Did you know that there are 33 known species of piranhas?
Without leaving Queens you can now take a voyage along the world’s widest and most biologically diverse river in the New York Hall of Science’s new bilingual (English/Spanish) exhibition “The Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes & Other Riches.” It explores the biodiversity of the Amazon region, as well as the scientific field research and resource management being practiced there, and the ways people celebrate the Amazon River.
Second graders from P.S. 16 in Corona spent the morning of Thursday, May 6 at the exhibition opening. They participated in a variety of interactive activities, including wrestling with a life-sized, soft, sculpted anaconda, examining animations of four species of piranhas and their feeding strategies, comparing the jaws of an extinct “mega-piranha” to those of modern piranhas and reaching inside the open belly of a replica piraíba (largest Amazonian catfish) to find out what it eats. They also observed live stingrays, tetra fish and piranhas, while touching an electrical current producing device to experience the zap of a tiny eel. They reached into a tank of wet leaf litter to search for muck fish and put on dolphin hats, anaconda tails and stingray vests to join an Amazonian festival.
After learning about the animals found in the Amazon River, students were taught about the true perils facing the region today – damming rivers, pollution from gold mining, cattle ranching, over-fishing, bio-piracy, poaching and logging.
“After your Amazon Voyage, that exotic far away river won’t seem so far away,” said Margaret Honey, president and CEO of the New York Hall of Science. “And it’s all right here, this summer, at NYSCI.”
“The Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes & Other Riches” exhibit is open until August 22 at the New York Hall of Science, located at 47-01 111th Street in Corona. For more information, call 718-699-0005.
