Playful Marbles

Eli Whitney Museum

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Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Playful Marbles: Finding a Rhythm

Ages 9-12
9 am-3pm

Thumbnail of Playful Marbles project

Four hundred years ago, the Italian mathematician Galileo constructed a telescope and turned it toward the heavens. He changed the way we thought. Galileo was a gifted experimenter. He used marbles to identify the laws of motion. To understand marbles, he had to play with marbles. After all, marbles already know the laws of motion. In our lifetime, the late sculptor George Rhoads used Galileo’s laws of motion and his own playful spirit to create his audio-kinetic sculptures. Hamden residents may remember watching one of his many marble sculptures on display for years in the Hamden Plaza. One of his other works remains today, spinning proudly in the wind. Join us in constructing your own marble wall - smaller than ours at the museum - to take with you at the end of the day. Work with others in the class to connect your walls together and set them off as a chain reaction - using marbles, of course.

Fee: $70
Educator: Andrew Sargent

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