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum
  1. Whales compose, bullfrogs chorus, songbirds greet the dawn, and people everywhere sing and dance. What do we all have in common? Visitors of all ages will find out in February, when Wild Music: Sounds & Songs of Life, a brand new, hands-on exhibit that explores sound and music in nature and in life, makes its debut at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum located at 1500 E Main St. in Ashland, Oregon.
Wild Music invites visitors of all ages to expand their understanding of what makes music. Through whimsical, hands-on activities, they’ll not only hear the music that surrounds them every day, but they’ll see and even feel it too. They’ll discover that nature is filled with “musicians” that create distinct musical masterpieces to communicate with and relate to one another. And they’ll explore how human music is inspired by the music of other living creatures – from tiny insects to giant whales.
Highlights of Wild Music include:
  • Three different “soundscapes” that invite visitors to explore sound and music that comes from the ocean, the forest, and the city. Visitors will learn to interpret spectrograms, or “pictures,” of bird songs, learn what whale cries tell us about the animal’s life cycle, see samples of instruments from around the world, experiment with how sound travels underwater, explore how music influences memory, and more.
  • The Jamming Room, a soundproof practice studio where visitors can use pre-recorded audio soundscapes, animal voices, percussion instruments, and live vocals to compose their own songs.
  • The Bioacoustic Lab, where visitors can experiment with how the human voice works and how it compares to that of other animals, specifically birds. Here, visitors can explore a model of the human larynx and the bird syrinx, use an electrolarynx to “speak” without using their voices, and use a set of vibrating metal reeds to “feel” sound.
  • The Power of Sound and Music Theater, where visitors can sit back, relax, and experience sounds from around the world. The seven-minute, sound-driven video demonstrates – both visually and audibly – how animals use sound to identify themselves, communicate, and form and nurture social groups.
ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum is proud to be partnering with Rogue World Music and local organizations around the Rogue Valley to provide unique programming at the Museum for the exhibit’s duration (Saturday, February 2 – Monday, September 2). This exhibit is made possible by Richard and Elizabeth LeVitt, a Community Grant of the Oregon Community Foundation, Lithia 4 Kids, the Olsrud Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, the Jackson County Cultural Coalition and Anonymous donors.
For more information please call 541-482-6767 or visit scienceworksmuseum.org.
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Kids Sukkot Discovery Lab Coming to Southern Oregon!

On Thursday, September 27th, Chabad Jewish Center of Southern Oregon will be hosting its first ever Sukkot Discovery Lab just for kids, part of their newly launched Ckids STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, art, math) programming.

Blending hands-on, STEM-based experiments and creations with the how’s and why’s of the ancient Jewish hut in the desert, the Sukkot Discovery Lab will launch a new year of CKids Club workshops right here in the heart of Southern Oregon.

One of the first biblical holidays, Sukkot commemorates the divine protection the Jewish people experienced during their 40-year sojourn in the desert. Thousands of years later, Jews across the world continue to relive this event within the walls of a hand built sukkah.

Today, children will gain a new insight into the mysterious qualities of Sukkot through the lens of science. Children will get hands-on as they make cloud slime, STEM sukkah-building and a pop art flag!

The Discovery Lab is the first of monthly workshops run by Chabad which inspires children to create meaningful impact in their communities through fun, educational programs that explore the richness of Judaism. This year’s workshops include Hanukkah Chocolate coin making, Goodness grows, Tie dye Hamentashen, the art of giving, Passover Matzah Chef and more.

Designed for ages 2-13, the events will be held at the Chabad Jewish Center at 1474 Siskiyou Blvd in Ashland. The Sukkot Discovery lab will be held on September 27 at 5pm and includes delicious pizza in the “hut”.

To unleash your child’s inner mad scientist and register, please visit www.chabadofashland.org or call Faigy at 541-482-2778.

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Pterosaurs Exhibit opens at ScienceWorks Museum in Ashland

Pterosaurs explores what a pterosaur is (and is not), when and where they lived, how they moved and ate, and how diverse the Pterosauria order is.

 

The exhibit is geared towards a 6th-grade reading level, but families with both younger and older children will find things to do. Compare yourselves against the scale model of the Quetzalcoatlus, the largest pterosaur known at 18 feet tall and with wingspan of 31 feet.

Examine the fossils of the more-commonly known Pteronodon and Pterodacytl species to see the variety of sizes and shapes that a pterosaur had.
For those looking for an interactive, virtual-reality environment, two stations are set up so that you can pretend to be a pterosaur, flying through the sky to catch your dinner of bugs, or to avoid being eaten for dinner yourself!

 

 
Release your artistic side with a third VR station that allows you to investigate the colors, feathers, skin, blades, bills and wings that pterosaurs had, and design your own! As the summer progresses, additional stations and options will be added to the exhibit, so be sure to visit more than once to see how the exhibit changes and grows.

