Located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia within the spacious and opulent Al-Andalus Mall, Jeddah Science Oasis is a privately owned recreation center with over 70 scientific exhibits on display. The center takes up almost half the mall's third floor, and its exhibits range from being interactive hands-on demonstrations to complex animatronic presentations.
Both children and adults are welcome to attend and local schools occasionally arrange for class trips there. Tickets are normally 30 Riyals/child, 35 Riyals/adult, and 99 Riyals/family of four. The center possesses two wings, with one section displaying its dinosaur exhibit and the other section focusing on its robotics exhibit. Visitors have to pay separate entrance fees for each wing. Afternoon and early evening hours are its busiest times.
The Dinosaur Exhibit at Jeddah Science Oasis
As visitors enter here they first encounter a few displays of artificially remodeled dinosaur fossils. Some simple hands-on demonstrations are also available for children. Next visitors come across the best part of this exhibit, which are the large and life like animatronic dinosaurs. A loud, fierce, and imposing Tyrannosaurus Rex model is the first one visitors come across, followed by the Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaur, Dilophosaurus, and Velociraptor models.
The exhibit ends with a short film documentary discussing about the dinosaurs' extinction. Viewers then exit through a conveniently placed gift shop, which sells various dinosaur-themed children's toys and accessories. The biggest drawback with this exhibit obviously is that it is extremely short. The expensive entrance fee and lack of hands-on displays and demos will leave visitors generally disappointed.
The Robotics Exhibit at Jeddah Science Oasis
The second wing contains exhibits illustrating a wider variety of scientific disciplines. The hands-on demonstrations teach about specific principles of physics, certain aspects of the human body, the properties of air and water, and of course robotics technology.
Some displays are ones commonly found in children's science centers such as the Plasma Globe, a clear glass orb with beams of light shooting out from its center every time it is touched, and Ball Trajectory, which shows how balls travel down different curved tracks.
Other simple experiments include a giant balance scale children can weigh themselves on called Lift Me Up, a cylinder filled with water called the Vortex which you spin around until a whirlpool forms, and a fake bed of nails called the Fakir's Bed which visitors are urged to lie down on.
Some more interesting exhibits on display include the Age Machine, which first takes digital photos of visitors and then projects images of them looking either older or younger. Another interesting display is the Tornado, where visitors witness a mini twister being formed every few minutes. Other remarkable exhibits included the Blue Screen, which teaches visitors how movie makers employ this special effect, and the Reaction Speed which resembles a giant version of the popular 80's game Simon Says.
The robotics display is located towards the end of the tour past the gift shop. Some of the best displays are found here including the Robo Basket, in which a robotic arm shoots hoops, the Robot Arm, which is similar to the carnival game where you control a mechanical arm to pick up different objects (you won't win a prize here unfortunately), and Moon Lander, where you control a miniature version of the famous Apollo Lunar Module.
The highlight of the exhibit is the life size robot that can speak and move under visitors' command. By pressing buttons in its control panel, visitors can command the robot to move its head and limbs. From blinking its eyes to making a "thumbs up" sign, the robot is capable of moving various ways. Visitors can also command it to speak in both Arabic and English. In Arabic for example it can greet you with "Assalamu alaikum" (peace be upon you) and in English it can say "Welcome to Jeddah Science Oasis", easily making it one of the most popular attractions at JSO.
Families Will Generally Enjoy Jeddah Science Oasis
Jeddah Science Oasis is a private recreation center catering to children and adults alike. JSO is divided into two wings, one for displaying its dinosaur exhibit and the other its robotics show. The dinosaur exhibit is nice but extremely short, which will leave visitors disappointed given its expensive ticket price. The robotics exhibit has many more exciting demos on display but the only drawback was that quite a few demos remained out of order. Other than these issues families, particularly children, will generally enjoy visiting the center.
Rahela Choudhury - Hello, I have always had a love for writing about various topics of interest. For my undergraduate studies, I attended Hunter College ...
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