Liberty Science Center is an interactive science museum and learning center located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.
The center, which first opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum, has science exhibits, the largest IMAX Dome theater in the United States, numerous educational resources, and the original Hoberman sphere, a silver, computer-driven engineering artwork designed by Chuck Hoberman.
History
Liberty Science Center completed a 22-month, $109 million expansion and renewal project on July 19, 2007. The expansion added 100,000 square feet (9,300Â m2) to the facility, bringing it to nearly 300,000 square feet (28,000Â m2). However, the amount of exhibit space slightly decreased with the expansion as all the new space added is open space such as queue lines for the ticketing office. Liberty Science Center also has state-of-the-art surround sound as well as a technologically advanced picture screen in the IMAX dome.
The museum's expansion has received criticism for a perceived politicization of science, for example, by Edward Rothstein of The New York Times.
In December 2017, the Science Center opened the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, a 400-seat facility with a dome 100 feet (30Â m) in diameter and an 89-foot (27Â m) diameter screen, named for the benefactor who contributed $5 million towards the cost of construction. Larger than New York City's Hayden Planetarium, at its opening it was the largest such planetarium in the Western Hemisphere and the world's fourth largest.
Exhibits
Liberty Science Center's permanent exhibitions include:
- Skyscraper! Achievement and Impact â€" The largest exhibition on the subject of skyscrapers in the world â€" with artifacts from the World Trade Center, a walk along an I-beam two stories above the exhibition floor, an earthquake-shake table, a glass-Schindler 400A mid-rise Traction elevator, which is open to show how the elevator moves, the machine room, and the pit, and much more.
- Eat and Be Eaten â€" This exhibit of life animals explores the predator-prey relationship, offering lots of live animals including vipers, puffer fish, and scores of other creatures.
- Communication explores human communication in four areasâ€"body and language; symbols, signs, and writing; print, audio, and video; and signals and networks. Here you can also do Language Karaoke, where you are taught to say phrases in a new language: Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, or Cockney.
- Infection Connection â€" Helps guests understand how individual actions may affect global health issues. You may ride the IC Express, which shows a film about different types of infectious diseases.
- I Explore â€" An age-restricted area, where guests under age six and their caregivers can explore aspects of the world around them through water play, a microscope, a Luckey Climber climbing structure, a street scape, and a rock xylophone â€" made from hanging rocks that ring like bells when struck.
- Our Hudson Home â€" Teaches guests about the wildlife and ecology of the Hudson River. It includes an observation deck with great views of the Hudson.
- Wonder Why â€" Holds many of the original exhibits from the earliest days of the museum
- Energy Quest â€" Explores different energy types and the technologies to harness these.
- Wildlife Challenge is a seasonal outdoor exhibit in which guests can take part in a variety of physical activities, designed to simulate different animals' environments. Activities include balance beams, and a zip line accessible only to guests that can hold on to a rope for at least ten seconds.
- Rubik's Cube exhibition - Beyond Rubik's Cube opened to the public on April 26, 2014. The exhibition celebrates the Cube's 40th anniversary, and features artifacts and exhibits that trace the history of the Cube and mark the massive cultural influence it continues to have on popular culture today.
- Travelling exhibitions â€" Various temporary exhibits
- The first exhibit since the center re-opened was Islamic Science Re-Discovered.
- Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear let guests see how they would react when they were exposed to creepy animals, loud noises, electric shock and the fear of falling. The exhibit explored why their bodies react the way they do.
- "Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age" used video installations, hands-on interactive displays, life-sized models and fossils to teach more about the extinct mammals. The exhibit showcased Lyuba, the world's best-preserved woolly mammoth specimen.
- Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition featured over 100 authentic artifacts from the Titanic, which were set within replicas of cabins and other areas of the ship. The exhibit also allowed visitors to touch an "iceberg" to simulate how cold the water was when the ship sank.
Jennifer Chalsty Center for Science Learning and Teaching
In July 2007, the Jennifer Chalsty Center for Science Learning and Teaching opened. It is a 20,000-square-foot (1,900Â m2) facility extending over the entire former Invention Floor of Liberty Science Center, with six laboratories, a 150-seat theater, and other resources for teachers and students. Educators can upgrade science teaching skills and find peers to help strengthen science instruction in the classroom, while students can participate in intense, multi-day or single hour programs to ignite interest and skills in science exploration.
Sci Tech Scity proposal
LSC is in negotiation with Jersey City to receive for a nominal fee city-owned land (a former car pound) which would be developed as an educational and residential area called Sci Tech Scity. Sci Tech Scity is expected to attract top scientists and researchers from around the world, while also educating Jersey City's next generation of leaders in this field. This new project will include a biotech lab, a coding lab, a technology business incubator, and a Kâ€"12 STEM-focused public school.
References
Further reading
- Rothstein, Edward (July 20, 2007). "Museum Review: Touch Me Feel Me Science". NY Times.Â
External links
- Official website