This is what I have been doing for quite some time. I let my students write their science fiction story books every semester. No, it is not part of the curriculum. But I have seen how my students love doing it and are good at fabricating stories based on some Science principles that they have learned or try to understand. 

This morning I thought that it was time for my students to know Jules Verne, the Father of Science Fiction......I would ask them to read his novels and take them to Jules Verne Museum in Second Life. Now I don't sound like a Science teacher, do I? Well, perhaps I am an OOTB Science teacher. lol

As usual, before using a sim for my class, I would explore the place thoroughly. It helps me design a lesson plan better. I teleported to Jules Verne Museum this evening and was instantly disappointed. It was indeed not love at the first sight. Nevertheless, I took a ride on a boat which was available there because I saw a submarine at a distance. I assumed it was Captain Nemo's submarine in "20.000 Leagues under the Sea" although it looked too modern to be one. 

Before I reached the submarine I jump off the boat into a capsule which was floating in the sea.  I sat on the chair inside the capsule and pressed the button. OMG, I sank. When the elevator stopped, I stepped out and saw a magical underwater wonder. Wow! There were domes and tunnels. Could it be the undersea mines as described in Jules Verne's book  "20.000 Leagues under the Sea"? 

It took me more than 1 hour to explore the underground platform. I reached a chamber where I could get a diving apparatus, it was exactly the same as the drawing of the apparatus  on Jules Verne's book. Later I found out that Veritas Rainmaker, my friend,  aka  Dr Lim Yang Teck Kenneth, a research scientist from National Institute of Education Singapore, created the museum. It was unbelievable. I should give him credits for this amazing work. 

I don't have to mention about how beautiful the underwater museum is. You can explore it yourself. I moved to the other exhibit in the museum. It was taken from Jules Verne's other book "A Journey to the Center of the Earth." There was a volcano underwater. It was probably the volcanic tube Jules Verne wrote in his book. What a fantasy. Too bad there was no Runic cryptogram there and the interior of the earth was not exhibited there...Yeah yeah....I was being very demanding.

Last but not least, I visited the museum exhibit taken from "From the Earth to the Moon" book. I experienced weightlessness there and a vertigo of course. I did think this exhibit was still under construction because I didn't see projectile vehicle, Verne's imaginative spacecraft. I didn't see retro rocket and free return trajectory that Verne invented. It was still fun being on the moon. (although I didn't know how to stop the weightlessness experience) 

I still had one more exhibit to explore but I was too tired. Although the museum was virtual, exploring such a big place took almost as much time as visiting a real museum. I learned many great lessons from this journey. One of them is "Don't judge a sim by its surface."