HAMPTON, Va. – –
The Virginia Air and Space Center, home to relics from Joint Base Langley-Eustis’ rich history, is hosting an interactive traveling exhibit called MathAlive!, which started Oct. 22, 2016 and runs through January 8, 2017 as part of a military tour to give back to the families of service members.
The educational exhibit travels to locations with a high concentration of military families and provides visitors with 40 different interactive activities such as video games, sports, design and music, attempting to make learning mathematics an enjoyable experience.
Todd Probert, Raytheon’s mission support vice president, wants to highlight the diversity of the exhibits that take a different approach to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, to help children get excited about learning with games like virtual snowboarding and a 360-degree freeze action camera.
“It’s critical for our nation’s prosperity that we grow a solid cadre of engineering and math experts for tomorrow’s existence,” said Probert. “This is particularly important when it comes to the military. If we have a strong core of engineers and scientist that’s going to help us be stronger in the future.”
With the importance of STEM learning, Probert stressed the need to expose military families in areas such as Hampton Roads to different forms of learning.
“We want to bring STEM to children in exhibits that they understand and relate to,” said Probert during a school’s visit to the exhibit. “As you walk around and see the children playing, each of them has found something different to be excited about.”
The MathAlive! exhibit is designed to ignite an interest in STEM and illustrates how children may use these subjects throughout everyday life.
For more information about the MathAlive! exhibit and the various exhibits available, visit http://www.vasc.org/.