Science on Screen®: “The Winds of Mount Washington” & “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind"

Ready to be blown away by our first Science on Screen event of 2021?! Come to The Gem on Monday, April 19th during April vacation. Brian Fitzgerald will present “The Winds of Mount Washington” followed by the film “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.” 
 

1:00 – 1:45 “The Winds of Mount Washington”: Brian Fitzgerald, Mount Washington Observatory’s Director of Education, will meet us virtually from the top of Mount Washington to tell us a little about the observatory and the “Big Wind” of April 12th, 1934; this wind gust’s speed was measured at 231mph and remains the strongest wind gust ever experienced by a human being on the surface of the Earth.. Why is it so windy on top of Mt. Washington and how do they measure wind speed up there? These questions, and more, will be answered with a virtual Q & A with Brian from our theaters at The Gem.

1:45-2:30 Families can get up, move around, get some food & drink, and kids can make their own pinwheel or wind vane to take home. These activities will happen outdoors on the picnic tables.

2:30-4:30 “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” [Rated PG] is a 2019 film based on the memoir of William Kamkwamba, Malawian inventor and author, who was born into a family of farmers who struggled to make ends meet. William loved school, but was forced to drop out when his family could not pay the tuition. Floods followed by drought and famine struck the village and inspired William to use his inclination for electronics to build a windmill from junk yard scraps to power a water pump and help save the village from famine by allowing water to reach the crops.

This event will be free for ALL thanks to the Science on Screen grant received by The Gem. It will be limited to 50 people and so we encourage you to reserve your tickets now. Attendees will be spread out between Theaters 1 and 2. We will also have a film available for younger children in Theater 3. If you need to cancel your reservation, please email info@thegemtheater.com so that others may enjoy the program. Thank you!

An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.