The Science Museum of Minnesota’s 108 year history has seen many firsts in the world of science with innovative use of live theater to teach and also programs to help teachers in K-12 classrooms locally. The beginning of the Science Museum of Minnesota can be traced to a luncheon at the Minnesota Club in 1906 when a small group of St. Paul businessmen, headed by Charles W. Ames, met to discuss “the intellectual and scientific growth of St. Paul.”
Starting in 1907 with a series of free lectures on sanitiation and hygiene, the Science Museum has grown into an institution in St. Paul with 1.75 million artifacts and specimens, including the 3,900 pound Iggy. The current museum houses the only convertible-dome Omnitheater in the U.S.
They have 70,000 square feet of exhibition space including a 10,000-square-foot temporary exhibit gallery and five permanent galleries covering the topics of paleontology, physical science and technology, the human body, peoples and cultures of the Mississippi River, and the museum’s collections.
Some of the current exhibits:
Space: An Out-of-Gravity Experience
What lies ahead for human space flight? And what does it mean for life on Earth? Find out in this hands-on, bodies-on exhibition. Space: An Out-of-Gravity Experience invites you to explore the extraordinary conditions of human space exploration and discover the science that makes it successful.
Journey to Space launches in the Omnitheater
Reflect on how the space shuttle program of the past has shaped our approach to the future’s space hurdles—including the exploration of Mars. Marvel at the extraordinary accomplishments of human space travel over the past fifty years—and dream of the new horizons ahead. View the Trailer:
TapeScape play structure is now open!
Slide, crawl, roll, and twist your way through an interactive play environment made completely out of plastic wrap and packing tape stretched over steel frames. Strong enough to handle thousands of energetic visitors every week, the smooth and springy surfaces will throw a few curves and twists into science exploration!
The Science Museum of Minnesota, founded in 1907, is a large regional science museum located on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. The Science Museum’s programs combine research and collection facilities, a public science education center, extensive teacher education and school outreach programs, and an Imax Convertible Dome Omnitheater to provide science education to our audience of more than a million people per year.
The Science Museum’s building is 370,000 square feet, built into the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. The museum’s 70,000 square feet of exhibition space includes a 10,000-square-foot temporary exhibit gallery and five permanent galleries covering the topics of paleontology, physical science and technology, the human body, peoples and cultures of the Mississippi River, and the museum’s collections. The Mississippi River flows just outside the windows of the museum and past the museum’s ten acres of outdoor exhibits and programming space. The Science Museum of Minnesota employs over 600 full and part time staff and is supported by more than 1,000 dedicated volunteers.
The Science Museum of Minnesota is known worldwide for its interactive exhibits, dynamic traveling exhibitions, and internationally distributed large format films. The museum was an early innovator in the use of live theater as a humanizing interpretive tool and continues to be a training ground for other museums wishing to include live programming in their exhibit halls. The museum provides innovative staff development programs for teachers throughout the region and science education outreach programs for K-12 classrooms. The Science Museum constantly explores and implements new technologies to educate our audience about science. The museum’s Science Learning Division and St. Croix Watershed Research Station provide significant ongoing scientific research in the areas of anthropology, paleontology, biology, and environmental sciences.
Just the history of the Science Museum of Minnesota is fascinating and you can find out more information about it HERE.
Science Museum of Minnesota
120 W. Kellogg Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Planet Earth
Latitude: 44° 56′ 34″ N
Longitude: 93° 05′ 54″ W
(For more information about how latitude and longitude are determined, visit this NASA page.)
General Information and Reservations
web: Hours, Tickets, Directions
email: info@smm.org
phone: (651) 221-9444 or (800) 221-9444
TTY: (651) 221-4585
fax: (651) 221-4533
Donation Requests
www.smm.org/donations
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