Curiosity Hall is about the power of human ingenuity, curiosity, innovation, and imagination. It celebrates both the human body and mind through hands-on games and social play, and large-scale media interventions. It serves multiple purposes: an introduction to the Science Center, a social gathering space, a play space, or a rest space at multiple points during the visit.
The iconic 60-foot human figure at the center of the space creates a dynamic experience that takes inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. It melds science, art, and math to become a symbol of the Science Center experience: limitless curiosity, creativity, and discovery. It highlights the wonder of the human body, and it offers the opportunity for visitors to insert themselves into the narrative, letting them see their bodies in different, surprising, larger-than-life ways.
The human body contains so many incredible wonders, and this experience gives visitors multiple opportunities to see the body, its systems, and its care in new and inspiring ways. The exhibits answer a series of questions about how we represent the body, how we care for it, how we move, and how medicine and technology help us understand and enhance our bodies. The anchor experience transforms Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man into a personalized lens that reveals different ways of looking at the body.
Accessible, hands-on, interactive exhibits and stories help visitors connect their bodies, and understand how they work, while also showcasing the medical innovation and careers of the Lehigh Valley region. Visitors of all ages can find answers to common, health-related questions, interact with physical models and specimens, see cutting-edge medical technology, and hear from local healthcare professionals. The experience leaves visitors excited about all the astounding things their bodies do every day.
For those who really want to know what goes on in their bodies, this experience turns the inside of the body into a large-scale playground. Visitors get the impression of being shrunken down and actually climbing into the body.
They can explore and play, tunneling through intestines, climbing through the torso, following blood flow through veins and arteries, and manipulating the brain, heart, and lungs. Experience in conjunction with the My Body exhibits, visitors of all different backgrounds, ages, and engagement types will find wonder in the human body.
The first space visitors see from the Lobby invites them to dive right into science exploration. It transforms fundamental scientific principles and phenomena into hands-on, playful, active interactions where visitors of all ages can find entry points into basic concepts such as matter, motion, light, sound, electricity, and magnetism.
This experience takes the story one step further though, and reveals how those scientific concepts are applied in everyday making and manufacturing processes in the Lehigh Valley region. Visitors can get to know the innovation of Lehigh Valley industry through its people and products, and through participation in active making. The exhibits bring science to life by showing what it can do, while showcasing Lehigh Valley companies and careers that use science, engineering, design, and technology to make great things happen.
On the second floor, visitors get to experience the natural wonders of the Lehigh River Watershed, while remaining right in downtown Allentown. The experience uses water as a jumping-off point for an exploration of the geography and topography of the region, the plant and animal life that exist in your backyard and beyond, and the ways in which the urban environment layers over the natural landscape.
Visitors are immersed in natural habitats, able to interact with living animals and play with water. The exhibits reveal the importance of balance between urban expansion and the natural world, between conservation and development, and between human actions and human impact at both local and global levels. There are numerous opportunities for visitors of all ages to connect with the natural world around them, to locate themselves in the landscape, and in doing so, consider their role in maintaining the delicate balance.
P: 484.664.1002
D: 3145 Hamilton Blvd. Bypass, Allentown, PA 18103
H: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 12-5 p.m.
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