By: Katie Koenig
Next up is the Museum of Science, which overlooks the Charles River by the West End. Easily accessible on the Green Line, it’s got live animal exhibits, interactive experiences, and dozens of more traditional museum exhibits, not to mention the Planetarium!
It’s a massive brick building that parallels the Green Line’s route. Although I haven’t been to the actual museum, it’s still striking to go by it on the Green Line. I’m often struck by how blocky it is, something the massive, grid windows add to.
Its exhibits range from talking about our solar system to hosting a small, sustainable, indoor farm. It hosts many permanent exhibits, like Cliff, the incredibly rare Triceratops skeleton found in the Dakota Badlands, one of only four Triceratops skeletons on display that are nearly complete.
There are also, of course, temporary exhibits, like the sustainable farm I already mentioned. This year in particular the Museum of Science is hosting the Year of the Earthshot, named after the famous photo. It’s a yearlong initiative throughout 2024 to introduce more than 1,000 programs focused on climate change, the problems and effects it causes, and innovations to resolve it.
Year of the Earthshot is hosted by the museum’s Center for the Environment. Although the initiative is almost over, you can still sign up for the Center for the Environment’s weekly newsletter if you’re interested in a science-based perspective on sustainability practices, innovation, and climate change.
I can’t mention the Museum of Science without mentioning its Planetarium, though! Located closest to the Boston side of the river, it hosts daily shows and events, with some extra events on the weekends. It currently has a daily Moon exhibit and a universe exploration between Saturday and Monday, in addition to light shows for three different bands, Coldplay, Radiohead, and Fleetwood Mac on Fridays and Saturdays.
One hindrance for me was that general tickets are $31 for adults, and there aren’t any student discounts according to their website. There is a membership and other discount options listed on their website, including a nine-day museum pass that costs $72 for four total museum and park visits to various locations across the Greater Boston area. I personally wasn’t interested in that, but it’s a massive discount if you’re planning on going to a variety of places for a week! In addition, you can borrow a museum pass at the BPL, but that’s always a tricky option, since you often have to check it out months in advance.
If you’re interested in the Planetarium, you can get admission just for those shows. If you purchase a Planetarium ticket with a general one, the Planetarium only costs six dollars per show, but even separately, most tickets only cost between eight and ten dollars.