[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
[00:05.570]It was not just another day in a classroom recently for some young people in Washington D.C.
[00:14.390]Student volunteers visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to test a new program.
[00:23.670]Some students explored the mysteries of human bones, other students examed an insect under a microscope.
[00:33.740]The student volunteers were among the first to help test a new exhibit at the museum.
[00:41.620]The program has an unual name, spoken as Q-rius and written as Q, -, R, I ,U, S.
[00:54.310]The exhibits are designed so young people can learn about science by taking part in experiments.
[01:02.650]Program combines the newest technologies and scientific equipment with more than 6,000 museum objects, both real and digital.
[01:14.480]Students from local schools helped develop the exhibit.
[01:19.530]Teachers will bring their science students to the exhibit in the mornings.
[01:23.790]In the afternoons, the exhibits will be open to everyone.
[01:29.220]Many of the students already have their favorite activities at the center.
[01:35.360]Nate Reistetter, who is 13 years old, said he liked exploring the specimen drawers.
[01:43.980]"There was a cast of a dinosaur bone and you can scan the QR code
[01:49.930]on the computers and it will tell you all about where it was found and all sorts of stuff about it," he said.
[01:55.760]Addie Alexander is 12 years old, she likes the bee display.
[02:02.610]Addie said the bumble bee and the yellow bumble bee
[02:07.150]when they're not under the microscope look pretty much the same except one's bigger than the other.
[02:14.870]But she said when she looked at the two insects under the microscope, they were very different.
[02:21.640]Student Ben Werb said he likes the learning center's openness,
[02:27.270]and he enjoyed in an exhibit that lets people use their senses to learn more about objects.
[02:35.280]For example, he said a butterfly smells a little like tea.
[02:40.660]Involving the senses --
[02:43.320]smelling, touching, hearing --
[02:46.090]is one of the exhibit's major goals.
[02:49.000]At one display, students recreated the sounds of insects called crickets,
[02:56.700]and they handled human bones in a laboratory.
[03:00.940]The scientific investigation of human remains is called forensic anthropology.
[03:08.630]It is often used to identify a person who has died and to learn the cause of death.
[03:16.080]Olivia Persons, who is 18 years old, is one of seven teens who helped develop the space,
[03:24.880]She said the laboratory was her favorite display area.
[03:30.010]"There is a lot of digital stuff, there is a lot of computer screens and touch screens,
[03:36.630]but in here they are actually able to touch real human bones."
[03:40.120]Q-rius can also be found online, this means visitors can continue their experiments after they leave the museum.
[03:50.810]And that's the Education Report From VOA Learning English.
[03:56.260]I'm Jerilyn Watson.