103 Best Sights in USA

Interactive and interpretive exhibits at Oregon State University appeal to the kid in everyone. More than just showcasing sea life, the center contains exhibits and tide-pool touch tanks, and it holds classes that teach the importance of scientific research in managing and sustaining coastal and marine resources. The staff regularly leads guided tours of the adjoining estuary.

Natural and cultural history of the Morongo Basin and high desert are the focus here. A small live-animal display includes scorpions, snakes, lizards, and little mammals. You'll also find gems and minerals, fossils from the Paleozoic era, taxidermy, and Native American artifacts. There's also a children's area and art exhibits.

A great place to start your visit in Kokee State Park, the museum has friendly staff who are knowledgeable about trail conditions and weather, as well as informative displays and a good selection of books about the area's unique native flora and fauna and social history. You may find that special memento or gift you've been looking for. Note that there's generally no cell phone service in the park.

This sparkling natural-history museum includes changing exhibitions and lots of fun hands-on science for kids. The most popular permanent attraction is the planetarium, outfitted with high-definition digital equipment.

If your kids are into animals (or taxidermy), they'll love this museum, where every continent and geological age is represented. You're greeted by a 35-foot-tall roaring T. rex in the dinosaur gallery that features Shonisaurus, Nevada's state fossil. From there, you can enjoy rooms full of sharks (including live ones, swimming in a 3,000-gallon reef tank), birds, cavemen, and scenes from the African savanna. Kids especially enjoy the various hands-on exhibits; the Young Scientist Center offers youngsters the opportunity to investigate fossils and animal tracks up close. After that, tour the Wild Nevada Gallery, where kids can see, smell, and even touch Nevada wildlife. Two-for-one ticket coupons are available online.

Housed in a 1925 Illinois Central railroad station near the Old State Capitol, this idiosyncratic but high-quality collection brings together a contemporary art gallery, an Egyptian tomb exhibit featuring a mummy from 300 BC, a children's museum, and a kid-friendly planetarium. The planetarium presents shows regularly. The museum hosts traveling exhibits, and houses the nation's second-largest collection of sculptures by 20th-century Croatian artist Ivan Meštrović, many of which adorn the entrance hall.

New England's only air-and-space center offers a full day of activities focused mostly on the heavens. See yourself in infrared light, learn about lunar spacecraft, examine a replica of the Mercury-Redstone rocket, or experience what it's like to travel in space—you can even try your hand at being a television weather announcer. There's also a café.

The MIT Museum is a place where art, science, and technology meet, with intriguing and extensive exhibits dedicated to the exciting worlds of artificial intelligence, MIT's renowned robotics, genetic technologies, and solar-powered vehicle Nimbus, to name a few. Allow an hour or two for a visit, and check the schedule for special programs and demonstrations by MIT researchers and inventors.

This is a great place to learn about the stunning Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which encompasses nearly 140,000 square miles in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and is the only mixed UNESCO World Heritage site (meaning one that has both natural and cultural significance) in the United States. Giant murals, 3D maps, and hands-on interactive kiosks depict the monument's extensive wildlife, including millions of birds and more than 7,000 marine species, many of which are found only in the Hawaiian archipelago. Knowledgeable staff and volunteers are on hand to answer questions. A 3,500-gallon aquarium and short films give insight into the unique features of the monument, as well as threats to its survival. Located in the refurbished F. Koehnen Building, the center is worth a stop just to get an up-close look at its huge stuffed albatross with wings outstretched or the monk seal exhibit.

This museum at BYU, north of the bell tower, has extensive collections of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects, plants, shells, and eggs from around the world, as well as revolving nature-art exhibits. You'll also see current NASA satellite images, wildlife art, and various interactive ecology exhibits. If you bring a toddler, head for the play area themed around animal habitats.

The original Apollo astronauts trained here, at one of the largest planetariums in the country. A $9.2-million renovation, completed in 2020, expanded the exhibition areas. You can see planetarium shows, science demonstrations, and interactive STEM exhibits for children and adults.

The museum's entertaining interactive exhibits explain the natural environment and how to preserve it—in the bay and estuary and on the rest of the planet. Kids age 17 and under are admitted free.

There are dozens of interactive exhibits here to entertain children—and adults—through the wonders of science and Florida's delicate ecosystem. The state-of-the-art 7D theater takes guests on a virtual tour of aviation technology, while the EcoDiscovery Center comes with an Everglades Airboat Adventure ride, resident otters, and an interactive Florida storm center. The 300-seat AutoNation IMAX theater is part of the complex and shows mainstream and educational films, some in 3D, on the biggest screen in South Florida with a rare high-tech laser projection system.

MOSH, as it's known locally, is home to the Bryan-Gooding Planetarium, one of the largest single-lens planetariums in the United States, where the resolution of the shows (an additional $6) is significantly sharper than that of the biggest HDTV on the market. The planetarium also presents 3D laser shows to accompany its ever-popular Cosmic Concerts ($12).

MOSH itself has a variety of interactive exhibits and programs that include Health in Motion: Discover What Moves You, where you'll gain a better understanding of your body in motion, as well as health and nutrition; JEA Powerplay: Understanding our Energy Choices, where you can energize the future city of MOSHtopia as you learn about the science of energy and alternative power sources; the Florida Naturalist's Center, where you can interact with northeast Florida wildlife; and the Currents of Time, where you navigate 12,000 years of northeast Florida history. Atlantic Tails: Coastal Creatures of Northeast Florida has a life-size sculpture of a right whale and an intertidal touch tank. Nationally acclaimed traveling exhibits are also featured.  Before visiting, be sure to purchase your timed-entry tickets online.

At this state-of-the-art facility near the University of South Florida's main campus, you learn about weather, anatomy, flight, space, and more by seeing and by doing. Explore a lunar colony in Mission: Moonbase, a NASA-funded exhibit. Challenge yourself on the multilevel, 36-foot-high Sky Trail ropes course. Discover innovative technologies not yet on the market at ConnectUs, or get creative in the Idea Zone makers space. The virtual-reality simulator lets you experience everything from spacewalks to run-ins with prehistoric creatures, and the 23-seat Saunders Planetarium has daily shows featuring astronomy experts.

Skulls, antique microscopes, and a cancerous tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland's mouth in 1893 form just part of the unusual medical collection in the Mütter Museum, at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The museum has hundreds of anatomical and pathological specimens, medical instruments, and organs removed from patients, including a piece of John Wilkes Booth's neck tissue. The collection contains 139 skulls; items that belonged to Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur, and Joseph Lister; and a 7-foot, 6-inch skeleton, the tallest on public exhibition in the United States.

Talking about the weather is not boring at this center, where the hands-on exhibits and tours fire up kids' and adults' enthusiasm for what happens in the sky. If you can't make the free, guided one-hour noon tours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, take a self-guided tour or a mobile app tour (available on the Apple and Google app stores). The distinctive blocky-looking buildings, designed by architect I. M. Pei, stand on a mesa at the base of the mountains, where you can see wildlife. Follow the short, wheelchair-accessible, interpretive NCAR Weather Trail to learn more about how weather affects the local environment.

The wonders at Albuquerque's most popular museum include the only Triassic exhibit in North America. Among some of the dinosaur rarities on display that were discovered right in New Mexico is the relatively youthful "Bisti Beast," a Cretaceous-period tyrannosaur found in the Four Corners area. A simulated volcano (with a river of bubbling hot lava visible through its glass floor) complements the geologic displays. Outer space gets its due here as well—changing exhibits have focused on Mars and the Perseverance lander—and the museum's planetarium is a state-of-the-art destination for dazzling constellation and other distant-space viewings, as well as the wildly popular First Friday Fractals show ($10; tickets available online only). The DynaTheater presents 3-D screenings on some stunning sea creatures and more.

At the northwestern edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, this museum has more than 400 hands-on exhibits that make science a playground for inquisitive minds of all ages. Learn about the science behind bubbles by playing with them at The Big Bubble Experiment. Immerse yourself in Maker Space, where activities like woodworking, 3-D printing, and building electronics rotate daily. The 3D Movie Theatre, Rocket Park Mini Golf, and Science Playground require extra fees.

Here visitors can get a glimpse of the extraordinary scientific marine research that goes on within the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Climb inside a replica of Alvin, the submersible that dove thousands of feet deep to explore the wreck of the Titanic. Other exhibits show footage of the rich life at vast depths of the ocean, and how climate change is impacting coral reefs. Scientists give informative lectures on Tuesdays in July and August.

