Saint Louis Science Center: Education and fun, wrapped into one
School science classes may not thrill, but the Saint Louis Science Center makes education fun for the whole family. Chock full of hands-on exhibits, demonstrations, a planetarium and even an OMNIMAX theater, kids will be clamoring to learn more, and adults will be happy to oblige.
Located just outside of Forest Park, the center was originally founded in 1959 as the Museum of Science and Natural History. The museum later acquired McDonnell Planetarium from the city, and in 1985 reopened to the public as the Saint Louis Science Center.
After extensive multi-million dollar renovations, the Science Center now encompasses three main buildings with more than 700 exhibits. The Discovery Room allows young scientists to experiment with magnets, water tables, and dinosaur fossils, and to even explore an urban forest with a tree and tire swing. In Cyberville, visitors can play a laser harp, create virtual fish, program Lego robots and operate a train.
The MedTech Gallery helps guests better understand human health, including organ transplantation (complete with “operating table”), a Health & Wellness area with fitness testing stations, and even past medical breakthroughs including an iron lung and circa 1900 drug store with tools and medicines from that time.
The Flight! Gallery features examples of flying machines from the past, including model airplanes, hot air balloons and even a replica of the revolutionary SpaceShipOne, winner of the Ansari X Prize in 2004. The Science Center also features an OMNIMAX theater, showing a rotating array of films on a four-story screen with a 15,000-watt sound system.
The attached James S. McDonnell Planetarium is considered one of the country’s top space education facilities, featuring a Boeing Space Station, Orthwein StarBay with several lab areas, and a theater with more than 9,000 stars projected onto an 80-foot dome.
Science Park is located outside the planetarium, an 11,000 square-foot area that allows visitors to experiment with sound, motion and light. The Roller Coaster Gravity Race, Friction Slide and Color Maze are just a few of the fun exhibits there.
The Science Center offers free general admission, but several exhibits (including the OMNIMAX Theater and Planetarium Space Show) require an entrance fee. Even so, with so much to see and do, the Saint Louis Science Center is a terrific deal for the entire family. It’s a one-stop-fun-shop, with lots of learning and education mixed in for good measure.
- by D.J. Siegel, Saint Louis Reporter for HelloMetro
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