A Pacific Science Center Guide

◆Visit Pacific Science Center's Store

    Don't forget to stop by Pacific Science Center's Store while you are here to pick up a wonderful science activity or souvenir to remember your visit. The store is located(位于) upstairs in Building 3 right next to the Laster Dome.

◆Hungry

    Our exhibits will feed your mind， but what about your body? Our café offers a complete menu of lunch and snack options, in addition to seasonal specials. The café is located upstairs in Building 1 and is open daily until one hour Pacific Science Center closes.

◆Rental Information

    Lockers are available to store any belongings during your visit. The lockers are located in Building 1 near the Information Desk and in Building 3. Pushchairs and wheelchairs are available to rent at the Information Desk and Denny Way entrance. ID required.

◆Support Pacific Science Center

    Since 1962 Pacific Science Center has been inspiring a passion(热情) for discovery and lifelong @ in science, math and technology. Today Pacific Science Center serves more than 1.3 million people a year and brings inquiry-based science education to classrooms and community events all over Washington State. It's an amazing accomplishment and one we connect achieve without generous support from individuals, corporations, and other social organizations. Visit pacificsciencecenter.org to find various ways you can support Pacific Science Center.

    Imagine being a crew member, hundreds of years ago, sailing in southern waters. Your captain is searching for food while exploring unfamiliar waters. Your job is to watch the sea off the ship's side for ice. The wind is cold on your face. Alongside the ship, a fish darts past. Another slows to a stop and raises its head above the water to look at you. How could a fish do that?

    Did the sailors see fish with feathers or swimming birds? Today, we know that the sailors saw birds that developed the ability to swim. Their wings became flippers, and they could “fly” through the water with amazing speed.

    There are many types of penguins. Only two kinds raise their young on the continent of Antarctic. Adelie penguins grow up to 29 inches tall and have a white ring around each eye. Emperor penguins have yellow orange color near their necks. Standing about 35 inches tall, they are the tallest penguins living today.

    Emperor penguins have nests on top of their feet. Father Emperor penguins keep the egg on top of their feet for more than two months, until the egg is ready to hatch. The mother penguin goes out for food during that time. Imagine holding an egg on your feet for two months until someone returns with food!

    Male and female penguins are both good parents. Once the chicks hatch, both parents travel long distances to find food for them in the sea. It may be days before the parents return and the chicks eat again. When they return with food, the fun really begins. Chicks chase their parents, begging for food. Penguin chicks eat huge amounts at one time.

    Eventually, the adult penguins stop feeding the chicks. This is nature's way of forcing children to grow up. When the penguin chicks are hungry enough, they find their way to the sea. Without any swimming lessons, they make their way into the icy waters and swim as only penguins do.

    As the weather costs you a loss on trains and flights, we look at your rights.

• Cancelled trains

    On a single ticket, a passenger will usually receive 25% of the fare if the train is delayed by 15 minutes. If the delay reaches 30 minutes, the compensation(补偿/补偿金) rises to 50%, and if it's over an hour you should be able to reclaim the whole cost. Clear arrangements vary according to train operator (运营商).

    If you were due to travel, to say Aberdeen from London, your train is cancelled and you decide not to travel, you can get a full compensation. If you had a non-cancelable ticket with one operator, and failed to make that train because the connecting train was delayed, you can take the next available train.

• Flights

    If your flight is cancelled because of the snow you have the right to a full compensation of the ticket, or to be rerouted home on a later flight.

    But you will have no right to get a delay or cancellation compensation under EU rules, because the snow is an extraordinary circumstance beyond the airline's control. If you don't take the compensation and choose to be rerouted, and It means you are stuck at the airport overnight, it's the airline's duty to pay for a reasonably priced hotel room and meals.

    The airline has to reroute you at the earliest opportunity, or at the passenger's free time, you are supposed to take the availability of seats.

    If you choose to be rerouted or if your departure is delayed by more than two hours, airlines also have to provide assistance such as food. The airlines keep this quiet and getting the money out of the low-cost operators can be a hard job. Keep evidence of cancellations, all receipts, and use your mobile to video any offer to pay by airline staff.

    Welcome to Holker Hall & Gardens

    Visitor Information

    How to Get to Holker

    By Car: Follow brown signs on A590 from J36, M6. Approximate travel times: Windermere-20 minutes, Kendal-25 minutes, Lancaster-45 minutes, Manchester-1 hour 30 minutes.

By Rail: The nearest station is Cark-in-Cartmel with trains to Carnforth, Lancaster and Preston for connections to major cities & airports.

    Opening Times

    Sunday-Friday (closed on Saturday)11:00 am-4:00pm, 30th March-2nd November.

    Admission Charges

    Hall & Gardens Gardens

    Adults: £12.00 £8.00

    Groups: £9.00 £5.50

    Special Events

    Producers' Market 13th April

    Join us to taste a variety of fresh local food and drinks. Meet the producers and get some excellent recipe ideas.

    Holker Garden Festival 30th May

    The event celebrates its 22nd anniversary with a great show of the very best of gardening, making it one of the most popular events in gardening.

    National Garden Day 28th August

    Holker once again opens its gardens in aid of the disadvantaged. For just a small donation you can take a tour with our garden guide.

    Winter Market 8th November

    This is an event for all the family. Wander among a variety of shops selling gifts while enjoying a live music show and nice street entertainment.

    Every month we look at a different artist. We think Haroshi is super cool—he makes sculptures(雕塑) from skateboards.

    Haroshi is in his late 30s. He's a skateboarder but he also makes things from wood. He began skateboarding when he was 15 years old and he loved it. He used to skate every day. Now, if you know anything about skateboarding, you'll know that skateboards don't last forever because they break. But Haroshi didn't throw his out because he was fond of them. Over time he built up a big collection and at the same time he learnt about all the different types of skateboard. Surprisingly, not all skateboards are of the same shape and actually they are often built in different ways. By the time he was 25, he had an enormous collection of old skateboards.

    He decided he had to do something with them so he started to cut them up. As he was doing that, he noticed some interesting patterns in the wood. He then cut more and stuck them on top of each other. The first thing he created from the wood was a piece of jewelry. He created something new from something old.

    Nowadays, however, he is known for his extremely large 3D wooden sculptures. His ideas generally come from skateboarding culture, ranging from skateboarding cats to cool trainers, but also everyday topics such as hurting yourself, getting better, being crazy about something and of course, growing up. All skateboarders will understand these. Haroshi has made over 40 pieces and each piece takes a very long time. There is no doubt that he is very talented but he's had no formal art training. He taught himself.

    Haroshi held an exhibition in London last month and three of us from @teenattack went along. As we entered the first room, we saw a huge bird that covered one wall. It was absolutely enormous! There was also a sculpture called Ordinary life. It looked like a broken leg—a very common problem, of course. It's incredible to think that these sculptures are all made from broken skateboards. But there's something else that is really interesting about Haroshi's work.

    In the twelfth century a sculptor called Unkei placed a glass ball in each of his works to show the heart of the piece. Haroshi also places something inside his sculptures—a piece of broken skateboard. In this way, he gives his sculptures life. We think that is just awesome!

    Life is difficult.

    What do you think about life? Maybe most people say that life is difficult. But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it. Most people do not fully see this truth. Instead, they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon (强加于) them or their families, their class, or even their nation.

    What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.

    Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning.

    Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Those things that hurt instruct." It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.