An Extravaganza of Science for Children and Adults - Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

OMNI is an incredible learning experience for children and adults of all ages to enjoy the magic of science and industry. This landmark museum has been teaching science to visitors for over 60 years. It is one of the top leading science museums in the nation, with 219,000 square feet of hundreds of interactive exhibits, hands-on demonstrations, and more. The museum provides numerous incredible activities, and it constantly introduces new featured exhibits of all kinds.

Visitors can go to the OMNIMAX theater, which has a five story domed screen with 6532 square feet of projection surface, as well as surround sound and an IMAX projection system that uses the largest frame in the motion picture industry - ten times that of standard 35mm film.

OMSI's Kendall Planetarium is a unique environment that blends art, science, fantasy, and fun. The largest and most technologically advanced planetarium in the Pacific Northwest, Kendall Planetarium features educational and entertaining multimedia presentations on astronomy and space science.

The museum owns the U.S. Navy's last non-nuclear, fast-attack submarine, the USS Blueback (SS-581), which is open for visitors to crawl inside and tour. This submarine is special because it was the first battle-ready one to use the teardrop hull, and because it appeared in the hit movie The Hunt for Red October.

Many labs are available for children and adults to get their hands dirty playing with real science demonstrations. There's the vernier technology lab where visitors can learn about computers and robotics, the physics lab where visitors can play with electricity, the paleo lab where visitors can excavate models of fossils cast from real Oregon fossils, the life science lab where visitors can see spiders, insects, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, the chemistry lab, the discovery lab, the watershed lab, and the laser and holography lab.

The laser light shows are brilliant colorful presentations of light choreographed to all different kinds of music. OMSI also features several educational exhibit halls, a motion simulator to take visitors into volcanoes, race tracks, and other places, and there's even a science-based playground for children 6 years old and under. If that's not enough to entertain the average visitor, OMSI also has occasional events to make the experience even more memorable.

But OMSI is more than just an ingenious museum. It also provides many educational programs (one of which is the largest outreach education program in the US), some of which travel to students in five different states. There are also summer camps, development workshops for teachers, works in partnership with schools throughout Oregon, and more. The influence OMSI has on the local community is incredible; the influence it has on visitors, unforgettable.