Exhibits
Find out what's currently in the Museum's Exhibit Halls!
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- A Bird's World (Exhibit)
- Take a virtual tour of Acadia National Park in this exhibit, which includes a specimen of every bird found in New England. Interactive exhibits offer insight into bird behavior, and New England birders will also find a useful bird "dictionary." Birds naturally detect predators. Their sounds ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Bees (Exhibit)
- This exhibit presents a glassed-in beehive that allows visitors to observe bees in their natural setting. Watch as thousands of bees travel in and out of the colony and perform a variety of jobs, including collecting pollen, making wax, capping honey, and tending to the brood. Look for the queen bee ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Beyond the X-ray (Exhibit)
- Medical imaging technologies have come a long way since the discovery of the X-ray in 1895. This exhibit offers lessons on some of the many non-invasive ways doctors look into the human body. At the center of the exhibit is "Five Windows on the Body," offering five panels with large-scale ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
3 - Adult
3 - Adult
- Bradford Washburn: The Man Behind the Lens (Exhibit)
- Originally a companion piece to the traveling exhibit Colossal: Aerial Photographs by Bradford Washburn, this exhibit tells the story of the renowned mountaineer and Museum of Science founder through artifacts such as his K-22 camera and hand-drawn trail maps. (details).
Reservation:
Tickets required; school groups should reserve at least ...
Tickets required; school groups should reserve at least ...
Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Butterfly Garden (Exhibit)
- Walk among the free-flying residents of this warm conservatory filled with exotic plants. Overlooking the Charles River, this tropical oasis offers a wonderful opportunity to get close to a variety of living butterflies from New England and across the globe. Upon entering the garden, you'll begin to ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Cahners ComputerPlace (Exhibit)
- Cahners ComputerPlace — your portal into the digital world: Bytes! - Build your own computer model at the "Computer Build Bench." - Chat with Ada and Grace, our new virtual human guides, and go behind the scenes at "InterFaces" (follow link above to enter the virtual exhibit). This is a collaboration ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
3 - Adult
3 - Adult
- Catching the Wind (Exhibit)
- Learn about how turbines transform wind into green energy, and track energy production in the Museum's own Wind Lab, a group of nine wind turbines mounted on the Museum roof. In Catching the Wind, visitors can dive into the world of wind turbines, learning how they generate electricity from the power ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
K - 12
K - 12
- Clark Collection of Mechanical Movement Models (Exhibit)
- This set of working models was designed by American engineer William M. Clark in the early 1900s. Originally numbering over 200, these models were displayed as the Mechanical Wonderland in New York in 1928 and at the Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago in 1933. Today, 120 of these mechanical models ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Colossal Fossil: Triceratops Cliff (Exhibit)
- Get an up-close view of this 65-million-year-old fossil, discovered in the Dakota Badlands in 2004. Named for the grandfather of its anonymous donor, Cliff is one of only four nearly complete Triceratops on public display anywhere in the world. At the time of its discovery, the 23-foot-long specimen ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Dinosaurs: Modeling the Mesozoic (Exhibit)
- The evidence we collect through the fossil record tells a tantalizingly incomplete and still evolving tale. Here, through fossils and life-size models, visitors get a sense of how paleontologists continue to compile evidence, changing the way we view these extinct animals. Perhaps most emblematic ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
Pre-K - 2
Pre-K - 2
- Discovery Center (Exhibit)
- Designed for children from birth to age eight and their accompanying grownups, the Discovery Center offers an assortment of fun, hands-on activities that are designed to encourage discovery through play. An ideal area for early learners, this educational environment emphasizes the use of real objects ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
3 - Adult
3 - Adult
- How Your Life Began (Exhibit)
- People of all cultures and traditions share the amazing experience of human reproduction and birth. In this exhibit, learn about one of the great miracles and mysteries of cell biology: how your life began from a single cell. Here, models and displays show the anatomy of the male and female reproductive systems ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Human Body Connection (Exhibit)
- The Human Body Connection is a place where students can explore many different themes in biology, including human anatomy and physiology, variability within human populations, and evolution. While visiting the Human Body Connection, students can think about how humans are related to other living ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
6 - Adult
6 - Adult
- Human Evolution (Exhibit)
- Ancient stone tools, poisonous plants, DNA, fossil skulls, and tamarin monkeys all have something in common: they are all clues that help explain why all life on Earth, including humans, evolves over generations. This exhibit encourages visitors to explore the evidence supporting the theory of evolution ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
3 - 12
3 - 12
- Identity: An Exhibition of You (Temporary Exhibit)
