Snakes, ants, plants – poison danger lurks around every corner!
From the depths of the Columbian rainforest to the pages of classic literary tales, The Power of Poison exhibit explores the roles of poison in nature, history, literature, myth and human health. The exhibit explains how plants and animals use poison to protect themselves from predators, including humans who get too close.
Older kids who love literature, history and science/biology will find this exhibit fascinating. Younger kids will like playing dress-up in the story corner and acting out myths and fairy tales from the exhibit or playing with puppets.
When we visited, kids were playing detective in three different hands-on investigations on a touchscreen – given a set of clues and symptoms,  they had to determine which poison was used.
Was the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland actually sick? You’ll learn about how the use of mercury in hat making led to the saying, “Mad as a hatter.” In literature and myth, Harry Potter and Hercules used potions to overcome evil villains.
Two larger-than-life figures in history, Napoleon and Cleopatra, were both afraid of being poisoned and both used food tasters before they ate. Cleopatra also used poison on her enemies – and forced her slaves to test the potions to make sure the poison would work!
The exhibit includes a 15-minute interactive show that uses forensic science to solve a real life murder mystery, a mid-19th century arsenic poisoning.
– Diane Radloff

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