On Thursday, April 14^th, the 4SCWC offered technical visits to museums and science centers (Behind-the-scenes Tours), allowing the participants to see and discuss the Brazilian science centers and museums' professionals' work, promoting a better understanding of their projects' nature and purpose.

Below are some institutions invited to this activity:

Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca (Pedra Branca State Park)

(Address: Estrada do Pau da Fome, 4.003 - Taquara - Jacarepaguá -, Rio de Janeiro; Telephone: 21-2446-4557)

The IEF.RJ (State Forest Institute) is the entity in charge of the forest policy of Rio de Janeiro State responsible for the management of the State Full Protection Conservation Units. Among those, the Pedra Branca State Park stands out, the largest urban park in the world located in the City West Zone where a museum space was installed to house the exhibit "Da Pedra Branca ao Pau da Fome" (From Pedra Branca to Pau da Fome") on the Atlantic Forest ecosystem especially focusing the Park's natural richnesses. 

Activities

Hours: from 9 a.m. to 12:00 noon

9:00 to 9:40 a.m.	Reception of delegates with institutional presentation and debate in the Multi-Use Space.
9:40 to 10:20 a.m.	Break. Suggestion: Visit to Mr. João kiosk to taste his typical "bolinhos de aipim" (manioc puffs) and homemade desserts famous in the area.
10:20 to 11:00 a.m.	Guided tour to the Permanent Exhibit Center (Museum Space), Worm Farm and Bromeliad Nursery.
11:00 to 11:40 a.m.	Free Visit: Suggestion: Rio Grande Trail, the Centennial Fig Tree - symbol of Pau da Fome and the Pau da Fome Dam.

Museu Histórico Nacional (National Historic Museum)

(Address: Praça Marechal Âncora s/nº  near Praça XV - Historical Center of Rio de Janeiro; Telephone: 2220-2328)

In 1603, the Portuguese settlers built in Rio de Janeiro Historical Center the Santiago Fortress, the cornerstone of the architectural complex that is the current home of the National Historic Museum. Today, the Museum has a collection of 258 thousand items among objects, documents and books, besides maintaining, in 9.000 m² of public space such permanent and temporary exhibits galleries, a library, a historic archive and a Portuguese-Brazilian Reference Center.

Activities:

Hours: from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon

9:30 to 10 a.m.	Reception of the delegates by the MHN Director. Coffee break with refreshments.
10:00 to 11:30 a.m.	Visit to exhibits: “Presença Holandesa no Brasil” (Dutch Presence in Brazil),  “Arte Sacra: Simbolismo e Devoção  na Coleção do Museu Histórico Nacional” ("Sacred Art: Symbolism and Devotion in the National Historic Museum's Collection), “Colonização e Dependência” ("Colonization and Dependence") and  “Memória do Estado Imperial” (Empire Period Memory)
11:30 to 12 noon	Free visit to the Museum.

Fundação Planetário da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (Planetarium Foundation of the City of Rio de Janeiro)

(Address: Rua Vice-Governador Rubens Berardo, 100 – Gávea –, Rio de Janeiro - RJ)

The Fundação Planetário (Planetarium Foundation), a city institution, opened its first planetarium Spacemaster model in 1970. In 1998, its space was expanded with the implementation of the Museum of the Universe. This new segment comprises a Universarium VIII-TD planetarium with 277 seats, space for interactive experiments, temporary exhibits, Sun Observation Room, Telescope Square, library, auditorium, non-stop movie theater and restaurant. Approximately 100 thousand people visit the planetarium each year, especially high school students in its visiting hours from Tuesday to Sunday.

Activities:

Hours: from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon

9:00 to 9:45 a.m.	Welcoming reception of participants in the Carl Zeiss Dome and presentation of a summary of the Planetarium's current shows and exhibitions.
9:45 to 10:15 a.m.	Coffee-break at Mezzanine
10:15 to 11:15 a.m.	Guided tours to the institution spaces: Galileu Galilei Dome, Sun Observation Room, Telescope Square, non-stop movie theater, equipment room, interactive experiments including the Nave-Escola (School Aircraft)
11:15 to 12 noon	Free visit

Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins – MAST (Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences)

(Address: Rua General Bruce, 586 - Rio de Janeiro; Telephone: 2580-7010)

The Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences – MAST - is a research institute that has been acting since 1985 in the areas of history of science, preservation of science and technology historic collections; science education and science communication. The Museum is an architectural and landscape setting dated from the beginning of 20^th century with a rich collection of scientific instruments and a historic archive documenting the Brazilian scientific institutions and scientists of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, dedicated to promote the approximation of the general public with C&T.

Activities

Hours: from 9:00 to 12:00 noon

9:00 to 9:30  a.m.	Reception to the Congress participants in the Museum auditorium with a brief presentation on the institution.
9:30 to 10:00 a.m.	At this point the group of participants will be divided into two sub-groups, each of them directed to one presentation, namely: 1) Exploring the institution's heritage collections witnesses to the history of science in Brazil. 2) Exploring a philosophy of science communication. Both will have examples of work developed by the Museum.
10:00 to 10:30 a.m.	Coffee break
10:30 to 11:00 a.m.	Change of groups. Sub-groups will be exchanged according to the presentations.
11:00 to 12:00 a.m.	Free visit

Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (Research Institute of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden)

(Address: Rua Jardim Botânico 1008 – Rio de Janeiro; Telephone: 2294-9349)

The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden was created in June 1808 by the Governing Prince Dom João in the lands of the former Engenho da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas for the purpose of acclimating spices from East Indies. It was named "Acclimation Garden" and in October of the same year had its name changed to "Real Horto" (Royal Agricultural Nursery). It was open to the public in 1822.

Activities

Hours: from 9:00 to 12:00 noon

Reception to the congress participants in the Herbarium lobby

Introductory Lecture

Four different and simultaneous technical visits will be presented, namely: a) Visit to Herbarium, Fruit and Seeds Collection, Wood Collection and Labs; b) Environmental Education at JBRJ: presentation of projects and materials produced by the Environmental Education Nucleus; c) Coordination of Living Collections: guided and commented tour to the Arboretum through subsequently defined trail; d) Presentation of Environmental Interpretation Program of the JBRJ Visitors Center with a guided tour through "Medicinal Plant Trail”.

Museu do Índio / Funai (Museum of the Indian)

(Address: Rua das Palmeiras, 55 – Botafogo – Rio de Janeiro; Telephone: 2286-8899)

The Museum of the Indian is an institution dedicated to preserve and publicize the indigenous cultural heritage. It works in partnership with indigenous peoples in the identification of objects, images and raw materials and in carrying out of activities such as exhibits, courses, lectures and educational programming. A 52-year old, the Museum is a sound reference for researchers. Its collection has 14 thousand ethnographic pieces, 16 thousand publications specialized in ethnology and related areas, 80 thousand images in several supports, part of it already scanned and stored in CD-ROMS, 500 thousand text documents in addition to hundreds of films, videos and sound recordings

Activities

Hours: from 9:00 to 12:00 noon

Guided tour with a SEMU staff (museology services specialist) to the technical reserves of the Museum of the Indian.

Guide tour to the exhibit “Tempo e Espaço na Amazônia: os Wajãpi” ("Time and Space in Amazon: the Wajãpi Tribe")

Museu Aeroespacial (Airspace Museum)

(Address: Av. Marechal Fontenelle, 2000, Sulacap - Rio de Janeiro; Telephone: 357-5214/357-5213)

Located in the legendary birthplace of the Brazilian aviation, the Airspace Museum occupies an area of 16.000 square meters. In exhibition, it has almost one thousand objects, among which approximately 80 aircraft (some of them, unique specimens in the world). 

Activities

Hours: from 9:00 to 11:30

Briefing in the Auditorium

Visit to the exhibit area

Coffee Break

Farewell