San Jose’s Tech Interactive: Learning about sustainable futures
Tech Interactive, located in San Jose, California, is a world-class science and technology centre. It offers a wide variety of hands-on activities, exploratory labs, design challenge experiences, and interactive exhibits on climate change, robotics, innovations in healthcare, cybersecurity, and so much more. Tech Interactive has been around since 1998 and welcomes over 200,000 visitors of all ages annually.
I had the opportunity to visit Tech Interactive this summer and was drawn into all of the interactive activities, which were fun and educational not only for kids but also for adults. The exhibits that really drew me in were the “Solve for Earth” exhibits, which allowed visitors to learn about how we can live sustainably and reduce the impacts of climate change.
At the entrance of these climate change exhibits was a Connection Wall, the purpose of which was to explore ways to live sustainably and understand the role that technology plays in helping us achieve our sustainable goals.
The wall was divided into different sections: energy, water, food, transportation, and biodiversity. The user’s goal was to see how each piece was connected and eventually spark a conversation about how to build a sustainable future.
The Tech Interactive Connection Wall was designed to show how our individual choices and decisions affect our lives and the environment. Each section had a wheel that you could turn to see what the impact was. For example, you could turn food into a monoculture, which meant clearing land and reducing wildlife habitats. It also increased the amount of water needed. But if you spun the wheel to show mixed land use and different types of crops, you would see how the local biodiversity would come back, and the water usage would go down.
Although I already have extensive knowledge about all of these things, it was informative and helpful to see visually what impacts our actions have on the environment. Something like this is a great visual for younger people who may learn about it in school but can’t actually grasp the magnitude of these issues.
Another interactive and educational activity was called Sustainable Cities. On the screen, you could choose different aspects (transportation, land use, buildings) to create a city, and you would be ranked on how green your city was. What’s even cooler is that you were able to see the city in 3D being “built” right in front of you. It was a very innovative way to show people the importance of green cities and what contributes to them reaching this status.
Another fun activity at Tech Interactive was a food waste fridge with replicates of different food items (flour, condiments, vegetables), and when you lifted each one, they would tell you how long their fridge life was and at what temperatures they lasted best. It was also designed to teach you about what’s in season and what “use-by” dates on food mean.
The Solve For Earth exhibits included many other activities on waste, water, scientific stories, emerging technologies, biodiversity, and so much more. Every activity was a unique way to show what a sustainable future could look like. No matter your age, there was something new for you to learn about.
Exhibits like the ones at Tech Interactive are great examples to teach people about the issues of climate change in a fun way. They also provide visitors with the solutions we need to create a sustainable future. It’s hard for me to explain in words how amazing these exhibits are, so I encourage anyone who’s in the San Jose area to visit this exhibition; you’d be happy you did.
