The George Washington University
School of Engineering and Applied Science
CSci 41 -- Introduction to Computer Science
Fall 2001
Lab 7 -- Smithsonian Information Age Field Trip -- Friday, October 19

On Friday, October 19, we will visit the Information Age exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. This is a terrific exhibit on the history of computers and communications, very well set up and interpreted, with artifacts that only the Smithsonian could collect.

Each of you will write a 1-page (~300-word) report using Composer, and describing your favorite aspects of the exhibit, and post this on your website. The report will be due by 12 noon, Tuesday, Oct. 23; you'll e-mail the URL to your lab instructor by the deadline.

Getting to and from the museum

We will leave together at 10 AM, from the Foggy Bottom Metro station. Let's meet at the big George Washington head next to the Metro entrance, at 23rd and I Sts. The train ride is 5 stations on a Blue or Orange train; that's about 10-15 minutes.

Everyone will pay his/her own Metro fare.

If you have a chance to go to the station earlier and pick up a fare card (ticket), so much the better; we won't have a big line on Friday.

The round trip fare will be $2.20; if you put in enough money for a round trip you can use the same ticket going and returning. The machines take bills up to $20.00 and give change; some also take credit cards.

The tickets are not dated; you can buy and use them anytime as long as there's enough $$ on them. If you plan to take the Metro frequently, you can put lots of value on your ticket and use it repeatedly. There are also "smart passes" that can be re-loaded like GWorld cards.

Like all the Smithsonian museums, this one is free. Touring the exhibit should take about one hour; once you're finished, you can stay at the museum (which is a wonderful place!) or go back on your own to GW. If the weather is nice, it's a 20-30-minute walk back to GW, or you can take the Metro, of course. YOu can probably be back at GW between 12 and 1.

Enjoy!