Our Exhibits | Catch the Wind

We can feel the wind, but we do not always understand this friendly but sometimes potent force of nature. One of the Museum’s outdoor exploration environments, Catch the Wind gives visitors the opportunity to understand the important role wind plays in the natural world. Several interactive, hands-on activities give you the chance to discover how people, animals and plants move with the air.

Sailboat Pond

Captain a radio-controlled boat in the beautiful 5,000-square-foot elliptical Sailboat Pond.

Sailboat Table

Choose a sail, put it on your boat, and see how it moves with the wind.

Ornithopter

Fly in a one-of-a-kind machine that raises you into the air using 12-foot flapping wings that model the motion of insects and birds – Da Vinci would be proud!

Giant Wings

Flap giant wings to learn how insects fly by moving their wings forward and backward, not up and down.

Mist Garden

Experiment with mist to discover how air moves around different objects, including your own body.

Seed Tower

Launch giant seed pod models and watch them float, parachute, tumble, spin and glide to the ground to explore the aerodynamics of seeds. The longer a seed stays in the air, the further the wind can carry it from the parent plant and the better chance it has of surviving.

Floating Rings

Make vapor rings like the ones that birds use to ride and soar overhead. Shoot air rings from air cannons at mirrored aluminum discs to reveal the ever-changing patterns of invisible wind.

Dancing Plants

Steer a high-powered fan across trees and tall grasses to see how plants survive by adjusting and adapting to wind.

Flying Birds

Learn to identify birds by their flight patterns. Do they flap their wings continuously, or take breaks and glide? Do they fly in a straight line or swoop up and down? The exhibit provides an opportunity to discover the nuances of something we see all the time, but rarely pause to consider.

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Support provided by the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation.