SCIENCE CENTER

Permanent Collection

The nine major exhibit areas explore physical science, natural science, life science, technology, mathematics, and the links between science and the arts. Two of the flagship exhibits that link science and the arts are Bodies in Motion: The Physics of Dance and Backstage Science: The Physics of Theater.

The Gateway

The Gateway provides an overview of the entire Science Center. It introduces the overarching theme of science through the arts, interactive experiences combine with images of art, showing how artists and scientists explore the world.

Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness is about the most sophisticated piece of equipment the world has ever known - the human body. This seamless blend of imagination and solid scientific fact explores anatomy, the five senses, medical technology, and wellness. Its dramatic icon exhibit is a hologram of the human body, a magic window inside the body, which reveals skin, muscles, the organs and bones.

The Gallery of Anatomy is a hands-on, minds-on exploration of the seven interconnected systems of the human body. It explains how each system works and how they all work together, and how the body functions from the macro level of muscle, bone, and organ to the micro level of cell and neuron.

The Five Senses demonstrates how our information about the world is derived from our senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. The Five Senses Gallery explores how they work, the mysteries of perception, the relationships between the brain and the senses, and between perception and the arts.

Medical Technology investigates the developments in medicine that have dramatically extended human lifespan in this century including new scanning technologies and other innovative diagnostics, experiments with treatments such as micro-surgery, bionics and prosthetics, and how pharmaceuticals are informed by a new understanding of how the body operates at the micro level of cell and molecule.

Wellness spotlights individual decisions and healthy choices. Visitors test their own physical and mental fitness, assess their lifestyles, discover the causes of disease, the health risks of drugs, alcohol, and stress, and the consequences of the deadly game of AIDS Roulette. A special video features teens talking directly to other teens about health risks and substance abuse.

Gallery of Mathematics in Nature and Art

Mathematics can be found in some surprising and beautiful places. The Gallery of Mathematics in Nature and Culture explores mathematical concepts which reveal themselves in natural forms, in art, and in decorative patterns that are traditional in many cultures. Visitors discover the symmetry and pattern found in starfish, snowflakes, and Islamic tiles; learn how ratios and mathematical sequences describe the structure of sunflowers and of classical Greek temples; and find out how fractal geometry is revealed in the formation of coastlines and mountains and is used by computer artists to create realistic depictions of the natural world. They can create chaos with a bouncing ball, then discover how the chaos theory describes complex natural phenomena such as weather systems.

People and Diversity

People and Diversity is about the factors that make us who we are: Genetics, Culture and Communication. Its icon is a DNA sculpture which flows into the adjacent exhibit, Environment and Ecology, where it transforms into the Susquehanna River. This icon dramatically symbolizes the relationship between people and their environment.

Genetics demonstrates how genetic science and technology are one of the most important new developments of our era. Genetics is creating a fundamental revolution in medicine. It allows us to understand the mechanics of disease, diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately, literally preventing genetic diseases before they start. The implications for agriculture are equally profound, including the creation of drought, disease and pest-resistant crops that will thrive without chemical fertilizer and insecticide. The Gallery of Genetics introduces the scientific, economic and societal implications of this new science and technology.

Culture and Communication showcases how our society is a rich blend of people from many cultures. The Gallery of Culture and Communication is about people, how we live, and the important role that culture plays in communication. Visitors hear the music of the world, discover how people around the world live and eat, discover the challenges of communicating across culture, and, as we search for intelligent life in the universe, of communicating with other species.

They can look beneath their skin to see what really happens when they smile, and try to echo sounds from languages they've never heard before.

Environment and Ecology

Environment and Ecology shines on Pennsylvania as a perfect place to focus on the natural world with its beautiful landscapes, magnificent rivers and abundant natural resources. The Galleries of Environment and Ecology explore the world around us, from global environmental issues to the environment that starts in our own backyards.

Global Environment explores the forces that shape our planet, the structure of our planet and its atmosphere, the scientific explanation for the seasons and for climate differences around the world, and the global systems that create our weather. Visitors experiment with a planetary puzzle that shows why the continents are where they are, and explains the forces that make mountains and cause earthquakes, make the Earth orbit around the Sun and see why it's winter in Harrisburg when it's summer in New Zealand. Guests also find out about the layers of atmosphere between the surface of the Earth and the vacuum of space, and get the big picture of life on earth and the relationships between living things.

Watersheds emphasize one of the most conspicuous features of the local landscape: the magnificent Susquehanna River that runs a few short blocks from Whitaker Center. The Susquehanna plays an important role in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, and is the source of half the water in the Bay. Watersheds includes a large model of the watershed, experiments with erosion and flood control, and information on the surprising sources of pollution and the important role of wetlands.

Pennsylvania Environments focuses on the richness of the natural world in Central Pennsylvania. Its centerpiece is a walk-through, wheelchair-accessible Limestone Cave. Interactive exhibits reveal the geological stratigraphy of Pennsylvania and the tectonic forces that create mountains. A Field Station outside the Cave displays natural scientists' notebooks and labeled samples of local rock, insects and vegetation. It includes a water lab where visitors test water from the River, local lakes and streams, rainwater, and other sources, and carry out investigations of biodiversity and acidity.

Physics

Physics points out that to understand physical science and technology, it is necessary to understand the principles of physics. Educationally rich, The Galleries of Physics are serious fun, filled with engaging hands-on activities designed for self-paced exploration and discovery. These colorful learning playgrounds include the Gallery of Force and Motion, Simple Machines, Bodies in Motion: The Physics of Human Movement, and Backstage Science: The Physics of Theater.

Forces and Motion explores the basic physics that shape the universe, including basic atomic and nuclear science and electromagnetism. It answers a very basic question: What is the world made of? Hands-on exhibits reveal the principles of basic atomic and nuclear science, gravity and electromagnetism.

Simple Machines reminds us that every machine, no matter how complex, is created from a combination of the simple machines: gears, screws, pulleys, wheels and axles, and inclined planes. Interactive exhibits invite visitors to experiment with the simple machines that helped build the pyramids and form the basis of the most modern equipment in the world.

Bodies in Motion : The Physics of Human Movement is one of the flagship exhibits at Whitaker Center, a unique expression of the relationship between science and the arts. It explores the physics that is literally embodied in human movement, especially dance, ice skating and gymnastics. Interactive exhibits connect Newton's Laws to human motion, reveal the roles of torque and rotational momentum in turns, show how dancers manipulate their center of gravity to create the illusion of floating during leaps, and how physics illuminate the differences between dance and ice skating.

Backstage Science invites visitors to discover the science and technology that creates the theatrical experience. When the curtain goes up, lights dim and Peter Pan flies, the forces of physics are at work. Backstage Science invites visitors to discover the science and technology that creates the theatrical experience. An interactive model introduces the mechanical systems that operate behind the scenes in a theater. Visitors experiment with, sound effects and lighting stations, and a room that distorts space with false perspective. The theater model is designed to replicate Sunoco Performance Theater at Whitaker Center.

Sound and Music

Sound and Music resonates in the Galleries of Sound and Music as guests explore the art and science of sound: the basic physical principles of sound, acoustics, the technology of sound and music, and the many ways that sound is used in science and industry.

The Physics of Sound helps visitors of all ages discover the answer to the question, What Is Sound? Interactive exhibits reveal waves, interference, resonant frequencies, how sound and light travel in a vacuum and through air, and provide a scientific explanation for the eerie way the sound of a train whistle changes as the train moves.

Sound at Work focuses on the technology of sound: the applications of sound in science and industry, the surprising ways that sound is used in the natural world, and how sound is created, recorded and manipulated by musicians.

Color and Light

Color and Light art, science and technology are explored in The Galleries of Color and Light. They include the Gallery of Light and Color, and Light at Work, which reveals the ways that light is used in science and industry. Its icon exhibit is a large-scale, interactive, walk-through Kaleidoscope that blends science and art through color, light, mirrors and dazzling rainbow holograms.

The Gallery of Light and Color invites visitors to discover the basic science of light as they carry out experiments that answer questions such as What is light? Where does it come from? How does it behave? Why is the sky blue? Visitors create and experiment with waves, shadows and optics, rods and beams of light which appear and disappear. They create pictures with polarized light and assemble telescopes and microscopes.

Color Exhibits show why red, blue and yellow are the primary colors for pigments but red, green and blue light make up all the colors on a television set. Visitors learn about additive and subtractive color mixing, and see how colors change and things appear and disappear when viewed through different colored windows.

Light At Work demonstrates how visible light is only one segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, which spans gamma and x-rays, ultraviolet and visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. This is one of the most fundamental concepts in science, and is an important part of The Galleries of Light and Color. Light At Work reveals the practical applications of visible and invisible light in areas as diverse as medicine, communications, entertainment and computing.