Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum to Hold "Autumn Study Festival"

The first "Autumn Study Festival in Minatomirai" took place in 2010. Its inauguration represented the meshing of the overriding aim of the Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum, which is to cultivate children's interest in the sciences and manufacturing, and the primary goal of Chuman Gakuin, which conducts a variety of hands-on study sessions designed for children's enjoyment. This year's festival will be the fourth to date.

A highlight of this year's festival will be a science class on rockets and man-made satellites conducted by an MHI rocket engineer. Teaching the class will be an engineer from the company's Nagoya Guidance & Propulsion Systems Works, where MHI manufactures the engines and other components for Japan's large-scale H-IIA and H-IIB rockets. Children attending the class will be given an introduction to various aerospace systems and equipment and participate in an experiment involving liquid nitrogen.

Staff teaching science at Chuman Gakuin will conduct a class in which, using a vacuum chamber and a self-made sound collector, a science experiment will enable students to understand how a parabola antenna works. Newly added this year will be an experiment-based science class for kindergarten students. Festival participants will also be given the opportunity to try on a replica of a spacesuit owned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), used for conducting extravehicular activities. Students and their accompanying family members will also be able to take part in solving brain-teasing puzzles specially developed by Chuman Gakuin.

The full listing of events to be included in this year's "Autumn Study Festival" is as follows.

1) "Rockets and Satellites": a class conducted by an MHI rocket engineer
2) "The Power of Parabola Antennas": an experiment targeted at elementary school children (grades 3-6)
3) "Arithmetic and Scientific Discovery Team": science experiments and puzzle solving for kindergarten children and their guardians
4) "Let's Wear a Spacesuit!": an opportunity to try on a spacesuit just like the real thing
5) "Puzzle Playground": fun solving brain-teasing puzzles
6) "Understanding Celestial Bodies": a short class by a Chuman Gakuin instructor using an interactive whiteboard
7) "Language & Arithmetic Class": a class designed to improve both reading and arithmetic skills
8) "Speed Reading": a short lesson in speed reading, using paper and a computer
9) "Solar System Adventure": a specially created program shown on a 360-degree screen in a chamber theater
10) "Guided Tour of the Aerospace Zone": a tour introducing the MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet), Japan's first passenger jet (now under development by MHI), and rockets made in Japan

Note: Items 4-10 are included in the Museum entrance fee and no advance reservations are required.

Chuman Gakuin, established in 1954, is a chain of cram schools providing educational guidance to students at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. It operates 157 classrooms primarily in Kanagawa Prefecture. Besides developing children's learning capabilities and cultivating excellent human resources, Chuman Gakuin proactively undertakes events that promote hands-on learning: for example, overnight nature study trips and book report presentations. Its involvement in the "Autumn Study Festival" program is part of those activities.