We want to let you know that a popular interactive window exhibit is going into storage soon, and we aren’t sure how long it may be before it’s available to the general public again. We wanted to let you know that you have another week or so to experience it. This August, Mindport received a generous donation from our friends and neighbors at Natural Systems Design: a large aluminum water table, designed for stream simulation models, that they were no longer using in their practice. Since its installation this summer, based on some rough guessing, we estimate that nearly 1,000 visitors have interacted with the stream table.
The Emriver aluminum table is a modular and portable system perfect for research and teaching of river dynamic principles, and we found that it fits pretty well in our front window. It allows a handful of people to enjoy it at one time, pretty comfortably. It can be used for a number of purposes, including to demonstrate river conservation principles to people of all ages and educational backgrounds. The table was a perfect fit for the types of pieces here at Mindport-most are accessible to anyone, and each person will come away with their own experience after their interactions with the stream table.
The Emriver company mission is to improve river conservation and science education worldwide with their unique, hands-on stream tables and hydraulic flumes.
The company has developed a color-coded modeling media that provides remarkable visualization of sediment transport processes, showing the beauty in natural systems in a multi-colored landscape. The media is made of post-industrial recycled, ground melamine plastic particles, which you can read more about here. The media demonstrates river behavior and channel morphology with impressive accuracy. You can come in and play with the media, manipulate the landscape, add accessories like bridges, culverts, trees and houses. You can change the water flow rate to simulate a flood or a high rain event. Or, you can create a canyon and watch how a river delta forms. You can cut a straight channel and watch a meandering oxbow river system form. Or, you can just make all the decisions about the landscape yourself and see how the water responds. If you just want to watch the miniature fluvial process, you can do that either inside or outside, on Holly St. We’re very grateful for this fabulous gift and we have thoroughly enjoyed having it. Having said that, it’s been in the front window since August, and it’s a bit difficult to integrate on the floor with our other interior exhibits at the moment, so it’s going into our storage area for now. We wanted to let you all know, though, in case you haven’t had a chance to experience it yet, or if you wanted to come see it one more time before it gets tucked away for now. When you come in our main entrance, let our docents know that you would like to play with it and they will orient you in the window space. The last day to play with the stream table will be Sunday, February 25. As a reminder, our Sunday hours are 12-5. We hope to see you soon!
The Emriver table on its first day of installation!