Interactive science show at Tairāwhiti Museum good timing for school holidays

Te Kohatu Pihema-Brown, 9, tests out the lung feature of the Te Mana o Te Ha showcase, on at Tairāwhiti Museum this week. Holding different items in the exhibition are, from left, Dr Craig Grant of Tuhuru Otago Museum and Tairāwhiti Museum educators Jo Barbarich and Te Manuhuia Paenga. Picture by Liam Clayton

Tuhuru Otago Museum has set up its interactive Te Mana o Te Hā science show at Tairāwhiti Museum for people to explore issues around smoking and vaping. 

The hands-on science showcase has different interactive features that take people on a journey to learn about the past and present of smoking and vaping.

Before being set up at Tairāwhiti Museum, it was taken to Tolaga Bay Area School, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Te Waiu in Ruatōria and Tikitiki School to get the information out to as many people as possible.

Tairāwhiti is the first region to have this exhibition outside of Otago. It was brought here by Dr Craig Grant, director of science engagement at Tuhuru Otago Museum. The mini display is designed for travel across the country and will be at the museum for the first week of the school holidays.

“We are trying to get across the impacts of smoking and vaping, both what we do know and what we don’t know,” Dr Grant said. “It started as a smoke-free showcase but as it was being created we saw how rife vaping was, so added that to it.”

Smoking rates in Aotearoa New Zealand continue to decrease. An estimated 6.8 percent (284,000 people) of adults are daily smokers and 8.3 percent (350,000 people) of adults are current smokers. Among Māori, 17.1 percent are smokers. This is down from 39 percent in 2006/7 and 28.6 percent in 2019/20.

One feature of the showcase is a timeline called “Nicotine is not our whakapapa” which shows the history of tobacco and nicotine and how it was used in the slave trade, world wars, and for exploitative land deals in New Zealand.

“But as a country we have done some clever stuff — advertising restrictions and taxing,” Dr Grant said.

Another section, called Nicotine Nostalgia, takes people back in time. It shows how tobacco became a piece of the furniture with smoking drawers, tables with ashtrays and even books of collectible cards that were used in cigarette packages.

There are advertisements showing how cigarettes were marketed to the public and comparing them to the modern day advertising for vapes and e-cigarettes.

The chemicals and ingredients used in the manufacture of cigarettes are shown in a large-scale tube. Another area uses an iPad to show what people might look like after years of smoking.

Two pig lungs show the impact smoking has on the lungs.

“A lot of this stuff people hear about, but until you see it first-hand I don’t think people realise just how risky things are,” Dr Grant said. “People know cigarettes are bad, and so do many tamariki but they seem to know more about vapes and so it’s on their radar.”

The show let people know the risks of addiction. Vaping was a good tool to stop smoking, Dr Grant said.

“But if you don’t smoke, then don’t start. Fresh air is the best.”