 

Entry to the exhibit is included with the price of admission to the museum, and the exhibit will be open to the public from April 28th through December 31st. Starting in May, the museum’s days and hours will change to Tuesday-Sunday, 10AM – 5PM for both the academic year and summer months.
For more information 541-482-6767 or visit scienceworksmuseum.org

 

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Railroad Park Opens for the Season

City of Medford Railroad Park Opens for the Season
Opening day for Medford Railroad Park is Sunday, April 8th, 2018! Dozens of volunteers have been working hard to bring you an even more special park! Ride diesel trains and a motor car, view unique model railroad layouts and the Hogwarts Express, ride Thomas and Percy, tour historical railroad equipment and more. Bring the whole family, pack a lunch or eat at the Park. It’s fun for all ages.
Medford Garden Railroaders. See a G-scale logging railroad, trolley barn and lines, and seaport areas, including five water features! A separate Thomas and Friends garden railway will especially please the youngest railroad lovers, and the Hogwarts layout, added for Harry Potter fans, is designed so that tweens can run the Hogwarts Express train by remote control. New this year “Butterfly Garden” with over 150 plants designed to attract butterflies, bats & Osprey.

 

Rogue Valley Model Railroad Club. Ten HO scale trains, engines whining and horns blaring, operate across hundreds of scale miles of track, through working signals and crossing gates at the Highway 99 railroad crossing, between Medford and Klamath Falls, on the Pacific and Eastern Railroad, including the heavily forested climb out of Keno along the Klamath River. Children can help operate trains on a special HO layout.
The Southern Oregon Live Steamers. 2018 is their 37th year of offering free train rides to the public. Pulled by a variety of locomotives on almost two miles of track, each exciting train ride takes about nine minutes to go over and through all the tunnels, bridges and hills. The park favorite for the very young is the Thomas and Friends loop encircling the large Garden Railroad layout, with Thomas and Percy leading special trains built for small kids only.
The Southern Oregon Railway Historical Society. Tour restored 1910 and 1942 cabooses and a 1959 flanger (a type of snowplow), and view restoration work under way on Medco 4 ─ a local 1925 steam locomotive. Ride the motor car, visit the Museum, and the “Learning Caboose.”
The Railroad Park is open to the public from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the second and fourth Sundays of each month from April through October. The park is operated by volunteers, and admission and parking are free. No tax monies are used in the operation of this park. All four clubs rely on the generosity of the public for donations to help offset the various costs involved in maintaining and expanding this one-of-a-kind Northwest attraction. This popular attraction is a unique collaboration between the City of Medford Parks and Recreation Department, the Medford Fire Department, and the four volunteer-based clubs.
The Railroad Park is located adjacent to Fire Station No. 4 at the intersection of Table Rock Road and Berrydale Avenue in Medford, just a few blocks north of the Rogue Valley Mall.
Note: Parking is limited. We encourage visitors to carpool or use public transport when possible.
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Annual Umpqua Festival of Lights and World’s Largest Nutcracker 

 

Driving through Riverbend Park in Roseburg, Oregon, you will see over  90 animated displays which are lit up by over 500,000 festive lights. This must see Holiday spectacle showcases many fun and unique lights shaped into everything from the classic Santa to dinosaurs and spaceships. New to the lightshow this year are character depictions from Disney’s Frozen. You will also be able to see the World’s Largest Nutcracker!

While you enjoy the lights be sure to tune into the local radio station provided at the entrance which will be playing Christmas music to complete your Holiday joy ride.

This family friendly event is not only a perfect outing, but the $10.00 per car entry fee also provides scholarships as well as funding for local community projects.

The Umpqua Festival of Lights opens at the end of November  and runs through January 1st.            You can drive through the park Sunday-Thursday from 5:30 pm to 9 pm & Friday and Saturday nights from 5:30 pm to 10 pm.

Wagon rides through the lights are also available on Friday and Saturday’s from 5:30 pm to 10pm and on Sunday’s from 5:30 pm to 9 pm for $5.

Before you enter the park stop by the Holiday Village to visit Santa, model trains, cookies, warm cider, and purchase souvenirs. The Holiday Village is open every night with free entry until Christmas Eve.

Gather your family and friends for a drive to the Umpqua Valley Festival of Lights located at 380 River Forks Park Rd, Roseburg, OR 97471.

A wonderful tradition for the season.

http://www.umpquavalleyfestivaloflights.com

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Grants Pass Christmas Parade

Every year the Christmas parade in downtown Grants Pass delights the community. Parade starts at 6th & K Streets and heads North on 6th to G Street.

Bundle up and bring the family to enjoy the parade. 

https://travelgrantspass.com/event-calendar/christmas-parade/

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Providence Festival of Trees

Safeway Providence Festival of Trees

Celebrating a community holiday tradition

Walk through a wonderland of beautiful trees and holiday displays. Shop in the Murphy Co. Holiday Gift Shop, have your picture taken with Santa Claus brought to us by S&B James Construction, take your Teddy Bear through the Providence Medical Group Teddy Bear Hospital, enjoy holiday entertainment and interactive display from Professional Credit Service, and enter to win exciting raffle items.

 http://oregon.providence.org/our-services/p/providence-festival-of-trees-medford/

 

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