Museum & Science Center
Hours:
Monday–Saturday: 9am–5pm
Sunday: 11am–5pm
Admission:
$14 adults, $13 seniors and college students with ID, $12 ages 3–18, free for children under 3 and RMSC members.
Strasenburgh Planetarium
Hours and Admission: See show schedule
Museum and Planetarium Combined Admission:
$17 adults, $15 seniors and college students with ID, $14 ages 3-18
Cumming Nature Center
Hours:
Wednesday–Friday: 9am–3:30pm; Saturday–Sunday: 9am–4:30pm
Open for winter season. Skis and snowshoes available for rent. Hiking available if no snow. Call 585.374.6160.
Admission:
RMSC members free; General public requested donation—$3 per person; $10 per family.
3rd ROC Café
Hours:
Monday–Saturday: 10am–3pm
Sunday: 11am–3pm
Museum Special Events
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607
Unless otherwise noted, programs are located at RMSC and are free with museum admission
Mess-tival: Slimy, Silly & Gross
Friday, April 14-Sunday, April 23: 11am-3pm
(except Easter Sunday, April 16)
A festival of mess! Discover the wonders of science through messy hands-on activities. Get more than just your hands dirty while you experiment with different gooey and yucky substances. Come back throughout the week to make new art and science creations each day – make your own green slime, bury your hands in oobleck, dissect an owl pellet, paint with magnet marbles and so much more.
Richard C. Shultz Science on the Edge Lectures
Providing insight and understanding about current research in a broad array of topics for a general audience for 30+ years.
Thursday, April 27: 7:30pm
Michael Peres, Professor of Photographic Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology
Topic: How to Photograph a Snowflake
Tickets available at www.rmsc.org.
RMSC Catalyst Circle Presents a Night at the Museum
Wednesday, April 26: 5:30-8:30pm
Enjoy snacks and a cash bar while exploring the Museum after hours. Among other activities, experience a “renegade tour” – a small-group, interactive tour led by RMSC staff to uncover the secrets behind exhibits and lesser-known stories of our area and around the world. Space limited for tours, which will take place at 6pm – sign up at event. A 21+ event. Must have proof of ID at the door. Event benefits the RMSC. Tickets: $12
Science Alive
Sponsored by M&T Bank and Corning Incorporated Foundation
Exciting experiments with museum educators, hands-on explorations with science experts from our community and more.
Electricity Theater
Musical lightning powered by twin Tesla coils zaps across the dark theater.
Saturdays, Sundays and School Breaks: 12pm, 2pm and 4pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays: 4pm
Science Encounters
Try your hand at fun science experiments with RMSC staff and volunteers in exhibit galleries.
Saturdays, Sundays and School Breaks: 10:15am, 11:15am, 12:15pm, 1:15pm, 2:15pm and 3:15pm
Live Science Shows – Earth, Air, Fire and Water In Action
Discover fiery explosions and extreme temperatures through live performances on the Bausch Auditorium stage.
Saturdays, Sundays and School Breaks: 1pm and 3pm
Science On a Sphere® Presentations
Engage in the wonders of our planet and beyond as you experience scientific data in three dimensions on our giant globe. See Earth and the universe in a whole new way through stunning projections of atmospheric storms, climate change, planetary activity and ocean temperature.
Saturdays, Sundays and School Breaks: 11:30am and 1:30pm
Featured Presenters
Exciting upcoming programs with featured scientists and science enthusiasts from across the community! Check www.rmsc.org for details.
Show times are subject to change. Call 585.697.1942 to confirm. To request an interpreter for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, please call at least two weeks in advance: 585.697.1942.
Simulator Rides
Enjoy special limited-time only simulator rides throughout the year. Most* special rides are $1 per person (members included). Visitors can enjoy the Lake Ontario ride daily for free.
Rome Racer (High-Def ride)
Hold on to your chariot in an adventure through ancient Rome!
Daily in April
Hurricane Simulator (Available daily in Elements of the Extreme)
Experience the power of 75mph hurricane-force winds! Several people can experience at the same time for the price of one simulation. *$2 charge per simulation (members included).
Geranium / Beautiful Blooms Sale
By the RMSC Women’s Council
Now taking orders. Orders must be received by Friday, May 12. Pickup Dates: Friday, May 19, 1–6pm and Saturday, May 20, 9am–1pm. Pickup Location: RMSC Eisenhart Auditorium, 657 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14607
Visit www.rmsc.org for costs and other details.
