Eat It Up!

Now Open!

Eat Smart. Play Hard. Have Fun. The choice is yours!

Imagination Station is excited to announce its newest experience, Eat It Up!, presented by ProMedica.

Get your heart pumping as you take on the Wheel of Fire and the Heart Rate Rally, Smash Your Food to smithereens, and literally Get in the Action. Eat It Up!, a highly interactive exhibition focused on nutrition and exercise tells the story of how the choices you make today affect your body. Eat Smart. Play Hard. Have Fun. The choice is yours!

Eat It Up!, a permanent 2,000+ square foot exhibition area, containing 7 major exhibits, a demonstration area and larger than life graphics will include:

 

The Wheel of Fire

The challenge of eating well and staying fit can often feel like a cycle of frustration and repetition without ever seeing visual proof of your hard work. The Wheel of Fire will give you just that – a tangible look at how exercise burns calories.

Functioning similarly to a rotary treadmill, but over 8 feet tall, just step inside and begin walking. A digital read out on the inside of the wheel gives instant feedback that your physical action is making a difference. The faster you walk or run, the higher the 10 foot flames will grow, showing calories virtually burning off.

 

Lifestyle Camera

Have you ever wondered what you’ll look like when you get older? Or how the choices you make today will affect your body as you age?

The Lifestyle Camera will ask you a series of questions about your diet, physical activity and lifestyle choices and after snapping a quick photo, will display your future images onto monitors so you can see how the choices you make today can impact how you look in the future.

 

 

Food Feud

Sometimes decisions about what to eat are obvious, carrots vs. a hot dog, a cool glass of water vs. a sugary soda. But what happens when your choices aren’t that clear? Do you think you’d make the right choice between vending machine options or at the ballpark?

Food Feud is a game show that pits food against food, friend against friend, in eating scenarios where the right choice may not be an option. Up to 3 players at a time will be given a choice between food items and asked to choose the better option. Take on your friend and see who scores the highest.

 

Social Table

Ever wonder what affect the choices you make today, like whether or not to go to school or what career choices you make, will have on how long you live?

The Social Table is an interactive, multi-touch experience that teaches the impact of personal choices on life expectancy. Video projected floating icons represent various lifestyle choices including: diet and exercise, environmental and psychological influences, and education and career. Use your hands to push or pull icons into or out of your bay, therefore increasing or decreasing your life expectancy. Gain an understanding of how your choices affect your lifespan and quality of life while socially interacting with each other around the table.

 

 

Smash Your Food

Have you ever wanted to take a burger, an ice cream sundae or a doughnut and smash it to into an unrecognizable mess? Even though some foods, like hamburgers and french fries may be tasty and convenient, they’re also loaded with sugar, salt and oil.

Smash Your Food asks you to enter some basic information, to give you a benchmark for personal comparison. Choose a food you’d like to see decimated and then guess how much sugar, salt and oil is contained within it. Pull the lever and watch as it’s smashed to smithereens. What you’re left with is the uncomfortable truth about how much sugar, salt and oil is contained in your selection and how it compares with what you originally thought.

Get in the Action
This larger than life screen gets you up and moving with exercises like Hip Hop Dance and Tai Chi. Get in the Action engages your mind and body as you maneuver on-screen animations and enjoy a physical, visual and memorable experience.

 

 

Heart Rate Rally…

Ready, Set, Go! Race against your opponent to keep up with an unpredictable light show that gets your whole body moving. Check your heart rate before and after the competition to see the difference in your resting and active heart rates. The Heart Rate Rally shows that exercise can be fun!

 

The Kitchen

Kids learn by doing. In the kitchen, you’ll get hands-on with a variety of topics focused on your health and well-being. Grab a chair, roll up your sleeves and discover more about the food you eat!

On the menu – how to create a healthy pantry! The Kitchen gives you a chance to explore our cupboards and refrigerator stocked with food choices just like at home, and offers healthy tips on stocking your own cupboards.

 

 

Why This Topic Is So Important

Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the last 25 years. For the first time, many children face health issues that used to be reserved for parents and grandparents – diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. As a science center in the state with the 12^th highest rate of childhood obesity in the nation, Imagination Station and ProMedica saw this partnership as an opportunity to directly impact the children in our community by providing accurate nutrition and health information, in a fun, engaging atmosphere.

The topic of nutrition is directly relevant to Imagination Station’s target audience, but it also provided an opportunity to focus on the life sciences and health-related issues, in particular the science of food and the effects of lifestyle on the human body. As with all of Imagination Station’s exhibitions, the exhibits within Eat It Up! will be aligned with the State science academic content standards in both Ohio and Michigan and the National health standards, making the exhibition an extension of the classroom.

“ProMedica is delighted to partner with Imagination Station to create this new exhibition, Eat It Up!.  As part of our mission to improve the health and well-being of those we serve, this partnership is a perfect fit”, said Randy Oostra, President and CEO of ProMedica. “We have worked to share messages with kids and families about the importance of eating well and exercising to stay healthy, and I know this exhibit with its fun, interactive components is a great way to continue sharing that message.”

Eat It Up! Exhibit Guide 6-8 Grades

Eat It Up! Exhibit Guide 3-5 Grades