Cate Marquis

There is a climate change of sorts underway at the St. Louis Science Center, as demonstrated by a new special exhibit.

“Climate Change” is an excellent, just-the-facts exhibit exploring the science of global warming and climate change, its impact on the planet and what we can do.

This new exhibit is a follow-up to its outstanding 2010 exhibit on Charles Darwin. That attractive, comprehensive multi-room, multi-media exhibit covered the whole of Darwin’s life and work on evolution and natural selection, including the historical context of the publication of his theories and our nation’s ongoing sociopolitical debate on evolution.

This pair of engaging yet serious science exhibits signals a climate change of sorts for the St. Louis Science Center.

For many years, our Science Center seemed more a children’s museum with a safely-sanitized science theme, rather than museum for anyone who loves science. There seemed to be little to interest adults and a kind of determination to avoid anything that could be remotely controversial or challenging – even that bedrock of biology, evolution.

Now the Science Center seems to be breaking free of this narrow restraint, with a new willingness to present science exhibits to engage both children and adults.

The new, free “Climate Change” exhibit, displayed in the Exploradome, focuses on the scientific facts. It is a handsome, interactive, multi-media exploration of the subject. The visually-dynamic displays illustrate the various points in an engaging and clear manner, offering accessible science information to both adults and kids.

Refreshingly, the large exhibit begins with coal–what it is, how it formed and the role it played in the Industrial Revolution. The choice is important, given coal’s importance in the earliest years of industrialization. Long before anyone talked about climate change, people were aware of the environmental impact of coal and began to search for cleaner alternative fuels.

The exhibit includes an excellent large graph illustrating the parallels between industrialization, CO2 levels and temperatures. It offers information on how climate and weather differ, on the greenhouse effect, on atmosphere, solar radiation and the oceans. It explores the range of changes already observed, the historical climate evidence and changes predicted for the planet as it warms. The exhibit also offers suggestions to mitigate one’s carbon footprint and a comparison of various energy sources.

The exhibit is colorful and well-arranged, making a visit both engaging and informative. There are several interactive displays and several short videos, with seating provides. The exhibit engages all the senses, with graphics and maps, written materials and spoken presentations. The general-audience exhibit includes information aimed at a variety of ages and knowledge levels, so there is plenty to engage those with more knowledge on the topic.

In addition to this strong special exhibit, the Science Center is showing a new science focus in its choice of Omnimax films. “IMAX Hubble,” on the Hubble Telescope and a new film on sea reptiles of the Age of Dinosaurs, “Sea Rex,” are refreshingly science-based, an enormous improvement on “The Legends of Flight,” which was simply a long advertisement for Boeing that has little to do with the history of flight.

How delightful it is to see the St. Louis Science Center to reach beyond the middle school years and expand its science education mission.