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 below including major solar eclipse event on August 21
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
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
Science Alive (Summer schedule)
Monday, June 26–Friday, September 1
Sponsored by M&T Bank and Corning Incorporated Foundation
Fiery explosions, things falling from the Planetarium tower, live animals-it’s non-stop action all day and every day at RMSC this summer! Watch experiments performed by our extreme demonstrators and get hands-on with earth, space and everything in between. There’s something new to experience every 15 minutes so you’re sure to have an exciting encounter as science springs to life right before your eyes.
Electricity Theater
Musical lightning powered by twin Tesla coils zaps across the dark theater.
Daily: 12pm, 2pm and 4pm
Wildlife Rockstars Shows
Wednesdays at 12:30pm and 2:30pm
Meet live native and exotic animals, birds and reptiles. Look for different animals each week. The Wildlife Rockstars animal education team is part of Bridges for Brain Injury, Inc, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the traumatic effects of brain injury and to supporting the individuals and families affected by it.
Science Encounters
Try your hand at fun science experiments with RMSC staff and volunteers in exhibit galleries.
Daily: 10:15am*, 11:15am, 11:30am, 12:15pm, 12:30pm, 1:15pm, 1:30pm, 2:15pm, 2:30pm, 3:15pm and 3:30pm
(*On Sundays, the 10:15am encounter is during members-only hours)
Live Science Shows
Discover fiery explosions and extreme temperatures through live performances on the Bausch Auditorium stage.
Daily: 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 and Sundays: 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.
Exploring Earth and Space
Friday, Aug. 18 – Monday, Aug. 21: 11am–3pm
Location: Museum
Gear up for Monday’s eclipse with Exploring Science: Earth & Space family activities in the museum. Make clouds, imagine what extraterrestrial life might be like, investigate gravity and much more through hands-on activities. Learn first hand about the ongoing research happening at NASA in the fields of heliophysics, earth science, planetary science and astrophysics. See Planetarium section below for details on the eclipse viewing event.
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.
Fantastic Voyage
Travel around the world to see wonderful sights in exciting places like Egypt, China, South America, France and much more.
August: Daily
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. Summer Curiosity Camps: June 26–Aug. 25. Register today at www.rmsc.org or call 585.697.1942.
EXHIBITS:
Rochester in 1838 diorama restoration
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.
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
Spark a passion for science within as you discover the true wonders of light. Experiment with lasers, lenses and mirrors. Immerse yourself in more than fifteen hands-on exhibits that demonstrate exciting scientific concepts including reflection and refraction, radio waves and color temperature. Discover the best parts of working in optics and photonics at a media installation featuring Andy Germanow from G-S Plastic Optics. Explore new holographic technology generously donated by Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Germany – coming soon.
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
Daily 10am-4:30pm (Summer Hours)
Made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services
Current Challenge: Make it Fly, Make it Shine: June 23-September 17
Imagine you are a storm chaser! Using LED lights and aerodynamics build a device that can fly in a storm and shimmer through the darkness. We need your help to build an invention that would be able hover, in a stable way, and return data about the storm, to scientists on the ground.
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.
The 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
Solar Eclipse Day
Monday, Aug. 21
On Monday, August 21, 2017, the shadow of the moon will sweep across North America, producing a solar eclipse visible from all parts of the continental U.S. In Rochester’s sky, 70 percent of the Sun will be covered at mid-eclipse.
Join us at the RMSC to safely view the partial solar eclipse as well as engage in eclipse activities to learn more about how eclipses occur. Meet with volunteer solar viewing guides, including physicists from the University of Rochester and volunteer amateur astronomers from the Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science, and purchase eclipse glasses for $2 per pair to share in this infrequent and exciting event. Eclipse viewing without participation in the family program or star show is free (must have proper eyewear). Also attend the Eclipses 2017 and 2024 star show (detailed below) and Exploring Science: Earth & Space program (detailed above) for a full eclipse experience.
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.
Eclipses 2017 and 2024
Length: 60 min. For older children and adults.
In Rochester’s sky on August 21, 2017, 70 percent of the Sun will be covered. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse. Discover what makes eclipses happen, what to watch for, and where to go.
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.
August Shows
Dave Matthews Laser Saturdays at 8:15pm | 90s Laser 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).
Admission: RMSC members free; General public donation requested—$3 per person; $10 per family. Unless otherwise noted, hikes/programs are free with admission
Weekend Wild Walks
Through August 27: Saturdays and Sundays, 10am–12pm and 1–3pm
Explore the Cumming Nature Center landscape with naturalist Shariee Edersheim and see what plants and animals you encounter. Topics could include birding, mycology, entomology and wildflowers.
All ages
Theatre in the Pines
Saturday, Aug. 5: 5pm
Cheer on the young and talented thespians from the Bristol Valley Theatre Apprentice Program who write and perform their own, site-specific theatre production. Students will perform their own work among the picturesque red pines!
Stay tuned for more information.
All ages
Forest School Open House
Sunday, August 13: 1-4pm
Schedule:
1-2pm: Viewing of School’s Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten; Q&A session with CNC Director Nathan Hayes
2-4pm: Outdoor excursions to forest school camps. Parents and students experience a taste of the daily forest school rhythm and take part in hands-on activities.
Visit www.rmsc.org to learn about the CNC’s fall semester of Forest School.
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.
