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A.C.'s Backyard
What's Happening
A.C.’s Backyard - June 6, 1998
The
largest community-built project in Salem’s history resulted
in the finest outdoor children’s discovery center in the Northwest.
It took 19 days, over 6,000 volunteers, 20 miles of lumber,
2 tons of nails, and unending community support to create the
masterpiece of A.C.’s Backyard. Climb the world’s largest
erector set tower, play marimbas in the musical ensemble deck,
explore the inside of an animal cell, or become the captain
of a paddle wheeler. These are just a few of the fantastic adventures
you will have in our Outdoor Discovery Center.
Erector
Set Tower
The
most famous and popular of A.C. Gilbert’s inventions was the
Erector Set, introduced in 1913. The Erector Set was not only
used by children to build toys, but also used by architects
and engineers to build models of real structures and machines.
In A.C.’s Backyard, you can climb inside our playful Erector
Set creation, the Giant Erector Set Tower. At 52 feet, the Tower
is the largest of its kind in the world. Three giant slides,
including one that is two stories high, and a maze complete
the tower.
Discovery Activities
Try This
How many different ways can you find to reach the tallest slide in the tower? Choose your favorite route. Now try to retrace your path and go back exactly the way you came. It’s not as easy as it sounds.
American
Flyer Train
A.C. Gilbert made American Flyer Trains famous. Under his guidance, they became the most popular toy trains ever made. Climb aboard our American Flyer Train. Imagine hearing the engine chug & the whistle blow.
Discovery Activities
Try This
Imagine that you are the conductor of the train. Where will you go? What will you carry?
Try This
Pretend that you are driving a train through the wild West to the pioneer town of Salem. Make up a story about your adventure.
City
of Salem Paddlewheeler
The
roads in the late 1800s in Oregon were not efficient. Various
wagon trails could be found all over Oregon, but none could
transport people and goods as easily as the boats on the Willamette
River. The Willamette River served as the main route to transport
goods and people into and out of the Willamette Valley. Paddlewheelers
were one form of transportation used on the river for passenger
travel. The paddlewheeler here is a model of the City of Salem,
a beautiful ship that once served the people of Salem.
Discovery Activities
Try This
Become the captain of the City of Salem 100 years ago. Who will you pick up? Where will your next stop be? It’s up to you!
Try This
Devise a plan to abandon ship in the event of an emergency.
Mammoth Dig
Imagine
a giant mammoth crossing A.C.’s Backyard 20,000 years ago
and settling down in a sand pit. Now, eons later, you can dig
this prehistoric mammoth’s bones in our Mammoth Dig. With
a little exploration, you can also uncover many other prehistoric
creatures.
Discovery Activities
Try This
Can you find all of the fossils in the picture below? How many other animals can you find? How can you tell if the animal was a dinosaur? Can you find any fossils of plants?
Gilbert Rocks
Professional rock climbers often practice on simulated rock walls. You can try out the exciting sport of rock-climbing on our easy horizontal wall climb at the south end of A.C.’s Backyard. Please stay on the hand holds and away from the top ledge.
Discovery Activities
Try This
Starting on the left side, how far across the wall can you climb without touching the ground?
Try This
Try to go as far as you did in the first activity touching the fewest number of hand and foot holds.
Miniature
Village
Take a walk through the global village as you visit homes of people from around the world. Climb through the mud and sapling walls of a traditional Aboriginal hut, or imagine that you are a pioneer in a snug log cabin. Endless opportunities for make-believe abound in this tiny village of global dimensions.
Discovery Activities
Try This
What do the houses in the village have in common? How are they different? Which house would you like to live in?
Try This
Which house would be best to take shelter from a flood, hot sun, or an earthquake?
Giant
Animal Cell
Imagine shrinking to a size so small that you could only be seen with a microscope. How would the world look? Find out as you climb inside a giant animal cell, magnified so large that you can walk right inside the nucleus and see the DNA! For a fun way to access the cell, use our Spider Web Climber!
Discovery Activities
Try This
All animal cells have the following structures in common. How many cell structures from the picture below can you identify in the Giant Animal Cell?
Discovery Garden
Wander through the raised beds and pathways of a quiet corner of A.C.’s Backyard, the Discovery Garden. You will find an herb, vegetable, an annual garden, a small pond, and a garden featuring the native plants and shrubs of the Pacific Northwest. The garden is maintained by the hands and hearts of our volunteers.
Discovery Activities
Try This
Rub some of the herbs between your fingers. Do you recognize any of the scents?
Try This
Walk through the native garden. How many of the plants do you recognize from the mural in our Into the Woods exhibit?
Global Games Amphitheater
When
not filled with live demonstrations and activities, the amphitheater
is a great spot to enjoy a picnic lunch and play a global variety
of games on our kid-designed, hand-carved game tables.
Discovery Activities
Try This
Games pieces for tabletop games are available to check out in the gift shop. Try one of your favorites, such as checkers, or play a new game.
Try This
Try to solve the spinning block puzzles. At the Alphabet Blocks, match up pictures, letters, and words across the board. At the Number Blocks, try to make the blocks add up to 15 horizontally, diagonally, and vertically.
Sound Science
Talk Boxes
Hunt for the four speaker boxes hidden throughout A.C.'s Backyard. Have a friend stand and one box while you stand at another. Talk back and forth. Do you know why the boxes work? Air passing over your vocal cords causes them to vibrate when you talk. The talk tube captures these vibrations (sound waves) and channels them from one end to the other.
Space Tube Talk
Try This
Can you find all four Talk Boxes? Work with a friend to discover if all the Talk Boxes are connected.
Try This
Both the Space Talk Tube and the Echo Tube change the sounds you make before they reach your ear. How are the sounds of each tube different? What do you think happens to the sound waves in each tube?
Musical Ensemble Deck
Try
your hand at playing different instruments from around the world,
including a variety of marimbas and a South American rainwheel.
Get your toes tapping as you rock A.C.’s Backyard with your
own global tunes.
Follow the space talk tube on its twisting trail through A.C.’s Backyard. Have a friend stand at one end and you at the other. Try carrying on a conversation. What happens to your voice? Why do you think it sounds so funny?
Echo Tube
Shout and clap into this 75 foot tube and experience its amazing sound effects. Sound bounces off the capped end of the tube and is returned to your ear, altered by the rippled interior of the tube and by the distance the sound must travel. How do the sounds change when they are returned to your ear?
Discovery Activities
Try This
Pick out a simple tune such as “Hot Cross Buns” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on one of the marimbas. Do some of the marimbas work better for playing these tunes than others? Why do you think this is?
Try This
Gather several friends together at different instruments. Start a steady beat all together, and then make variations on it.
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