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Museum of Science and Industry

Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Museum of Science and Industry is located south of the downtown area in Chicago. It is a "science center" type of museum - it has fun interactive exhibits. There are lots of fun things for kids to do.

After purchasing our tickets, we noticed that there was a "segway exhibit". It wasn't really an exhibit, but they were giving Segway training lessons, and we felt that we had to try it out. The line was short when we arrived, but soon grew much longer. Riding a segway was a neat experience - try it out if you're in the area.

Try out a Segway!

Computers that are powering one of the exhigits

The museum offered a number of live demonstrations at scheduled times. The live demonstrates were often unorganized, and were definitely geared more towards the 6-10 age group.

One thing I thought was neat was that a number of exhibits had exposed "server rooms". Rather than hiding all the computer hardware that was powering the exhibits, they put them behind large glass walls so you could see what was going on.

We ate lunch at the museum food court - you can check out the review here: Brain Food Court.

OmniMax Show - Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs

The U-505 Submarine

We paid the extra $5 to see the OmniMax show entitled "Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs". The show proposed that the purpose of mummification was to allow the pharaohs to achieve immortality. Here we are, thousands of years later, and we're still able to see the mummies, and we know a great deal of information about them. This may not be the immortality they had in mind, but as long as we're still talking about them, they haven't been forgotten.

The show had some great visuals of Egypt. We're planning on visiting Egypt in the near future, so it was great to see all the scenery.

Estimated Visiting Time

There is a lot to see here - a full day is really necessary, and you probably won't be able to see everything that you want to see during that time.

Cost and Parking

The Chick Hatchery

Earth Revealed - the 3D Earth TV

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle

Current rates are $11 for adults, and you can pay extra for some special exhibits, and omnimax shows. You can also purchase a Chicago CityPass for some savings if you are interested in seeing other attractions in the area. Parking is $15, although if you're clever, there is a free parking lot (for Jackson Park) that you can use - it is located to the south east of the museum, and you can access it from Lakeshore Drive. It is located near the corner of Lakeshore Drive and Hayes Dr. (Although it is free, you may or may not feel comfortable leaving your car there all day, depending on how busy the park is at the time.)