Curiosity Camps
Camps at the RMSC offer exciting opportunities for young minds ages 2-15. Share in new adventures, discover science and explore exciting experiments. April Break Curiosity Camp: Monday, April 17–Friday, April 21; Summer Curiosity Camps: June 26–Aug. 25. Register today at www.rmsc.org or call 585.697.1942.
EXHIBITS:
Elements of the Extreme
(Closing April 23)
Presenting sponsor: KeyBank; Media sponsor: 13WHAM; Supported by: The Gouvernet Arts Fund; Program sponsor: Xerox; Special thanks to: Laird Plastics and Newtex
Take an unexpected journey through the power of earth, fire, air and water. Immerse yourself and discover how incredible adaptations to the unique properties of these “classical elements” enable life on our planet to survive and flourish. As you get hands-on with science in this internally developed exhibition, marvel at rare objects pulled from our collection vaults and discover what protects you and other species from imminent danger.
Earth – Use the colorful glow of florescent minerals to navigate your way through a cave. Build a structure to withstand an earthquake and test it on the “Big Shake.”
Fire – Cover your ears when the hydrogen cannon ignites! Explore the skill involved in forging 18th century Japanese samurai armor and firing pottery in the American Southwest.
Air – Compare the flight of hummingbirds, golden eagles and biplanes. Learn about bat sonar skills and imagine gliding like a flying squirrel in a specially designed flight suit. Take a ride on the hovercraft and send balls zooming through the pneumatic tube!
Water – Using augmented reality technology, sculpt landscape and watch the topography change before your eyes. Release the shocking “Big Splash” and check out the full-scale model of a hammerhead shark!
Snowflakes Up Close
(Closing April 30)
Discover the amazing snowflake photography of RIT Professor Michael Peres in a new exhibit. Walk through Michael’s photographic process and examine a snowflake under a microscope. Determine whether any two snowflakes are alike as you explore this scientific art and delight in the beauty of more than 30 snowflake images as you’ve never seen them before.
Rochester in 1838 diorama live restoration
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9am-5pm, and Saturdays 9am-2:30pm
Location: Third Floor
Made possible by: New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and the Historic Preservation, Restoration and Literature Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation
Get a peek behind the scenes at a unique “living exhibit” featuring the real-time restoration and enhancement of the RMSC’s beloved Rochester in 1838 diorama. In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal groundbreaking, experts work to restore and stabilize the 70-year-old diorama in an enclosure that makes the process visible to the public. The Erie Canal is a major feature in the display. The RMSC will renovate the enclosure and create new interpretive features.
Optical Society of America (OSA) Centennial Exhibit
Location: Strasenburgh Planetarium
Explore 100 iconic images and many local stories marking a century of innovation in the world of optics and photonics. This multimedia experience celebrates the scientists and inventions that changed the way we see, measure and interact with the world around us. Look for highlights from Rochester, NY!
Science On a Sphere
Sponsored by Harris Beach PLLC and O’Connell Electric Company
Engage in the wonders of our planet and beyond as you experience scientific data in three dimensions on our giant globe. See Earth and the universe in a whole new way through stunning projections of atmospheric storms, climate change, planetary activity and ocean temperature.
Illumination: The World of Light and Optics
Sponsored by G-S Plastic Optics and Tel-Tru Manufacturing
Experiment with lasers, lenses and mirrors as you explore the nature of light and optics. Immerse yourself in more than fifteen hands-on exhibits that demonstrate exciting scientific concepts including reflection and refraction, radio waves and color temperature. Crank, spin and illuminate to make light bend, sound emanate and shadows dance. Discover the best parts of working in optics and photonics at the new media installation featuring Andy Germanow from G-S Plastic Optics. Spark a passion for science within as you discover the true wonders of light.
Electricity Theater
Featuring “singing” Tesla coils, Electricity Theater is a display of brilliant lightning zaps accompanied by popular music. Visitors watch the dark theater become splashed with light via twin solid-state Tesla coils, and allow their inner spark to ignite as they explore the excitement of electricity and all that goes with it.
Inventor Center
Lift it, Launch it, Let it Go, Weekdays 2-4:30pm, Saturdays, Sundays and School Breaks 10am-4:30pm
Made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services
Power cities, build cars, harness wind and fire catapults. Dive into a hands-on exploration of the inventive process. Participate in engineering and design challenges as you tinker with raw materials to create working inventions that can be tested and shared. Challenges change every 3-5 months.
