Museum Of Science

Programs: Exhibits include over 700 standing exhibits, housed in 193,000 sq ft of gallery and related space, providing hands-on experiences in all areas of science and technology, and their social impact. The museum creates permanent and traveling exhibits both on its own and in collaboration with universities, other museums, and scientific organizations, and is a lead institution in the nanoscale informal science education network (nisenet), a network of approximately 550 institutions creating and sharing exhibits and programs relating to the science and engineering of the very small. In november 2013, the museum opened its hall of human life, a 10,000 sq ft interactive exhibition on human biology that features 15 "link stations" where visitors can measure and compare personal data relating to current research topics. Traveling exhibits hosted by the museum this year included: dead sea scrolls: life in ancient times; seasons of change: climate change in your backyard; our global kitchen; 2thextreme: mathalive! ; grossology; animals without passports.

public programs include exhibit interpretation, lecture series, live animal demonstrations (the museum is accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums), physical science demonstrations, lightning shows in the thomson theater of electricity, special events, demonstrations and podcasts relating to topics of current science and technology, hands-on design challenges and a walk-through butterfly garden. The museum's community outreach programs provide access to these and other programs to underrepresented audiences, and the museum's traveling programs' 6 vans bring programming out to schools, libraries, and community centers across new england. (1,155,900 onsite visitors and 97,600 offsite participants served. )

education programs include summer courses for children, overnight programs, an educator resource center, and field trip programs for school groups. The museum is the flagship site of the intel computer clubhouse network, an international community of 100 clubhouses in 20 countries which provide a creative and safe out-of-school environment for young people in underserved communities to work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop new skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology. The museum is also the home of the national center for technological literacy (nctl), which works with education, government and industry to integrate engineering in schools and museums nationwide. The nctl has developed standards-based k-12 curriculum materials and provides professional development programs in math and engineering, as well as online teacher resources. (190,700 visitors and participants, not including thousands of children using nctl curricula worldwide)