A small but informative museum in a vintage First Hawaiian Bank building designed by noted Hawaii-raised architect C. W. Dickey provides tsunami education and scientific information. It may seem odd that downtown Hilo businesses tend to be far from the scenic bayfront, but the 1946 tsunami alone killed 158 people in Hilo. Visitors can peruse the history of these devastating disasters, with accounts taken from tsunami survivors from Hawaii and worldwide. Exhibits include a wave machine and interactive tsunami warning center simulation as well as films and pictographs detailing tsunamis in Japan, Alaska, and Indonesia. A safety-wall exhibit demonstrates how to be prepared and what steps to take during an evacuation.

The campus of Mass General Hospital is a fitting site for this small museum dedicated to the hallowed medical institution's past, present, and future discoveries. Shiny copper and glass walls enfold interesting exhibits on topics like patient care, fMRI development, depression and dementia, and targeted cancer therapy. Interactive displays ask visitors to try out mirror therapy and train for laproscopic surgery like a doctor would. Historical artifacts—some quite terrifying—are peppered around the space for an eye-opening lesson in our forefathers' medical techniques. A few temporary exhibits and films rotate in and out.

Walk among over 1,000 tropical butterflies and learn about the impact of rivers and lakes on daily life at this modern, light-washed museum. Like Chicago's other science museums, this one is perfect for kids, but even jaded adults may be excited when bright yellow butterflies land on their shoulders. The idea is to connect with nature inside without forgetting graceful Lincoln Park outside. Interesting temporary exhibits round out the offerings.

Ever since the 1910s, archaeologists have been coming to this rural area to excavate rare natural treasures, including dinosaur bones, eggs, skeletons, and fossilized tracks. These are all on exhibit at Utah State University Eastern's Prehistoric Museum. For families, this museum offers a small but excellent kids' discovery area where children can experiment with excavating dino bones all on their own. A second hall is devoted to indigenous peoples, with displays of beadwork, clay figurines, a walk-in teepee, and other area artifacts. You can't miss the museum's gigantic mammoth and saber-toothed tiger replicas.

Younger kids who are still excited about petting a rabbit, touching a snakeskin, or seeing a live hawk will enjoy a trip to this nature museum. The museum sits beneath a hill variously known as Red Rock, Museum Hill, and, correctly, Corona Heights; hike up the steep but short trail for great, unobstructed city views. Just be sure to bring a windbreaker.

A gigantic blue whale skeleton greets you at the entrance to this 17-acre complex, whose major draws include its planetarium, paleo and marine life exhibits, and gem and mineral displays. Startlingly alive-looking stuffed specimens in the Mammal and Bird Halls include a smiling grizzly bear and nesting California condors. A room of dioramas illustrates Native American Chumash history and culture while a Santa Barbara Gallery showcases the region's unique biodiversity. Outdoors, nature trails wind through the serene oak woodlands, a Chumash plant garden, and a summer butterfly pavilion.

A branch of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the center specializes in Santa Barbara Channel marine life and conservation. Though small compared to aquariums in Monterey and Long Beach, this is a fascinating, hands-on marine science laboratory that lets you participate in experiments, projects, and exhibits, including touch pools. The two-story glass walls here open to stunning ocean, mountain, and city views.

The world's largest permanent LEGO installation at minifigure scale, depicting Amoskeag Millyard and Manchester as they looked a century ago, is the star attraction at this hands-on science lab and children's museum. The mind-blowing exhibit, covering 2,000 square feet, is made up of about 3 million LEGO bricks. It conveys the massive size and importance of the mills, which ran a mile on each side of the Merrimack. The museum also contains touch-friendly interactive exhibits and offers daily science demonstrations.

The exhibits and activities at this waterfront facility highlight Sitka's role as a regional hub for whale biologists, fisheries-management experts, and other specialists. Attractions include touch tanks, six wall-mounted aquariums, an 800-gallon saltwater tank, a killer-whale skeleton, and a fish hatchery. Well-placed signs throughout this working science center describe what's going on, providing a great introduction for kids to hands-on environmental science.