- Who are you? Explore your unique physical, psychological, and social identities with a series of hands-on and interactive activities. Our bodies and personalities are complex and multidimensional, shaped both by factors we can control and those we cannot. Discover how science is providing new insights ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
3 - 12
3 - 12
- Innovative Engineers (Exhibit)
- The end products of engineering are everywhere, from bridges to blow dryers, iPods to plastic wrap. This exhibit brings some long-overdue attention to the engineering leaders who solve everyday challenges both large and small. Its collection of biographical stories shows how the paths to engineering ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Investigate! (Exhibit)
- With activities and experiments that are both fun and educational, this highly interactive exhibit gives visitors practice in thinking like a scientist. We provide equipment and materials to do a variety of investigations with some ideas on how to get started. From there, it's up to you to decide where to go ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Live Animal Exhibit (Exhibit)
- Visit this viewing area for a peek at some of the stars of the Museum's Live Animal presentations. Located in the Red Wing, Lower Level, the Live Animal Center is home to approximately 120 animals representing more than 50 species. Although the center itself is closed to the public, this large window ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Making Models (Exhibit)
- Scientists use models to better understand the real world, and visitors to this exhibit can use a wide variety of models, scientific and otherwise, to learn and practice some of the basic tools from the scientific toolbox. Models are best known as representatives for physical objects, but they also ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Mapping the World Around Us (Exhibit)
- The world of maps is one of infinite possibilities. They help us navigate from here to there, but they can also be abstractions, diagrams of relationships or interactions over time. This exhibit shows several samples of different types of maps, and it also invites visitors to create their own. Maps ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
1 - Adult
1 - Adult
- Mathematica (Exhibit)
- Created by the famous design team of Charles and Ray Eames, this has been a favorite exhibit since it opened at the Museum of Science in 1981. The Eames wanted to provide an opportunity for everyone to enjoy the beauty and wonder of mathematics, and they have also provided us with an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of post-modern design ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Natural Mysteries (Exhibit)
- Scientists use classification to uncover the natural world's hidden patterns and meanings. With its reference library of interesting objects, enticingly mysterious environments, and hands-on activities, this exhibit inspires you to use this basic skill in brand-new ways. Classifying lets us unlock ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
1 - Adult
1 - Adult
- New England Habitats (Exhibit)
- Get a feel for New England's natural environment with these classic dioramas. In addition to these windows on wide-ranging landscapes, the exhibit's model birds, casts of feet, antlers, beaks and other touchable elements make this an interactive experience for curious visitors. Observe deciduous ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
6 - 12
6 - 12
- Playing by the Rules: Fish, Fads, and Fireflies (Exhibit)
- Fish in a school, the spread of fads, and fireflies flashing in sync are examples of systems in which there is no leader in charge, but patterns will still emerge from simple interactions among individuals. In this exhibit, you'll explore this idea through computer simulations and other interactive offerings ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
n/a - n/a
n/a - n/a
- Running the Numbers: Portraits of Mass Consumption (Temporary Exhibit)
- Sociologists tell us that the human mind cannot meaningfully grasp numbers higher than a few thousand. Yet, understanding the consequences of our choices requires us to comprehend the incremental effect of millions or billions of small acts. How can we sensitize ourselves and, in turn, change our choices? ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
Pre-K - Adult
Pre-K - Adult
- Science In The Park (Exhibit)
- This park-like setting invites visitors to run, jump, swing, and use familiar objects like playground equipment and bicycle parts to investigate the pushes and pulls of everyday life: the forces that set things in motion, stop their motion, or hold them in place. This permanent exhibit, developed ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
5 - Adult
5 - Adult
- Seeing Is Deceiving (Exhibit)
- Vision is a complex process, and the human brain has developed some very clever shortcuts to help us sort the useful visual information from the useless. Many of the illusions in this exhibit exploit these shortcuts for an entertaining learning experience. Seeing seems to be the ultimate form of understanding, ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
3 - Adult
3 - Adult
- Suit / Cabot Lab (Exhibit)
- Take on the role of a scientist and explore topics as diverse as DNA, chemistry, and plant biology in the Museum's drop-in laboratory. Students use many of the real tools and techniques that a researcher might use. Staff and volunteers assist them in hands-on activities and genuine experiments, while ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
5 - Adult
5 - Adult
- Sun Power (Exhibit)
- Sunlight is the world' s largest energy resource, and more energy in the form of sunlight reaches Earth every hour than humans consume in a year. In this exhibit, visitors can learn how we can make use of all of this energy. Photovoltaic cells (also called solar cells) allow us to convert sunlight into electricity ... (details).
