Museum & Science Center
Hours:
Monday–Saturday: 9am–5pm
Sunday: 11am–5pm
February Break: Saturday, February 18–Sunday, February 26 (see regular hours above)
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
Opens for winter season. Skis and snowshoes available for rent.
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
February Break: Animal Week
Saturday, February 18 – Sunday, February 26: 11am–3pm
Third annual Animal Week program back by popular demand at RMSC! Explore the amazing adaptations in the animal kingdom. From insects to mammals and beyond, join us to discover how some of the creatures that share our earth survive. Get hands-on while learning about camouflage, hibernation and flight. Come back each day to meet different live animals from the Wildlife Defenders, Seneca Park Zoo, WOWEE – the World of Wildlife Educational Encounters – and more.
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.
Hurricane Simulator
(Available 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).
Daily
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 more than 30 years.
Wednesday, February 1: 7:30pm
Christopher Azzara, Professor of Music Education at the Eastman School of Music
Topic: Creativity at the Core: Inspiration and Meaning for Music
Tickets available at www.rmsc.org.
RMSC After Dark: Forces of Nature
Friday, February, 10: 7–11pm
Step into the power of earth, fire, air and water at the next RMSC After Dark 21-and-older bash. A whirlwind of an adventure, drift your way through the whole transformed Museum. Journey through Elements of the Extreme, experience exotic animals, build your own volcano and more. FIRST Lego League, Arc + Flame and other presenters. DJ, snacks and cash bars. Costumes encouraged! Tickets available at www.rmsc.org.
Curiosity Camps: February Break Week
Monday, February 20–Friday, February 24:9am–4pm
Stay curious over school break with exciting opportunities for hands-on science and explore the wonders of our world! Register by the day or for the whole week. Ages 6-11; Extended care available. Visit www.rmsc.org/camps to register and also register for summer camps – summer camps early bird special ends February 24.
EXHIBITS:
Elements of the Extreme
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
Opens February 3
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 (tentative)
Location: Third Floor
The RMSC is undertaking a project to stabilize and restore its “Rochester in 1838” diorama. With the help of grant funding from NYSCA and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, the RMSC will renovate the enclosure and create new interpretive features. The work of restoration artists will be on view to the public in a fishbowl-style “living exhibit” display surrounding the diorama. From now through the end of the summer, visitors can track the progress of this exciting project in real time!
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.
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. Look for our new 2016 inductees!
Strasenburgh Planetarium
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607
Weekends & Evenings: 585.697.1945 | Weekdays: 585.697.1942
Shows subject to change
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
“To Fly”
Length: 45 min. For all ages.
Find thrills in a classic journey through the history of flight, from early balloon flights to 20th-century space missions. Produced in 1976 for the opening of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, where it still inspires crowds today.
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” Feb 4–25 only
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 46-year-old 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.
February Shows
90s Laser Light Saturdays at 8:15pm | Led Zeppelin 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).
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
Beauty in What We See exhibit
Opens Friday, February 17
Natural Science Art by the members of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Finger Lakes Chapter
Canada Geese: A Closer Look exhibit
Opens Friday, February 17
By New England photographer Rachel Krebs
Winter Ecology Identification
Saturday, Feb. 11: 11am–12:30pm
Explore the science of the lively world beneath the frost and learn about nature’s amazing winter adaptations.
Moonlight Ski
Friday, Feb. 10: 6:30–8pm
Beginner and expert skiers alike, enjoy this easy-paced trek through a majestic winter landscape.
Winter Wonderland Walk
Saturday, Feb. 18: 11am–12:30pm
Detect signs of life amidst the winter woodland. Hunt for tracks and uncover secret forest communities. Great for young kids.
Snowshoe Basics and Hike
Saturday, Feb. 25: 11am–12:30pm
Learn the art of snowshoeing with experienced instructors and have a short hike.
Backcountry Ski
Saturday, Feb. 11: 1–3pm
Head off the beaten path for a rugged three-mile ski jaunt! Ski from an elevation of 1,700 feet up to 2,200 feet. Reservations requested.
Nordic Fest
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18 and 19: 11:30am–2:30pm
A fundraiser for the Genesee Valley Ski Patrol. Help support this volunteer organization and enjoy hot food and beverages for sale.
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.
