Welcome
to Catawba Science Center, where hands-on
learning makes science
fun!
Our Mission
To change lives and inspire learning through science and wonder.
CSC’s
permanent exhibit areas explore Physical, Natural and Earth sciences,
while interactive traveling exhibits rotate throughout the year.
Freshwater
and saltwater aquarium exhibits – featuring North
Carolina’s only marine touch pool with LIVE sharks and stingrays
-- offer exciting hands-on learning experiences in immersive habitats.
Featured
Temporary Exhibits
Flutter-By Butterfly Habitat
Now through September 6
OUTDOOR SCIENCE COURTYARD
Experience hundreds of live native and semi-tropical butterflies
and moths in a sweetly scented flower garden. Special programs
include Lepidoptera Lunches, weekly opportunities to learn about
chrysalides and cocoons, and more.
[ See public
programs page for details. ]
Sponsored by
Corning Cable Systems
Sue Millholland
McDonald’s
Peggy & Pope Shuford
2010 Fund-a-Cause Donors
Media Sponsor
WFAE
90.3fm
Stopping Time
Now Open
EDGERTON GALLERY
An Interactive exhibit exploring time and motion. Freeze an image
of yourself, stop a drop of water mid-stream, see hidden worlds
via strobes and more.
Body Carnival
Now through September 6
CARPENTER HALL
Explore the Science of You
Walk the Plank, crawl through the Tunnel of Blood, feel music,
experience the Dizzy Tunnel and more.
Sponsored by Bank of America and Hickory Family Pharmacy.
Shipping provided by Century Furniture
Permanent
Exhibits
Saltwater Gallery
Sharks & Stingrays
See and touch different species of LIVE sharks and stingrays in
this hands-on marine habitat. Live shark feedings are held daily.
[ Click
here for an underwater view of the Sharks & Rays touch pool ]
Coastal North Carolina
Explore a coastal habitat for marine creatures, and the chance
to see and touch sea stars, urchins, conchs, horseshoe and hermit
crabs, reef fish and more.
[ Click
here for an underwater view of the Coastal Carolina touch pool ]
Freshwater
Gallery
Featuring Expedition Amazon
Amazon Basin
See rare and remarkable fish, frogs, snakes, turtles and birds
native to the Amazon Basin. Look closely for freshwater stingrays
and brilliantly colored poison dart frogs.
Amazon Oxbow
Get an underwater view of a variety of fish found in an Amazon oxbow lake – including
Silver Arowana, Tiger Shovelnose Catfish and beautiful Peacock Bass. Learn
about oxbows, or crescent-shaped lakes in lowland Amazonia that form when a
river changes course.
Wall of Life
Biotope aquariums display species native to various habitats in
South America – whitewater, brackish and blackwater streams,
as well as an up-close look at predator, camouflage and endangered
fish species. Expedition Amazon includes electric fish, including
knifefish and a three-foot electric eel.
[ Click here
for look at a Yellow Eartheater fish, found in a whitewater
stream ]
Hall of Astronomy
Explore the surface
of Mars using a robot arm, view live images of our solar
system downloaded from the Hubble Spacecraft, create a dust devil
and see a model of NASA’s
Mars Exploration Rover in this hands-on exhibit area located
just outside the doors to the Millholland Planetarium.
Energy Avenue 
Create and launch rockets, race a friend on pulley playground,
take a spin in Spin Circle, power a TV and electric fan, and more.
Energy Avenue is located in the lower level of CSC.
Inventor's Workshop
Design your own invention, build a rocket, experiment with circuits,
make a car that runs on air and bring your invention to life at
the “Wall of Moving Art.” Activities feature Take-Apart-Days,
weekend demonstrations and cool events.
VR Xtreme
Be part of a water cycle, slam dunk on the basketball court and
make your own music in VR Xtreme, Catawba Science Center’s
virtual reality theater, located just off Energy Avenue on the
lower level of CSC.
EarthWatch Center
Learn about conditions on the sun, experience the motion of an
earthquake, make waves and experiment with forces of water on the
stream table. Located off Energy Avenue on the lower level of CSC.
Science
Courtyard
Discover science North Carolina style. Climb the mountain wall,
experiment with sound and search for fossils at the end of the
brook. This outdoor exhibit space is closed during inclement weather.
Naturalist Center
Visit CSC's recently remodeled Naturalist Center – home
of Swampy the Alligator and Seymour, an African spur tortoise,
and Pedro, a desert tortoise. Observe live reptiles, amphibians,
insects and arachnids, in addition to an eclectic collection of
preserved animals, insects, fossils and more.
Explore It!
Explore the world around you - visit a farm, treehouse and play
with the puppet animals inside, experiment with light, go fishing
and build an igloo with "ice blocks" in this colorful, interactive
learning space for CSC's youngest visitors.
RaceWays
Explore the principles of motion in this high-speed exhibit area
with hands-on activities using balls and various types of tracks.
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