There are more "science fans", and parent-child science popularization is on fire

People's Daily reporter Wang Yunna, Song Haoxin, Guan Xuanyue, Cao Wenxuan

"Curiosity is human nature, and the guidance and cultivation of scientific interest should start from the doll, so that they can understand more scientific knowledge, master scientific methods, and form a large number of young people with the potential of scientists."

In recent years, the social atmosphere of loving science and advocating science has become increasingly strong, which is also reflected in the cultural tourism consumer market. According to data reported by some travel platforms, during holidays such as May Day, summer, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day this year, the booking popularity of parent-child travel and popular science travel continued to heat up, and gradually became a new growth point in the cultural tourism consumer market.

Hunan Xiangxi Global Geopark Science Popularization In-depth Tour is very popular

With towering cliffs on one side and a mysterious and secluded Fenglin Gorge on the other, Peng Jingyi, a 12-year-old sixth-grade graduate, feels "terrifying" as she carefully walks on the dwarf glass boardwalk above the Dekun Grand Canyon in Hunan Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. She didn't go far before she was attracted by the layers of rock on the cliff and couldn't help but stop.

"These stratiform rocks are what we often call strata. After hundreds of millions of years of geological evolution, rocks of different ages have been deposited and washed by water, gradually forming curved lines. Dekun Grand Canyon is located at the critical point of climbing from the third step to the second step of the continental terrain, and the geological fault has created a magnificent canyon landform. Peng Qiaoqiao, the father on the side, said.

Peng Qiao is a senior engineer specializing in geology at the Hunan Provincial Institute of Natural Resources Survey and a geological tourism enthusiast. Over the years, Peng Qiao often traveled with his family to famous mountains and rivers, in addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery, he would also popularize the knowledge of geology from his family, especially his children, to make the trip more enjoyable. How to stimulate young people's curiosity to explore nature and sow the seeds of science? Peng Qiaoqiao has his own opinion: "Through popular science tourism, children can better contact nature and absorb knowledge in the 'walking classroom'. ”

Not long ago, Peng Qiao took the whole family to Dekun Grand Canyon, Dwarf Village Glass Plank Road and other places located in the core area of Xiangxi Global Geopark, to explore the long history of the ancient earth and perceive the magic of nature.

Xiangxi Global Geopark is located on the slope of the eastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Karst Plateau, which not only includes scenic spots such as the Dekun Grand Canyon and 18-dong Village, but also has two "golden nails" of the global Cambrian standard stratigraphic section - Guzhang step and Paibi step. In 2020, Xiangxi Global Geopark was awarded the title of UNESCO "Global Geopark".

"During the holidays, we came to the 'Natural Museum' and opened the 'Geology Textbook', so that children could feel the charm of geological wonders and learn geological science." Peng Qiao said.

"It was a particularly rewarding trip! I heard that there are many paleontological fossils hidden in the canyon, as well as plants unique to the world. We teenagers should also work together to protect the geological treasures of the Grand Canyon and let more people understand Mother Earth here. After finishing her trip to the Grand Canyon, Peng Jingyi was still unfinished and was already looking forward to her next trip.

With its peculiar natural ecology and mysterious national culture, Xiangxi Global Geopark is like a symphony that has flowed for hundreds of millions of years, attracting tourists from all over the world. Since the beginning of this year, the major attractions of Xiangxi Global Geopark have been crowded, and in-depth science popularization tourism has become a new hot spot and trend.

From pure "sightseeing tour" to "popular science theme in-depth tour", Xiangxi Global Geopark has ushered in new opportunities for development. The major scenic spots in the park do a good job of geological relics articles, and develop high-quality tourism routes based on geological tourism.

Some scenic spots have launched geological science popularization courses. For example, the Xiaozhai Wonders Area has launched a popular science course for middle school students, where teachers lead children to hike cliff boardwalks, use magnifying glasses to observe rocks, complete rock observation record forms, and analyze canyon geomorphological characteristics. At the same time, geological research tools are used to measure latitude and longitude and altitude, draw simple maps based on measurement data, and explore the trajectory of geological changes.

Zhang Yuanhai, senior engineer at the Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and an expert in the evaluation of global geoparks, believes that the rise of popular science tourism allows people to gain valuable knowledge from geological relics, and at the same time makes more people realize the importance of protecting geological relics and helping the protection and continuation of geological relics. "The evolution of the Earth can give many implications to mankind. For example, when observing the fossil remains of paleontology, visitors can learn about the catastrophic events experienced by paleontology, so as to reflect on the present and think about how human beings should be more friendly with the natural environment and achieve harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Zhang Yuanhai said.

Sichuan Zigong Dinosaur Museum immersive exploration

In the Exploration Hall of the Sichuan Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Ms. Jin's family from Shanghai experienced the incubation process of dinosaur eggs in front of the "Temperature Incubation" exhibition item - by touching the temperature sensing device, a dinosaur egg broke the shell, and then gradually grew into a small dinosaur and ran away. "The activities of the Discovery Hall allow visitors to change from passive acceptance to active ingestion, allowing us to have an unforgettable experience in relaxation and pleasure." Ms. Jin told reporters that the child has been longing for the Zigong Dinosaur Museum for a long time, and this year finally got his wish.

