Museum of Science and Industry

Museum Mission

To inspire the inventive genius in everyone.

Museum Vision

To inspire and motivate our children to reach their full potential in science, technology, medicine and engineering.

Facilities    

The Museum is housed in the only remaining building from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. It was built as the fair’s Palace of Fine Arts by Burnham & Root architect Charles Atwood and is now the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere. Our facilities include:

• More than 400,000 square feet of exhibit space
• Chicago’s only five-story, domed Omnimax® theater
• Restaurants: The Brain Food Court, Brain Food Café and Finnigan’s Ice Cream Parlor
• Gift Shops: The Big Idea, The Galaxy Shop, The Kids Stop and the U-505 Store
• A student and teacher e-learning center with videoconferencing capability
• An 800-seat auditorium and two smaller theater spaces
• Seven learning lab areas for special educational programming
• Convenient indoor parking connected to the Museum’s Great Hall ticketing area
• Wheelchair and stroller rental and coat check facilities

Audience

• In 2007, the Museum welcomed 1.67 million guests; we have welcomed more than 175 million guests in our 75-year history!
• We hosted more than 280,000 children in school groups in 2007.

Exhibits and Programs

• The Museum is home to more than 35,000 artifacts.
• Public programming includes costumed program interpretation, daily science demonstrations, learning labs, lectures, performances, book signings and live videoconferences and special overnight events.
• Major permanent exhibits include: U-505 Submarine, The Coal Mine, Baby Chick Hatchery, The Great Train Story, ToyMaker 3000, Earth Revealed, Genetics, Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle, the Pioneer Zephyr, Farm Tech and Take Flight.  

Education Programs

• Within a school year, we deliver over 300 Learning Lab educational sessions to more than 8,000 students.
• Approximately 1,000 teachers each year are served through professional development activities.  
• Approximately 200 teenagers have been trained in the Museum’s Science Minors program, which teaches high schoolers about science and then allows them to share their knowledge with Museum guests.
• The ground-breaking Live…From the Heart program, which allows students to view an open-heart surgery in real time, has reached more than 6,000 students since its inception in 2003.

Accolades

• Named one of the Seven Wonders of Chicago by readers of the Chicago Tribune
• Named one of the country's 50 top family attractions by Zagat Survey (2004)
• Voted best museum in Chicago by Citysearch.com users (2003)
• Named one of Chicago's top museums by Today's Chicago Woman readers (2004)
• Featured in the 2005 World Almanac For Kids
• Named one of the top 15 museums in the world by Life magazine's millennium edition