Main Building

Main a.k.a. South Entrance

North Entrance

This building is located on The SALT Block in Hickory and is shared with the Hickory Museum of Art. Here you can find our Outdoor Science Courtyard, Permanent exhibits, the current Featured exhibit in Carpenter Hall, and the Science Shop for souvenirs! See below for more info on our Permanent exhibit housed in this building.

Discover Two Buildings of Science Fun!

Science Hallway (Nano)

Imagine and discover a world you can’t see!
Nano is an interactive exhibition that engages family audiences in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. Hands-on exhibits present the basics of nanoscience and engineering, introduce some real world applications.

• Explore progressively smaller magnetic materials.
• Build a giant model of a carbon nanotube.
• Try a series of interactive challenges.
• Spin disks containing small and large plastic beads, comparing the relative effects of static electricity and gravity on different size beads.

Naturalist Center

Nat•u•ral•ist

Come observe our eclectic non-living collection of animals, live insects and arachnids, plus a variety of fossils, rocks, seashells, and more! You can also visit our live mammals in the Naturalist Center; Pancake the Groundhog and the 7 Sugar Glider Sisters.

Foothills Co-LAB-oratory

Experiment and innovate through our weekly engineering and design challenges. The Foothills Collaboratory, or The LAB, offers staffed drop-in activities, as well as many different unfacilitated activities that you can explore on your own. We also host SPARK: A STEM Career Showcase on the second and third Saturday of the month featuring local industries in the Carolina Foothills. Visitors can participate in guided activities based on STEM careers.

This program is always FREE with the price of admission!

Velo-City

Explore the forces that make things move, slow down, and stop. A world of physics fun can be found in the new exhibit Velo-City! This exhibit includes 8 different hands-on pieces teaching concepts such as kinetic and potential energy, gravity, force, friction, and more!

Treehouse Adventures

Treehouse Adventures is the perfect exhibit for CSC's youngest guests. Venture through all four seasons as you climb into a treehouse, sail on a sailboat, explore hide-and-seek panels, build a snowman, tend a garden, and pretend to shop at a local outdoor food market! This exhibit allows kids to dress up and use their imagination to take them on their own treehouse adventure!

*NOTE: This exhibit area is best suited for individuals in early development stages or small groups of young children.

Carpenter Hall

This area is reserved for new featured exhibits that switch out every few months to keep the Science Center feeling fresh and new! To learn more about our current featured exhibit click HERE.

This exhibit area can be found in the North Lobby of the Main Arts and Science Building.

Ground Level Exhibits
Main Building

Gross Labs

In this interactive exhibit, visitors play the role of scientists who are applying for jobs at Gross Labs, choosing from such jobs as “Poop Analyzer” and “Snot Surveyor”. Despite the humorous and gross-themed job titles, the skills required for these jobs reflect the same science and technology skills required for real world Bio-STEM careers.

Gross Labs is located on the Ground Level of CSC and is accessible via elevator or stairs.

Energy Avenue

Let's rock down to Energy Avenue where you can experiment with electricity, kinetic energy, and light! Launch rockets at a target, take a spin inside Spin Circle, race a friend on Pulley Playground, and attempt to power a TV and an electric fan! Discover what Bernoulli’s Principle is and use it to make balls float in the air.

Energy Avenue is located on the Ground Level of CSC and is accessible via elevator or stairs.

M.O.V.E.

Mental Health, Oxygen, Vascular System, and Energy! All are a part of a healthy happy body. Play a rotation of games to get moving while you learn all about the benefits of exercise. The games are played with your body and change every 5 minutes.

M.O.V.E. is located on the Ground Level of CSC and is accessible via elevator or stairs.

Aquarium & Planetarium Building

This building is located on the North side of The SALT Block beside the Patrick Beaver Memorial Library.Here you can find the Aquarium, state-of-the-art Planetarium, and animal habitats in the Edgerton Gallery. This is also where our Special Events Room, a place booked for Birthday Parties and Field Trip lunch space, can be found. See below for more info on our Permanent exhibit housed in this building.

Discover Two Buildings of Science Fun!

Hall of Astronomy

The Hall of Astronomy is currently in a transition phase to make way for a new exhibit called Expanding Horizons coming in 2024. In this exhibit, you can explore our solar system to learn all about space travel, where we've been, where we're going, and how new technology will help us get there. Prepare to join humanity's quest to Expand our Horizons! For now, enjoy two tinker zones in this space, one for imaginative play and one for rocket-building.

Millholland Planetarium

Catch a mid-day show in our state-of-art planetarium! Shows change monthly, click HERE for showtimes, and HERE to learn more about the Millholland Planetarium.

Aquarium

Observe exotic fish, turtles, and other species found in the Amazon River Basin, and touch live sharks and stingrays in the Saltwater gallery. To learn more about the aquarium click HERE.

Land to Sea

See CSC’s live reptiles, look into the Herpetarium at the rest of our living collection, and explore coral reef conservation & weather! To learn more about the Land to Sea exhibit click HERE.

Outdoor Spaces

Outdoor Science Courtyard

Discover the science of North Carolina style. Climb the mountain wall, experiment with sound, and play in the babbling brook. This area is also the location of the Flutter-by Butterfly Habitat which returns to CSC every 3 years. Please note this outdoor exhibit space may be closed during inclement weather.

This outdoor space is located in the main building between the North and South lobbies.

Aquaponics Greenhouse & Raised Bed Gardens

Aq•ua•pon•ics

Visit this attraction to see a garden in seasonal stages and learn about the nitrogen cycle. The Aquaponics Greenhouse, which was recently renovated by William Bledsoe, grows plants used for feeding our in-house animals. The Raised Bed Gardens, maintained but Hickory Greenway Harvest, introduce the community to sustainable farming opportunities and provide food for local soup kitchens. The Compost Bins, Sponsored by Terraloam, require a quick turn every once in a while, make sure to give a spin when you visit this gardening area.

This outdoor space is located between the West Wing and Aquarium buildings.

Catawba Science Center
On the SALT Block
243 Third Avenue NE
Hickory, NC 28601

Directions

Phone: (828) 322-8169
Fax: (828) 322-1585
info@catawbascience.org

Questions? Contact our Office Staff at info@catawbascience.org  or 828.322.8169 x. 0