Zigong Dinosaur Museum is a large-scale site-like natural museum built on the "Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Group Site". The "museum fever" continues to heat up, and the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, as one of the world's three major dinosaur site museums, is even more popular "out of the circle". The museum created 18 activities such as immersive interaction, and also broke the time boundary to open the "night tour mode". Find hidden "mysterious treasures", come face-to-face with dinosaur experts, explore the magical world of dinosaurs... Since 2015, Zigong Dinosaur Museum has held a group night tour of "Through the Jurassic Dinosaur Wonderful Night" every year. This year's campaign recruited 100 groups of parent-child families to carry out different activities for different groups and different ages.

How to make fossils "warm", guide young people to understand the stories behind the exhibits, and achieve the purpose of independent inquiry to obtain knowledge? Inside the heritage museum, parents and children with notes in their hands can be seen everywhere, as if they are exploring secrets and looking for answers. This is exactly the "Dinosaur Incident of the Little Detective of Scientific Expeditions" science popularization experience activity "customized" for parent-child families, which allows children to jump out of the classroom and obtain scientific knowledge through information collection, clue investigation, reasoning analysis, practical operation and other methods. "We are developing towards fun, life, and novelty, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a popular science journey that pursues the ancient and explores the mystery." Zhou Yukun, deputy director of Zigong Dinosaur Museum, introduced.

There is a 50-meter-long and 8-meter-high Jurassic stratigraphic section in the museum, which is also the largest indoor Jurassic stratigraphic section in China, which is particularly spectacular. In addition to reflecting the burial environment of dinosaurs, such stratigraphic profiles also include many typical sedimentary structures and geological phenomena such as sedimentary rotation, rock stratigraphy, stratigraphic extinction, rock nodules, and spherical weathering. On the geological section, 3D mapping technology is used to transform the geological section into a deductive curtain, while the stairs on the side are "transformed" into seats, where children can have an immersive science class.

"There are so many unsolved mysteries in dinosaurs, they not only live for a long time, but also have a variety of forms. With the help of high-tech means to create unique theme interactive activities, the attraction of Zigong Dinosaur Museum will naturally become stronger and stronger. Jiang Shan, a member and researcher of the National Paleontological Fossil Expert Committee, said. So far, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum has attracted about 900,000 visitors this year, an increase of 179% over the same period last year.

Hainan Wenchang Cosmodrome "Aerospace +" scene rich experience

“3、2、1...... Launch! "Recently, at a science popularization activity at the Wenchang Aerospace Science Center in Hainan, when the children saw the Long March series of carrier rocket models, they immediately burst into cheers." The child has loved rockets since he was a child, and we hope that he can learn more about rockets here. Wang Yixuan, a tourist from Guangdong, told reporters that this is the second time that his family has come to Wenchang this year to experience popular science tourism.

Due to unique geographical conditions, Wenchang Cosmodrome is the only low-latitude coastal launch site in mainland China and the first open coastal space launch base in mainland China. "Focusing on the theme of aerospace, we build a bridge between tourism, education, culture and science and technology to achieve the integrated development of tourism resources." Chen Qiwei, deputy director of Wenchang Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, introduced that in recent years, Wenchang has continuously enriched "aerospace +" tourism products, and attractions such as the Aerospace Science Popularization Hall and the Aerospace Science Popularization Center have been opened one after another.

Not long ago, a space-based beach parent-child activity with the theme of "Coastal Tour and Dreaming of the World" was held in Wenchang. "We have designed different activities such as space science popularization classes and 'flying rocket' science experiments." Huang Lili, director of Wenchang Aerospace Science Museum, introduced that since the opening of the Science Museum, various popular science tourism activities have attracted more than 400,000 tourists.

"Wenchang has a series of natural and cultural landscapes such as the coast and coconut groves. Around the 'Aerospace Science Popularization Tour', we will string the scenic resources into lines and surfaces. Chen Qiwei introduced that nowadays, Wenchang's "aerospace +" cultural tourism scene is constantly "updated", which not only enriches the experience of tourists, but also drives the local economic development into the fast lane.

It is reported that in Wenchang, an average of more than 60,000 people per space launch poured into Longlou Town, which is less than 5 kilometers away from the launch site. Tourists are keen to "watch rockets take off on the coast of coconut groves", and locals have switched to eating "space tourism rice". The once little-known town of Longlou has increased its GDP from 589 million yuan to more than 4 billion yuan in 10 years.

"In addition to aerospace, Hainan also has unique marine and tropical rainforest resources, and as people's personalized needs for travel purposes grow, popular science tourism will unlock great potential." Guo Qiang, Dean of the School of Tourism of Hainan University, believes that by integrating local natural nature, culture, science and technology and other pan-tourism resources, popular science tourism will evolve more innovative scenes, enrich the tourist experience and promote the development of related industries.