Kentucky Science Center
If your group is looking for entertainment, education, and excellent exhibits explaining scientific wonders all in one, the Kentucky Science Center is for you!
This learning center is Kentucky's largest hands-on science museum, with 3 floors packed with exhibits and an onsite 4 -story movie screen. This center has a long-standing relationship with Louisville, first founded in 1871. It considers itself to be the state's top 'entertainment and education resource for everyday life', the perfect daytime stop for locals and visitors alike.
There are 3 ways to see the museum:
- Exhibits - Self Guided Tour of Museum
- Movies - Choose 1 Feature Film, with Options from Documentaries to Hollywood Blockbusters. (3D format).
- Combo - Both of the Above.
The exhibits you will see include Science in Play, Discovery Gallery (be sure to see the Gemini Trainer in this gallery), The World We Create, The World Around Us, and The World in Us. Your group can choose to take a class while here as well, diving much deeper into the various subjects you will see in play throughout the exhibits. There are options for pre-k - 5th-grade classes, each lasting 45 minutes and including topics ranging from Shapes of Science to Transition of Matter. Then there are classes for 6- 12 grade, each lasting 90 minutes, with the same subjects offered but at a much more in-depth level. Two of our favorite choices are The Pulse of Surgery Program and Challenger Learning Center, both excellent choices for both younger and older students. Here's some more in-depth info about these two learning opportunities from the museum's Visitor Services Manager:
The Pulse of Surgery - A 3 hour live streaming event from one of the Operation Rooms of Jewish Hospital during an open-heart surgery. The program allows students to remotely view and engage with O.R. staff in a facilitated experience at Kentucky Science Center. Dates have not yet been determined for 2018-2019 school year but when they are the dates will be posted on this webpage: https://kysciencecenter.org/education/pulse-of-surgery/
Challenger Learning Center - Offers space mission simulations in areas designed to look like mission control and a space station. Students will work together to solve problems and will have a general idea of what it takes to work on a space station or in Mission Control.
Be sure to hit the gift shop before you go and look around for some educational resources or museum souvenirs, they have 'gifts and gadgets for all ages'. Also take into consideration that the museum offers onsite boxed lunches through the Subway restaurant located within their building, an option we can set up for you!