Reservation:
n/a
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Grades:
4 - Adult
4 - Adult
- Take A Closer Look (Exhibit)
- Some of history's great scientists did their best work when employing all of their senses to better observe their world. This renovated, updated exhibit (formerly The Observatory: Seeing the Unseen) is packed with interactive components that encourage you to exercise your powers of perception. See what ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- The Colby Gun and Trophy Room (Exhibit)
- The Colby Room opened at the Museum in 1965 as a re-creation of Colonel Francis T. Colby's den in Hamilton, Massachusetts. Like a snapshot in time, the room contains original artifacts and animals representing both the life travels of Colonel Colby and the mindset of a generation. At the entrance ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- The Computing Revolution (Exhibit)
- Part of the merger between the Museum of Science and the Computer Museum, this exhibit highlights the history of computing and uses historical artifacts to illustrate how human needs have led to new technologies. The exhibition is divided into several theme areas: computer prehistory, World War ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
3 - Adult
3 - Adult
- The Draper Prize (Exhibit)
- Each year, the Museum of Science creates a display about the Draper Prize winners and their invention. This year's display honors Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web. In the 1980s, Berners-Lee was working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, when he developed the proposal for his breakthrough idea ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- The Light House (Exhibit)
- Ranging from radio waves (larger than a football field) to gamma rays (a billion times smaller than a pinhead), wavelengths are all invisible to the human eye, except for the section of the spectrum known as visible light. In this exhibit, you can explore the science behind light and color. An intriguing ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
3 - 12
3 - 12
- The Rock Garden (Exhibit)
- Petrified wood from Arizona, Egyptian granite, and our own Roxbury puddingstone are just some of the rock stars that can be found in this outdoor exhibit, where visitors can take a tour of the world just by strolling through. Here, you can find a rock that tumbled in an avalanche from the top of Mount ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- To the Moon (Exhibit)
- Created in July 2009 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing, this exhibit features full-size models of the Apollo and Mercury capsules and a graphic timeline documenting the key era of human space exploration. Learn about the Apollo program that sent 20 people into space, ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - 12
K - 12
- WeatherWise (Exhibit)
- With engaging interactives and stunning images, this exhibit takes you through the scales of weather: global, national, regional, local, and personal. At the focus of the exhibit is a skill called nowcasting. Even if you've heard a local forecast, you can learn to refine that forecast to predict if ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
K - Adult
K - Adult
- Weems Animal Sculptures (Exhibit)
- Katharine Lane Weems (1899-1989), a Boston-born artist, donated her collection to the Museum of Science to demonstrate the many connections between science and art. There are 30 bronze sculptures of animals displayed in this exhibit, and the Museum of Science has the largest Weems collection in the world ... (details).
Reservation:
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Grades:
n/a - n/a
n/a - n/a
- Whales | Tohorā (Temporary Exhibit)
- For centuries, whales have captured our imaginations and ignited our emotions. But how much do we really know about these awe-inspiring creatures? Through a unique blend of interactive science and storytelling, this exhibit invites you to dive deep into the fascinating world of whales. Discover the ... (details).