Nano Mini-Exhibit
Imagine and discover a world you can’t see! Get the family together and become engaged in the world of nanoscale science, engineering and technology. Hands-on exhibits present the basics of nano, introduce real-world applications and explore the implications of this new technology.
Erie Canal Lock
Crank open lock doors and operate a tugboat. Get hands-on insights into how canal locks work in the real world.
KEVA Planks
Come build with us! Construct wooden masterpieces of all shapes and sizes with KEVA Planks, a building exhibit experience. Precision cut, identical construction blocks, KEVA Planks stack with surprising stability. Using only gravity, visitors dabble with physics in order to achieve balance, optimum proportion and strength.
Under Construction: Building Careers
Founding Supporters: Builders Exchange of Rochester, Max & Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, UNICON, John W. Danforth Company, LeChase Construction Services, LLC, Manning Squires Hennig Company, Inc. and O’Connell Electric Company
Drill into an exciting hands-on exploration of construction trades. Built in-house by RMSC staff, the exhibition features the fascinating jobs of electricians, plumbers and other trade specialists. Maneuver a giant crane on the “job site,” install plumbing for a sink and much more. Also, learn from local trade professionals who built the Sustainability Institute Hall, home of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability on campus at RIT.
Energy Trail
Support from: AVANGRID Foundation/RG&E
Built in-house by RMSC staff and volunteers, Energy Trail is a multi-sensory, highly physical experience where YOU hold the power. Compare types of energy. Cycle, push and pump to create power and discover the outcome. Complete the trail, which covers all three floors of the RMSC, and win a prize! Don’t forget to collect it at the front desk.
AdventureZone
Dive to the bottom of Lake Ontario in the Deep Submergence Vehicle simulator. Test your strength on the Genesee Gorge climbing wall. Explore Rochester weather. Experiment with wind currents, stream erosion and more.
Expedition Earth
Explore your connections to the natural world in this spectacular, interactive natural science exhibition. Discover how our region’s landscape and life forms have changed over hundreds of millions of years. See a full-size mounted mastodon skeleton, uncover bones in the dig site, enter a glacial ice cave and much more. Look for a new full-sized muskox and caribou with special thanks to Alan and Sandy Stone for their generous support.
How Things Work
Discover the science behind everyday devices. Through fun, hands-on investigation, find out how mechanisms such as light switches, thermostats and traffic signals work.
Raceways
Discover the principles of moving objects. Experiment with momentum, friction, gravity and acceleration as you send wooden balls looping and racing over ramps.
Flight to Freedom: Rochester’s Underground Railroad
Presented with support from the City of Rochester and the Underground Railroad Heritage Trail, a program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Explore stories of courageous African Americans who traveled through Rochester on their way from slavery to freedom. Find out about local people who helped them.
At the Western Door
The hundreds of authentic objects show the Seneca’s and Haudenosaunee’s creative responses to new technologies and materials introduced following European contact. Clan and family continue to bind communities together and define who the Seneca and Haudenosaunee are.
Rochester Business Hall of Fame
Presented by the RMSC in partnership with Junior Achievement of Rochester and the Rochester Business Journal. Sponsored by Bank of America
This interactive exhibit celebrates exemplary Rochester leaders who have made outstanding, enduring contributions to business and community in the greater Rochester region.
Strasenburgh Planetarium
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607
Weekends & Evenings: 585.697.1945 | Weekdays: 585.697.1942
Shows subject to change
Adult Astronomy Courses
Adult lifelong learners seeking an intellectually stimulating program blending science, the arts and history. Not geared for children. Each session lasts about an hour.
Visit www.rmsc.org for details and to register. Groups of 10 or more, call RMSC group scheduling experts at 585.697.1942.
April 5 at 2pm – Eclipses 2017 and 2024
April 12 at 2pm – Mysteries of History: Where Did We Get Our Constellations?
April 26 at 2pm – A Short History of Planetariums (Including Ours)
Giant-Screen Films
Admission: adults $7; seniors and college students with ID $6; ages 3–18 $6; RMSC members $3, children under 3 free. Children under 5 years old are admitted to daytime shows only.
Giant-screen films on Wednesdays and Saturdays include open captioning on the screen with support from the Theatre Development Fund TAP Plus program, in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts.
Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia
Length: 50 min. For ages 6 through adult.
Huge, thundering beasts darken the sky as they tower over you in the Star Theater dome. Journey through the dinosaurs’ world with spectacular computer graphics. Discover remains of the titanesque Argentinosaurus and its nemesis, the Giganotosaurus – a meat-eater that could easily challenge T. rex.
Show times: www.rmsc.org/StrasenburghPlanetarium
Star Shows
Admission: adults $7; seniors and college students $6; ages 3–18 $6; RMSC members and children under 3 free.
Aboard the Space Station
For older children and adults
The International Space Station has more interior space than a six-bedroom house. Take a tour with ultra-high-definition video on the Planetarium’s wraparound video system.
Show times: www.rmsc.org/StrasenburghPlanetarium
Planet Spectacular
Length: 40 min. For ages 5-8.
See the best photos from NASA space probes and the world’s observatories. Then let “Carl” the star projector make a realistic indoor sky for a tour of planets and constellations you can see this month.
Show times: www.rmsc.org/StrasenburghPlanetarium
Animals in the Sky
Length: 40 min. For ages 3 to 6 and the adults with them.
Find animal shapes in the clouds and constellations in a story on the indoor sky. Dogs, a swan, an eagle, a lion and a whale! On an imaginary trip to the moon, we find no animals— they are all living on Earth.
Show times: www.rmsc.org/StrasenburghPlanetarium
The Sky Tonight
Length: 30 min. For ages 5 years to adult.
This concise tour of the stars, constellations and planets in the current sky uses new, solid-state lasers to guide you through the magnificent starfield produced by the star projector. See this show, then step outside to see the real sky.
Show times: www.rmsc.org/StrasenburghPlanetarium
Saturday Night Laser Shows
Thanks to its pure wavelengths, laser light provides an intense color sensation whether faint or dazzlingly bright. Our solid-state lasers put brighter and more intense color than ever before among the stars inside the Planetarium dome, accompanying great songs on a top-quality sound system.
April Shows
70s Laser Saturdays at 8:15pm | The Beatles in Laser Light Saturdays at 9:30pm
Length: 60 minutes each. Children under age 5 are not admitted to this show.
Admission for ONE show: adults $7; seniors, college students, students ages 5–18, RMSC members $6.
Admission for BOTH shows, back-to-back: adults $11; seniors, college students, students ages 5–18, RMSC members $9.
Cumming Nature Center
6472 Gulick Road, Naples, NY 14512
585.374.6160
Hours: Trails open five days a week: Wednesday through Friday, 9am–3:30pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am–4:30pm (closed Monday and Tuesday).
Skis and snowshoes available for rent.
Admission: RMSC members free; General public donation requested—$3 per person; $10 per family. Unless otherwise noted, hikes/programs are free with admission
Senior Sojourn
Thursday, April 13: 9:30-10:30am (easy pace)
Shariee Edersheim, “Mrs. E,” a senior naturalist at Cumming Nature Center, takes visitors on an informative and easy hour-long walk to marvel at the beauty of spring.
Identification Series
Saturday, April 15: 10–11:30am: Early Spring Wildflowers
Uncover the wonders of the outdoors guided by senior naturalist, Shariee Edersheim.
Signs of Spring Hike
Saturday, April 22 and May 13: 10–11:30am
Look for morning cloak butterflies, listen for the Red-winged black bird, smell the skunk cabbage flower, and uncover other signs of spring with family.
Maypole Celebration
Saturday, April 29: 10am-12pm
Learn the traditional May Pole dance and make a May basket to give to someone you love. Wear a fun springtime outfit and bring a bag lunch for a picnic.
Beauty in What We See exhibit
Now Open Natural Science Art by the members of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Finger Lakes Chapter
Canada Geese: A Closer Look exhibit
Now Open By New England photographer Rachel Krebs
Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) includes the Science Museum, Strasenburgh Planetarium and Cumming Nature Center. Offering experiences at the Museum with more than 200 interactive exhibits, Planetarium with a 65-foot dome and Nature Center on 900 acres, the RMSC stimulates community interest in exploration. In addition, the more than 1.2 million RMSC collection items tell the story of Rochester’s past including its rich history of innovation and invention. RMSC receives major funding from Monroe County, where it is one of the top three most visited attractions serving children and families. For more information about RMSC, visit www.rmsc.org. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
