South Florida Museum’s new hands-on exhibit looks at sports

In one part of the exhibit, kids and adults throw a ball into a long-netted tunnel, as hard as they can. Sensors measure the speed of each pitcher’s fastball.

In another, in a kind of high-tech game of whack-a-mole, participants stand in front of a board with a couple dozen lights. When a light comes on, the participant touches it at as fast as possible. A digital readout keeps tracks of reaction times.

Those displays and others — a wheelchair race, an exhibit that measures how long you can hang from a bar and one that measures your flexibility — are part of “Sportsology,” an exhibit that’s opening this week at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton. The various stations in the exhibit are all about sports and what happens in your body when you’re taking part in athletic endeavors.

“They provide metrics and they talk about the anatomical system that’s involved in that activity,” said Jessica Schubick, communications manager for the museum. “It looks at the physiology and the science of sports.”

The entire exhibit is consciously designed to be family friendly, Schubick said. So all the activities are going to be fun for kids (it’s recommended for about age 5 and older) and edifying for adults.

That exhibit that measures your fastball, for example, offers information about the muscles involved. The “hang-time” station has a high bar for adults and a lower one for kids. You hold on for as long as you can, and after you’ve tested your endurance you get information about what happens to your muscles and your breathing while you’re hanging there, and how you can improve.

“Sportsology” is a touring exhibit that originated at ScienceWorks Museum in Ashland, Ore. This is its first visit to the Bradenton area, but it’s been a huge hit with museum visitors in other parts of the country.

It opens at South Florida Museum on Friday, and it will remain in the first floor East Gallery until Aug. 14.

On Thursday, the museum will host an opening reception for the exhibit. Visitors can enjoy some light food, buy beer and wine, experience the exhibit, and discuss the different activities with museum personnel. The reception is free for museum members and $5 for nonmembers. Reservations are required.

The seven pieces within the “Sportsology” exhibit:

“Fast Ball”: Test your pitching speed by throwing a tennis ball at a bull’s eye. Your pitch speed will be verified by a laser gun and you’ll learn about the muscles that help you make the throw and what goes into a good pitch.

“Wheel Chair Racers”: Using stationary wheelchair racers, you can test your speed against an opponent. Breathing matters as you learn about the role that oxygen plays in making muscles work.

“Get a Grip”: How does your strength-to-weight ratio measure up? Learn why grip matters in such sports as gymnastics and rock climbing.

“Vertical Vault”: Compare your standing reach to your jump reach to learn exactly what your jump height is.

“Reaction Attraction”: How good is your hand-eye coordination and reaction time? Find out by seeing how quick and accurate you are at hitting the right buttons in this life-size Simon-like game.

“Hang Time”: How do muscle fibers react when you have to hang on for a long time?

“Flex-Ability”: How do muscles, tendons and ligaments work together to let you stretch your abilities? Have a seat, stretch to your toes and find out.

One of the overall messages of “Sportsology,” Schubick said, is that the brain is as important as the body in sports. By understanding physiology, we’ve learned to excel.

“Human being are not the strongest, we’re not the fastest, we’re not the most agile,” she said. “We have this thin skin that gets injured easily. And yet we’re this dominant species. We’ve used our brains to figure out how to solve these problems.”

Details: May 19-Aug. 14, South Florida Museum, 201 10th St. W., Bradenton. Museum admission $19 adults, $17 seniors, $14 children 4-12, free for children 3 and younger. 941-746-4131, southfloridamuseum.org.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 4:07 PM with the headline "South Florida Museum’s new hands-on exhibit looks at sports."