BUFFALO —
For the romantically inclined, Valentine’s Day might conjure images of red roses, heart-shaped boxes of candy and candle-lit dinners. Those at the Buffalo Museum of Science, however, hope some blood, guts and a little bit of disaster might set the mood for some couples.
OK, so maybe not that much blood and guts — it’s a family-friendly environment, after all.
“Instead of giving conversation heart (candies), you can perform an autopsy on a heart instead,” BMS Marketing Manager Amy Biber said with a laugh.
What she’s referring to is the new exhibit on display that’s tied in to the hit television series, CSI, or Crime Scene Investigation. The exhibit, “CSI: The Experience,” was actually created through an affiliation with CBS and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, so it’s true to the television experience — stars and all.
“Some of the characters are no longer on the show,” Biber said, pointing out that Gil Grissom makes an appearance in the exhibit, even though the actor portraying him left the show in 2009.
Museum guests are given the opportunity to explore three “crime scenes” as part of this interactive exhibit. A car crashes into a suburban home, a waitress is found dead in an alley and human bones are discovered in the Las Vegas desert. Who’s responsible?
It’s the job of the visitor to find out.
“You have evidence that you have to track on your evidence card (at the crime scenes) and from there you move on to the labs to process your evidence,” Biber said.
Guests can conduct autopsies, toxicology tests and blood spatter exams in order to evaluate the evidence and determine the causes of death.
“It really incorporates a lot of different areas of science into one place,” she added.
Because the exhibit displays scenes of a sensitive nature — mannequins and a fake skeleton pose as dead bodies — it is recommended for ages 12 and older, but Biber said it’s up to parents’ discretion to determine if their kids can handle it.
“We’ve talked to other markets and they’ve said 8-year-olds are OK with it,” she said. “It’s not that gory, there’s not blood everywhere.”
For parents who are afraid their kids might not be old enough for the crime scenes, the museum is offering programming for their youngest patrons. Special events, like teaching children about fingerprinting, will be held throughout the course of the showing until April 29. Some of the events will feature staff from area colleges who will go to the museum to speak about the field of forensics.
“Even though this exhibit is geared for those 12 and up, we still want kids to come in and learn about forensics,” Biber said. “We’re incorporating all these community partners and real life people who do this as a job so we can give opportunities to the kids and adults to hopefully generate interest in forensics as a career field.”
And for adults, BMS offers a date-night program the last Friday of each month in which parents can drop off the kids for science programming while the adults enjoy the exhibit.
“We’re starting up these events to try to bring people in after work,” Biber said. “After a long week you can come and relax at the museum ... and investigate dead bodies.”
The Feb. 10 Valentine event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and includes a cash bar. Pre-registration is required due to limited capacity in the museum.
Contact features editor Danielle Haynes at 693-1000, ext. 4116.
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Visitors to the Buffalo Museum of Science can investigate one of three scenes in the CSI: The Experience exhibit. In one scene, a car has crashed into a house — who’s responsible?
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