Greetings!
The class returned to EPCOT today, and this time we got to explore how the park makes science fun and understandable for everyone.
Our main activity for the day was to explore the Land and the Seas pavilions in Future World and discover how Disney uses science to tell stories. The Land pavilion is home to two rides: Soarin’ Around the World and Living with the Land. Soarin’ takes guests on a trip around the world to places like Africa and Paris, France. Not only is the ride fun, but you also get to see (and smell) different places around the world. Also, Living with the Land is a great example of how Disney uses entertainment to teach its guests science. This relaxing boat ride takes guests through different types of lands, like a forest and farmlands, before going through EPCOT’s actual working greenhouses where biotechnology is used to grow plants that are used in the parks. The food grown in the greenhouses is used at the two restaurants at the Living with the Land pavilion and at restaurants in the other parks. Some of the food grown is even used to feed animals at Animal Kingdom. Guests are immersed in this scientific experience without even realizing it, whether they are enjoying the attractions or grabbing a bite to eat.
Next we visited the Seas. There we explored EPCOT’s huge aquarium which had fish, dolphins, sharks and sting rays. We also did Turtle Talk with Crush from “Finding Nemo.” This is one great example of Disney does a great job at integrating its own fictional world with the education of real marine life. Kids get to talk to Crush about what it’s like to be a sea turtle and Crush gets to ask questions about humans. Crush really talks to the audience so this experience was super fun, interactive and educational. At the end of the show, Crush reminded guests to be kind to the ocean–– I thought that was a nice touch. After that, we looked at the aquarium more, and went the manatee tank where a Disney cast member fed the manatee lettuce and talked about the species. Throughout the rest of the Seas, there are signs next to the marine life associating them with Finding Nemo characters with facts about each animal, and the Finding Nemo ride also places projections of these beloved characters like Nemo, Dory and Marlin in the tanks with the real fish.
Another big class activity for today was the 'Behind the Seeds Tour' at EPCOT. On this tour, our tour guide talked about three methods of growing crops, apart from planting them in traditional soil. One of these methods is called hydroponics, and it uses minerals from water to nourish the plant. Aquaponics is very similar to hydroponics, except that live fish populate the water; the fish waste is then converted to nitrogen to trigger more efficient crop growth to the above plants. My (Trey) personal favorite, however, called aeroponics, suspends plants from a beam and allows the root system to be exposed to open air and absorb nutrients from it. Although aeroponics (pictured below) is not yet as practical or efficient as the other two, Disney has partnered with NASA to experiment with the future of this process as it may be used in a longstanding space mission.
Another aspect of the tour that I found very interesting was the fact that Disney has found a way to fit more fish into less space. This may sound cruel at first, but constant exposure to red light has been scientifically proven to be calming to people. Disney applied this knowledge to their animals by placing a red tarp as the roof of the building that houses their fish. Due to the tarp, the sunlight that shines through will shine red, rather than its natural color, causing the fish to feel more comfortable in their environment. The fish pictured below are tilapia, and today we were given the chance to feed them. As they were being fed, we learned that tilapia produce one pound of meat for every pound of food consumed. This one-to-one ratio is extremely efficient, which make tilapia popular among fish farmers like the ones in EPCOT.
In addition to all of these interesting processes that provide hope for the future, we studied our past on Spaceship Earth. This ride, located in the EPCOT geosphere, took us back in time when early humans were first learning to communicate, record information, discover mathematics, and eventually invent the computer. The ride left us with the inspiration that we are capable of creating our own future. Speaking of the future, tomorrow, we will study queuing and wait times at Magic Kingdom. We will look at different techniques Disney uses to make waiting in line more tolerable and discuss some of the rides that use these techniques.
~Trey Jones and Emily Ketterer
The class returned to EPCOT today, and this time we got to explore how the park makes science fun and understandable for everyone.
Our main activity for the day was to explore the Land and the Seas pavilions in Future World and discover how Disney uses science to tell stories. The Land pavilion is home to two rides: Soarin’ Around the World and Living with the Land. Soarin’ takes guests on a trip around the world to places like Africa and Paris, France. Not only is the ride fun, but you also get to see (and smell) different places around the world. Also, Living with the Land is a great example of how Disney uses entertainment to teach its guests science. This relaxing boat ride takes guests through different types of lands, like a forest and farmlands, before going through EPCOT’s actual working greenhouses where biotechnology is used to grow plants that are used in the parks. The food grown in the greenhouses is used at the two restaurants at the Living with the Land pavilion and at restaurants in the other parks. Some of the food grown is even used to feed animals at Animal Kingdom. Guests are immersed in this scientific experience without even realizing it, whether they are enjoying the attractions or grabbing a bite to eat.
Next we visited the Seas. There we explored EPCOT’s huge aquarium which had fish, dolphins, sharks and sting rays. We also did Turtle Talk with Crush from “Finding Nemo.” This is one great example of Disney does a great job at integrating its own fictional world with the education of real marine life. Kids get to talk to Crush about what it’s like to be a sea turtle and Crush gets to ask questions about humans. Crush really talks to the audience so this experience was super fun, interactive and educational. At the end of the show, Crush reminded guests to be kind to the ocean–– I thought that was a nice touch. After that, we looked at the aquarium more, and went the manatee tank where a Disney cast member fed the manatee lettuce and talked about the species. Throughout the rest of the Seas, there are signs next to the marine life associating them with Finding Nemo characters with facts about each animal, and the Finding Nemo ride also places projections of these beloved characters like Nemo, Dory and Marlin in the tanks with the real fish.
Another big class activity for today was the 'Behind the Seeds Tour' at EPCOT. On this tour, our tour guide talked about three methods of growing crops, apart from planting them in traditional soil. One of these methods is called hydroponics, and it uses minerals from water to nourish the plant. Aquaponics is very similar to hydroponics, except that live fish populate the water; the fish waste is then converted to nitrogen to trigger more efficient crop growth to the above plants. My (Trey) personal favorite, however, called aeroponics, suspends plants from a beam and allows the root system to be exposed to open air and absorb nutrients from it. Although aeroponics (pictured below) is not yet as practical or efficient as the other two, Disney has partnered with NASA to experiment with the future of this process as it may be used in a longstanding space mission.
Another aspect of the tour that I found very interesting was the fact that Disney has found a way to fit more fish into less space. This may sound cruel at first, but constant exposure to red light has been scientifically proven to be calming to people. Disney applied this knowledge to their animals by placing a red tarp as the roof of the building that houses their fish. Due to the tarp, the sunlight that shines through will shine red, rather than its natural color, causing the fish to feel more comfortable in their environment. The fish pictured below are tilapia, and today we were given the chance to feed them. As they were being fed, we learned that tilapia produce one pound of meat for every pound of food consumed. This one-to-one ratio is extremely efficient, which make tilapia popular among fish farmers like the ones in EPCOT.
In addition to all of these interesting processes that provide hope for the future, we studied our past on Spaceship Earth. This ride, located in the EPCOT geosphere, took us back in time when early humans were first learning to communicate, record information, discover mathematics, and eventually invent the computer. The ride left us with the inspiration that we are capable of creating our own future. Speaking of the future, tomorrow, we will study queuing and wait times at Magic Kingdom. We will look at different techniques Disney uses to make waiting in line more tolerable and discuss some of the rides that use these techniques.
~Trey Jones and Emily Ketterer
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