A ceremony to receive three Shell Questacon Science Circus models was held at VWM Discovery Room in the presence of Mr. Hugh Borrowman, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Nguyễn Hữu Toàn, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Bích Vân, Director of the Vietnamese Women’s Museum and its staff.

Ms. Nguyễn Thị Bích Vân speaking

School children from 7 to 13 years of age had a nice surprise when seeing the guests uncovering the models. The attraction of these models lies not only in their colors and good presentation but also in their uniqueness and novelty in the way of playing and discovering interesting things.

 

Uncovering three models

The “Balancing Balls” helps children to understand washing machines, how they can spin clothing. The “Brahma Tower” helps them in their thinking of an interesting math formula. And the “Balancing nails” forces children to think, try and find a way for their installation to understand a physical principle: the lower the weight is the best the object can balance. This principle has been used to build houses and huts without nails. 

Children interested in playing with the models 

At the event, Mr. Hugh Borrowman said: “We do not only learn in school but can have a life-long learning and learn everywhere”. These interesting models will help you widen your mind with a new approach. We want to send you a message: I listen and I forget, I see and I remember, I do  and I understand”.

On behalf of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Mr. Nguyễn Hữu Toàn stated: “We will invite our colleagues to visit these models and consider them an example of a new approach to museum educational activities.”

For her part, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Bích Vân expressed sincere thanks to the long-term cooperation between the Australian embassy and VWM in the past years. She hoped for further development of this relationship.

Hà Minh Triết, 13, who attended the event, has this to say: “I love these games. They are novel but not easy to practice. Finally, we could discover a way to play them. I think many of my friends will be very interested in these models.”

The Shell Questacon Science Circus models put into use in the Discovery Room will help initiate interesting interactive activities and it is expected to attract a number of children and families in the near future.