We are surrounded by mixed messages about mistakes: we're told we earn by making them, but we work hard to avoid them. So the result is that most of us know that we are going to make mistakes, but deep down, we feel we shouldn't.

    Experiments with schoolchildren who did well on a given test show that those who were praised for being smart and then offered a more challenging or less challenging task afterward usually chose the easier one. On the other hand, children praised for trying hard-rather than being smart-far more often selected the more difficult task.

    If we try hard to avoid mistakes, we aren't open to getting the information we need in order to do better. In a writing study, experiments showed that those who are so scared to make mistakes perform worse in writing tasks than those who aren't as worried about being perfect. They fear receiving any kind of negative feedback, so they don't learn where they went wrong and how to get better.

    We don't just learn more when we're open to mistakes, we learn deeper. Research tells us that if we're only concerned about getting the right answer, we don't always learn the underlying concepts that help us truly understand whatever we're trying to figure out. Mistakes

need to be seen not as a failure to learn, but as a guide to what still needs to be learned. As Thomas Edison said, “I am not discouraged, because every abandoned wrong attempt is another step forward. "

    Furthermore, we often make mistakes because we try new things-we wander away from accepted paths. Teflon, penicillin-these are examples of great discoveries made by mistake. Take a page from Albert Einstein, who said, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. "

Hours

Monday – Thursday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Friday: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Sunday: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

    Closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

    The Museum Shop is open during regular museum hours.

The Museum Library

Monday –Friday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

The Skyliner Restaurant

Monday - Saturday: during regular museum hours

Sunday: 11:30 am – 5:00 pm

Admission

Adults:$7.00

The aged and students with ID: $6.00

    Wonderful Museum offers a 50% discount to groups of 20 or more.

How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feelings

    Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical(经验的，实证的) basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.

    Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room's ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.

    In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant's ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.

    Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.

    Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim(暗淡的) light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.

    So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. "We have a very limited number of studies, so we're almost looking at the problem through a straw(吸管)," architect David Allison says. "How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That's what we're all struggling with."

    Volunteering abroad is a great way to help others, improve your skills and become a more confident, independent person. If you are interested in volunteering abroad, here are some places to go.

    Australia

    If you seek a life on the beach, in a great climate with friendly people, Australia might be your best bet. With thousands of volunteers already signing up to leave for Australia during the holidays, it will be a very popular option.

    Brazil

    This vast country has some great opportunities on offer and is especially popular this year. A lot of volunteer work is available in Brazil centers on conservation and ecological projects. With the world's largest rainforest in Brazil, of which huge part is in danger, there are lots of different jobs you can do.

    Kenya

    Kenya is the destination for those seeking an African experience. Generally volunteers in Kenya work in orphanages(孤儿院)or with local children living in slums(贫民窟). There is a great demand for volunteers in Africa because many people live in poverty, so if you truly feel like making a difference to a community, Kenya should be at the top of your list.

    Costa Rica

    Golden sandy beaches, clear coastlines and beautiful cities are what Costa Rica is all about. Because of its small size, you can see a lot of the country in just a short time. You can really make the most of your time as a volunteer. A lot of work is needed with wildlife and ecological work, so if you want to look after turtles on the beach, Costa Rica could be just the place for you

    Hi, I'm Neil Harbisso. I come from a place where the sky is always grey, where flowers are always grey, and where television is still in black and white.

    I actually come from a world where color doesn't exist. I was born with achromatopsia. I was born completely color-blind. So I've never seen color, and don't know what it looks like. But since the age of 21, I can hear color thanks to a magic electronic eye called "eyeborg": a color sensor between my eyes connected to a chip(芯片) installed at the back of my head that transforms color frequencies into sound frequencies that I hear through my bone.

    I've had the electronic eye permanently attached to my head and I've been listening to colors nonstop since 2004. So I find it completely normal now to hear colors all the time.

    Since I started to hear color, my life has changed significantly. Art galleries have become concert halls. I can hear a Picasso. And supermarkets have become like night clubs. I love how they sound.

    My sense of beauty has changed. Someone might look very beautiful but sound terrible, and someone might sound very harmonious but look awful. So I find it really exciting to create sound portraits(画像) of people. Instead of drawing the shape of someone's face I write down the different notes I hear when I look at them, and then I send them an mp3 of their face. Each face sounds different. I can even give face concerts now, concerts where I play the audience's faces. The good thing about doing this is that if the concert doesn't sound good, it's their fault.

    I also found out that things I thought were colorless are not colorless at all. Cities are not grey. Lisbon is yellow turquoise(宝石绿); London is very golden red…and humans are not black and white. Human skins range from light shades of orange to very dark shades of orange. We are all orange.

    If we extend our senses, we will consequently extend our knowledge.

    At least 20 people died and hundreds were injured in a bridge collapse in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata Thursday. Witnesses said many people and vehicles, including two buses carrying more than 100 passengers, were under the bridge when it fell. They also said construction workers had set up camps near the bridge site where they would sleep and cook.

    Before rescue teams arrived, local residents and firefighters used their bare hands to try to rescue people trapped under the debris. The collapsed bridge is in a busy commercial area of Kolkata. Its location has made it difficult for rescue operations. Access to the area is blocked on both sides by buildings, and the streets are blocked with heavy traffic.

    Reuters (路透社) reports that the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, rushed to the scene of the collapse. She said that rescuing those trapped is her “top priority”. Banerjee said those responsible for the disaster will be punished. Yet she faces questions about the safety of the construction project. The Telegraph newspaper reported last November that Banerjee wanted the bridge — already five years overdue — to be completed by February. Project engineers said they were concerned over whether this would be possible, the newspaper said at the time. Construction workers had been on a strict schedule to complete the bridge. The disaster could affect the West Bengal election next month. An Indian company, IVRCL, was building the 2­kilometer bridge, its website said. IVRCL's director of operations said the company was not sure of the cause of the disaster.