News Release
| Release Number: | 00-011 |
| Dated: | 2/8/2000 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. - They don’t wear elaborate, colorful costumes or fight the forces of evil, but a group of mild-mannered employees at Bonneville Lock and Dam will become "power" rangers for a day.
The interpretive ranger staff of the Bradford Island Visitor Center at the dam will host its first "Power Ranger" Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26. The event is designed to teach the basics of electricity, its origins and how it is generated at Bonneville Dam.
Visitors to the dam that day can participate in four educational stations: Electric Charges, Electric Flow, Magnetism, and Electric and Magnetic Energy. Each educational station will have a worksheet and easy take-home experiments to further one’s knowledge of how electricity works. Participants who complete all four educational stations will leave with their own commemorative folder, build their own hydroelectric generating unit and take home their own model-sized dam.
Many of the educational items to be used at each of the stations are courtesy of Mount Hood Community College.
"We are trying to make electricity more understandable for everyone, particularly those fourth and fifth graders who are currently studying this in their science classes," said Melissa Rinehart, park ranger.
In addition to the four educational stations, the visitor gallery original power house will be open all day. Also, in the visitor center’s main theater, there will be special presentations of educational programs and special science experiments to demonstrate characteristics of electricity.
Bonneville Lock and Dam is located east of Portland, Ore., at exit 40 on Interstate 84. Admission is free and the visitor center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
In addition to exploring the visitor center, guests might also want to see the navigation lock facilities and the Bonneville Fish Hatchery, home to Herman the 10-foot sturgeon.
For more information on this event contact the Bradford Island Visitor Center at Bonneville Lock & Dam at (541) 374-8820.