Wentz Gravitram, Exploration Place, Wichita, Kansas
Posted by: 
sshelle
N 37° 41.348 W 097° 20.867
14S E 645675 N 4172608
rolling balls with no noise other than the clanging of the parts inside, but fun to watch nonetheless; right next to the ticket counter inside the front entrance
Waymark Code: WME0JN
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 03/17/2012
Views: 9
The Wentz Gravitram is inside The Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas. There are about 5 balls that are continuously moving--there are corkscrews and bicycle chains to elevate the balls, and then gravity brings them down through wire tunnels at all angles. Often a ball will stop until its progress is triggered by the arrival of another ball. There are claws that raise balls up a few feet, switchbacks that direct every other ball to one side or the other, and a funnel at the bottom that takes the balls back to the elevators.
The Exploration Place is a neat place. It is a hands-on, children's museum with static and traveling exhibits. Currently the traveling exhibit is the GPS Adventures Exhibit about geocaching. It stays until April 15, and is closely followed by Star Wars. Other exhibits include Ag-magination, an interactive display about Kansas farming (with a combine cab to climb in, interactive displays about aquifers and milk, a 'vet hospital' where kids can be a vet and do exams, and a model cow to 'milk' as well as pictures of turn-of-the-century farming), flight (with exhibits to manipulate, planes to climb in, virtual flying, wind tunnels, etc.), Kansas natural history (live native animals from tarantulas to prairie dogs, water play features, a tornado tube, a fossil pit, etc.), and a medieval castle (catapults, building arches, the 'stocks' for misbehavior, puppets and a stage, simple machines, a garden you can harvest, chain mail, pulleys, etc.). It kept us busy for hours, and we didn't even do many of the hands-on puzzles and brain teasers scattered around!
The museum is a great buy at $9.50 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-11, seniors (65+) are $8. The museum is closed Mondays; Tuesdays through Saturdays the hours are 10-5; Sundays it is open noon to 5.
More information about this particular gravitram from the www.gravitram.com:
Gravitram (Wichita) at Exploration Place Science Center in Wichita, Kansas, March 2010 --The latest Gravitram in this series was created by father-son team of Shab and Ariel Levy. This Gravitram is the 14th in the series and was created 37 years after the first one on this page. Its base measure 4' x 4' and is 8' in height. It uses 1" ball bearings and features a few new "tricks" not found in previous sculptures. The tracks are made of 1/8" copper-coated steel rods.
Title or Name of Installment: Wentz Gravitram
Artist: Shab and Ariel Levy
Date Created or Placed: March 2010
Website: [Web Link]
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