It is not uncommon to associate the city of Los Angeles with culture and artistry or even refer to it as a center for the arts.
When it comes to exploring the multitude of museums located within this bustling city, the more popularized to-do list may include snapping pictures with the lines of lamp posts at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LACMA), looking at the stars at Griffith Observatory, or for the Pepperdine student, paying a visit to the nearby Getty Villa.
But for those who prefer a more visual and interactive location, visitors may want to try a more unlikely spot. The California Science Center may be just the place to immerse in all kinds of knowledge without any sort of the typical dry curator voice involved.
Located right next to the football stadium on the USC campus, the California Science Center offers free admission to most of its exhibits, with a suggested donation of $5 for adults. The Science Center may sound a bit drab and even intimidating at first — especially to those expecting paintings instead of scientific concepts. However, its informative and interactive exhibits make for an educational yet leisurely visit.
Made up of three floors, two of which offer various types of exhibit galleries, this museum leaves no room for boredom. It also covers a copious amount of subject matter, so it’s more than likely that there will be an exhibit of interest for everyone that visits. Its versatility is a definite standout. In terms of the plethora of scientific information the Center boasts: 1,001 Inventions, a special exhibit that is open until the end of this year, centers on the scientific contributions made by Muslim civilization during its Golden Age. Actors portraying these different inventors discuss their contributions entertainingly on screens that visitors can listen to by picking up a pseudo-telephone that allows them to “talk” to these major contributors. This unique way of presenting information — as opposed to reading an excerpt off of a placard — adds onto the decorative display of the inventions established during this time period.
Among the permanent exhibits are galleries titled World of Life, Creative World, and Ecosystems. The World of Life exhibit focuses on the life processes of all living organisms, allowing even those who are intimidated by anatomy and physiology to grasp a basic idea of how our bodies, as well as those of other organisms, function.
From a guessing game that involves matching a certain-sized brain to its rightful owner to a display of eggs due to hatch within the next week, the functions of body parts as well as the concept of birth, both of which seem to be heavy-duty subject matter, are brought to life through interactive means.
The Creative World exhibit addresses the various means of communication and transportation humans use. Visitors are exposed to the different types of energy that are utilized to start a car engine, move a sailboat and even talk on the telephone, which all seem like faraway concepts. However, step-by-step explanations regarding how these modes of transportations function as well as hands-on demonstrations are placed throughout this exhibit.
Among the notable displays included the “whisper dishes,” where one can say a message into a transmission dish to someone all the way across the room.
The Ecosystems exhibit is the biggest, newest and perhaps the most interesting gallery, mainly due to the fact that it opens the visitor’s eyes to the different environments that exist in our world. There are several “zones” that incorporate all kinds of ecosystems; from the River Zone, which delves into how fluids carry energy and material from one place to another, to the Island Zones, which cover the concepts of isolation, evolution and adaptation, all of these distant environments are visually presented to visitors in rooms that represent the respective ecosystems.
The exhibitions that the Science Center has to offer clearly encompass a number of scientific areas, but they go even further to benefit the audience. Through the accessible way in which information is presented, the scientifically unfamiliar can still comprehend and take enjoyment in what is being presented. What sets apart the California Science Center from other museums is its admirable versatility and approachability.
