Visteon Corporation and The New Detroit Science Center Ask 'How Does Your Garden Grow?'
DETROIT, Feb. 17 -- Visteon Corporation and The New Detroit Science Center announced the debut of the Visteon Greenhouse and "How Does Your Garden Grow?" program for The New Detroit Science Center's youngest visitors to the SBC Children's Gallery. The announcement was made today at the Science Center among children from the Hamtramck Head Start program, whose visit to experience and explore the Science Center was sponsored by Visteon. "How Does Your Garden Grow?" is a two-year program of hands-on activities in which pre-school and kindergarten age children explore plants and are introduced to the fundamentals of gardening. Children can learn what seeds need to grow or practice planting in the Visteon Greenhouse, observe a variety of plants and develop an awareness of basic plant part terminology. The Visteon Greenhouse and "How Does Your Garden Grow?" program are made possible by a $50,000 gift from the Visteon Fund. "The New Detroit Science Center is pleased to be able to offer our youngest visitors wonderful new learning opportunities through the Visteon Greenhouse and 'How Does Your Garden Grow?' program," said Francois J. Castaing, Chairman of The New Detroit Science Center Board of Trustees. "With the generous support of Visteon, thousands of children will now be able to experience and understand how plants live and grow." Early childhood educators from the Science Center's SBC Children's Gallery work with Master Gardeners from the Garden Club of Michigan to develop and facilitate the "How Does Your garden Grow?" program. The program is available on Mondays and Tuesdays for field trip groups. The SBC Children's Gallery features exhibits designed to meet the interests of kindergarten and pre-school aged children. This 3,500 square foot space is divided into seven exhibit areas. Each area offers opportunities for children to develop social and motor skills through an interest in science as play. A highly tactile maze welcomes children to a world where they can creatively build their own spaces or affect pre-made environments as they aim fans at a flag field, crawl through honey comb cells or build with blocks. A greenhouse allows children to explore seeds and plants. Everyday objects become boats and water movers in a water feature surrounded by aquariums and plants. A quiet area provides families with a space where children can work on computers, read books and infants can receive special care. Children can create treasures to take home in the Make and Take area, a space designed as a "science through art" studio. A shadow room encourages visitors to experiment with shadows using puppets and other objects like flashlights, long streamers and dramatic play materials. Visteon Corporation is a leading full-service supplier that delivers consumer-driven technology solutions to automotive manufacturers worldwide and through multiple channels within the global automotive aftermarket. Visteon has about 77,000 employees and a global delivery system of more than 180 technical, manufacturing, sales and service facilities located in 25 countries. The New Detroit Science Center features 110,000 square feet of scientific exploration, including Michigan's only IMAX(R) Dome Theatre; a Digital Dome Planetarium; the Ford Learning Resource Center; the DTE Energy Sparks Theater; the DaimlerChrysler Science Stage; an 8,700 square-foot Science Hall for traveling exhibits; five exhibit laboratories -- General Motors Motion Laboratory, Dow Foundation Life Sciences Laboratory, Waves & Vibrations Laboratory, Matter & Energy Laboratory and SBC Ameritech Children's Gallery; and a Special Events Lobby. In July 2001, the Science Center completed a $30 million renovation and expansion. It served more than 471,000 visitors in its first year. For more information on The New Detroit Science Center please call 313-577-8400 or visit the website, http://www.detroitsciencecenter.org .