DaVinci Science Center

The DaVinci Science Center is located in Allentown (on the campus of Cedar Crest College).  Despite having parents that live only 20 minutes, I had no idea that it was there until I found it on the list of reciprocal Science and Technology Centers.

The museum is open from 9:30am to 5:00pm Monday through Saturday, noon to 5:00pm on Sunday.  Adult admission is $11.95 and $8.95 for children 4-12.  The Pittsburgh Children's Museum membership saved us $41.80.

Among the highlights:

The kids were able to pet a snake.

We went through a 'vision tunnel' where you could not see a thing, giving everyone a good sense of what it would be like to be blind and an appreciation for that fact that while most of us have terrible vision, we can still see.

Everyone had a chance to build a bridge out of paper and then test it using a group of washers.  We learned that paper becomes much stronger as it's folded than it is as a flat sheet of paper.

And speaking of paper, there was a station that provided step-by-step instructions for building a number of paper airplanes.  I'm embarrassed to say that many seemed to complex for me, though I was able to build a plane that soared pretty well.  After watching another family toss their plane from the second floor down to the first, Matt and Cathy must have done it a dozen times.

Cathy has an obsession with Sid the Science Kid.  One of our more recent videos deals with levers and pulleys and we had a chance to learn more about each of those things here.

The kids were fascinated by a display that included a thin sheet of frozen water, a powerful magnifying glass and a tube of water.  It was fun to look at the ice crystals, melt it, then watch it freeze again.

There is a fairly cool weather display - videos that talk about different types of weather - hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms - and a chance to do a weather forecast.

One surprise - the museum is currently featuring Keva planks for building and designing various construction projects.  I was sure the kids would spend a lot of time at the exhibit, but they lingered for just a few moments before moving on to other things.

Overall, it was a fun way to pass a few hours.  And with a ASTC membership, I'd go back again on another trip to SE PA. 


Next up:  The Franklin Institute.