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Great Lakes Science Center

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lyss710
lyss710
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Great Lakes Science Center

  • September 1, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by kathypac from University Hts, Ohio
This is a great place to visit with your whole family, but come early so you can spend lots of time here. There are four separate floors here: the Science Phenomena Floor, the Regional Technologies Floor, The Great Lakes Environment Floor, and one Misc. Floor. There are over 400 hand-on exhibits here, but we especially enjoyed the following three: The Indoor Tornado is this amazing 8 foot actual tornado. You can even reach out and touch it, if you’re brave enough. The Bridge of Fire has a cool static electricity generator that creates like 200,000 volts of electricity, causing your hair to stand on end. Our kids loved the sight of my wife’s long hair standing straight out! Last we saw a film at the six-story, domed, IMAX theater, which was amazing, and a little bit scary. My wife almost got sick as the water on the screen swirled around. All in all, this was a very enjoyable trip, and well worth the $20 or so in admission.

From journal Cleveland Sights!

Editor Pick

Great Lakes Science Center

  • August 7, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by cr008k from San Francisco, California
The Great Lakes Science Center is open from 9:30 to 5:30. It costs about $9 for adults and $8 for kids. I went with my three cousins- age 2, 6 and 13. It was probably best for the 6 year old- the 2 year old was a little too young and the 13 year old was a little bored with some of the exhibits.

They have over 300 exhibits so you really can spend the whole day there, especially if you go with kids that are the right age. It isn't really an adults only activity because most of the exhibits and the hands on stuff is geared towards kids.

They have tons of different exhibits dealing with everything that is remotely science related- water, weather, light, sound, electricity, geography, basically everything you could imagine. There are way too many to list everything here- but you can go to their website and they have a more complete list of everything that you can do and see there.

Our favorites were the Polymer Funhouse where younger kids can play with and streth polymers- they are kind of like those pool noodles but way more fun and educational- the kids did not want to leave. They also have an Indoor Tornado that you can touch which was fun. The Haunted House was great too, but perhaps a little too scary for the two year old. Also, for those kids into technology, they have great technology experiments where you can play with all these computers and there is this wall of videos.

It was really a great experience. They also have a large imax theatre that you can go see nature oriented movies in, but this costs additional. Finally, they have special programs and exhibits going on throughout the day so be sure to check the schedule. There was a fun quiz gameshow thing when we were there that the kids really liked. The presentations usually include some kind of audience participation too, so its fun to get involved.

Overall, this is a great educational experience that manages to be fun too. I think its probably best for kids ages like 3 or 4 to 9 or 10, but all kids will find something to like.

From journal Cleveland Getaway

Editor Pick

Great Lakes Science Center

  • April 14, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by The Breeze from Mayfield, Ohio
Great Lakes Science Center

This beautiful science center is now in its tenth year. It sits on Lake Erie alongside the Rock Hall of Fame. It has an attached parking garage, so you can just park your car, walk right in, and spend the day playing in this fun place. And believe me, if you have the time, you really COULD spend an entire day here! It’s one of those rare places that appeal to all ages on its many different learning levels, and because there are so many interactive exhibits, no one gets bored. When lunch time rolls around, you might want to grab a bite to eat at Bytes Restaurant, which has an outdoor terrace for nice days, or Great Lakes Grill or Pizza Hut on the lower level.

The first thing you’d see if you were to enter via the main entrance is The Science Store. There’s always something new at this fascinating shop: everything from games, puzzles, books, posters, toys for all ages, apparel… great gifts that bring out the inquisitive nature of any thinking child or adult. I would say it’s medium in size, yet I spent almost an hour checking everything out. Fun!

The main museum is organized into four different sections: On the Regional Technologies Floor you can study full-sized Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI). The Great Lakes Environment Floor features environmental activities in the Great Lakes region. The Scientific Phenomena Floor is the most popular: We reached out and touched an 8-foot tornado, had our own freestyle jam session on the Sound Stage, and laughed as we watched people’s hair standing on end when they touched the Static Electricity Generator. I think my favorite is a keyboard where a word or message that you type is converted by computer into sound... It’s hilarious and almost addictive! In another section there’s Virtual Sports, a high-tech interactive exhibit that lets you try your basketball and soccer skills. In soccer, you have 60 seconds to knock as many balls as possible away from the goal.

The favored area for very young children is the Polymer Playhouse. It’s unlike anyplace you’ve seen, and would be difficult to put into words. It includes such things as balancing, fishing and playing games. If you have young ones, you will need to devote a good deal of time to this area of the museum; save it for later, when the kids get bored.

I haven’t yet mentioned the other half of the Science Center: the Omnimax Theater. This is a 6-story tall domed screen on which is projected a changing variety of interesting films, using the world’s most sophisticated motion-picture projection system. Watching a movie here is a breathtaking experience that makes you feel just like you are really involved in the action.

The Great Lakes Science Center is open daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Admission:
GLSC exhibits only: Adults $8.95, Seniors $7.95, Youth $6.95
Omnimax only: 8.95, 7.95, 6.95
Both: 12.95, 10.95, 8.95

From journal Believe in Cleveland

Editor Pick

Great Lakes Science Center

  • September 1, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Zeke111 from Novi, Michigan
Great Lakes Science Center

The Great Lakes Science Center is great day of fun and amusement for both children and adults. At only $9 for adults and $7 for children, it is also reasonably priced.

The Great Lakes Science Center is located right on the shores of Lake Erie, between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Brown's Stadium. This is not your normal science museum, where you would just walk by exhibits and read a few facts. The Science Center contains over 400 interactive exhibits, including such mind-bending displays as Touch the Indoor Tornado, Investigate the Sick Earth, and The Electric Theater Show. There are also much smaller exhibits where you can learn about the effects of magnets or see how the rotation of the Earth affects the things around us. Getting a hands-on experience is a great way to encourage your and your children's imagines, and it is a great way to learn about science and the world around us. This is not an all-day activity, but is an excellent and fun way to spend an afternoon with the family. I have been to the Science Center three or four times, and every time they have something new or something I missed the last time.

The Science Center also contains The Cleveland Clinic OMNIMAX Theater. The theater is a six-story tall dome that delivers an unbelievable audio and visual experience. Whether it takes you on a gliding tour of the Grand Canyon or you explore the human body, the theater inspires a feeling of weightless and flight. It connects with all your senses and really takes you to the place it is showing. It only costs a few more dollars for a ticket, and if you have the time, it is absolutely worth it.

The Science Center has its own parking and restaurant and is very easy to get to. Take East 9th to the lake and turn left. If you are doing the Rock Hall on the same day, you can easily park here and just walk over.

From journal Cleveland, America's Rock'n Roller Coast

Great Lakes Science Center

  • September 6, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Jackie V from Green Bay, Wisconsin
This is a very popular museum overlooking the lake in Cleveland. We were a bit annoyed when we had to wait in line for 40 minutes to get our tickets. If you plan to go on a weekend, you might want to order the tickets through Ticketstar ahead of time to avoid the wait.

Once we got inside the museum, it did not seem crowded. There were hundreds of interesting exhibits to explore. You could easily spend most of a day at the museum. Our kids loved it. The omnimax theater was also very nice.

From journal Taking the Kids to Ohio

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