Center for the Advancement of Science Education
We excite students, empower teachers and engage the community with innovative programs.
- Field Trips
- Explore your health, experiment with the physics behind nature, travel into a coal mine, join a live science experience and more.
- Learning Labs
- Students experience the passion and thrill of scientific discovery in workshops that align with Illinois Learning Standards.
- Teacher Courses
- Our courses will show you how to get your students excited about science and complement your classroom curriculum.
What's New
- Classroom Resources
- Our free classroom activities are aligned with learning standards and will get your students excited to learn science.
- Teacher Workshops
- These half- to full-day sessions on a variety of science topics are linked to your classroom curriculum.
- Graduate Courses
- Enhance your science teaching with graduate-level programs offered jointly by MSI and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
- Live Science
- Be part of the action in our live science experiences happening every day at the Museum as you experiment with chemistry, physics, biology and more.
- Science Minors
- This youth development program lets teens learn about science and meet science professionals while interacting with Museum guests.
- Fab Lab
- Dream up, design and make almost anything you can imagine using cutting-edge software and equipment in our small-scale workshop.
- Community Programs
- We're making science fun in our after-school science clubs, youth development programs, Museum sleepovers and other special initiatives.
- Bus scholarship program
- We offer free bus transportation to economically disadvantaged schools in the Chicago Public Schools system.
Featured Classroom Activities
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- Three Colors of Light
- See what happens when you mix together the three primary colors of light.
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- Cookie Mining
- Simulate the economics of coal mining by "mining" for chocolate chips in a cookie.
CASE
The Center aims to inspire the next generation of inventors and innovators with programs that empower teachers, engage the community and excite students.
Video
Learn how MSI is transforming lives through science education.
- Happening Now
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Powerful: African Americans in Energy
Navigate a miniature golf landscape as you learn about our range of energy choices.
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Tornado Alley
Ride along with researchers of VORTEX 2 to hunt for some of nature's most destructive storms.
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Rocky Mountain Express
Jump onboard this journey through the Canadian Rockies by train!
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- Coming Soon
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Member Omnimax Film Festival
See a favorite Omnimax film, catch one you may have missed or experience a premiere.
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MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition [Opens March 15]
Try your hand at busting or confirming myths in wildly entertaining experiments.
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Elements and Experiments
Join bestselling author Theodore Gray on his tour of the periodic table.
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New Online Activities
- Online Activity
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Habitat Overcrowding
See what happens when plants compete for survival in an area with limited resources.
- Online Activity
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Straw Bridges
Tap into your inner engineer as you design, build and test model bridges.
- Online Activity
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What Goes Around
Create a traveling circulatory system to learn how blood flow and nutrient exchange happens.
New Online Activities
- Online Activity
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What Goes Around
Create a traveling circulatory system to learn how blood flow and nutrient exchange happens.
- Online Activity
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Three Colors of Light
See what happens when you mix together the three primary colors of light.
- Online Activity
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Simple Machines
Help Twitch do his late-night work in the Museum workshop by creating simple machines.