Science North — Attraction in Greater Sudbury

If there's one attraction that makes Sudbury special, this is it. It is the epitome of what a science center should be, and it's almost a surprise that not every town tries to get one. I have seen a few science centers (Toronto, Montreal, and Cleveland), and not only is this one comparable in size (I think only Toronto is a bit bigger), it is be best is quality.

Location: Science North is on picturesque Lake Ramsey, built into a cliff that runs into the water. There is a well-maintained boardwalk that goes from SN, along the bottom of this "cliff", and runs to Bell Park and the beach. There is a sailing club nearby, a hospital across the street, a pretty boardwalk through wetland across the other street (Lily Creek), and the University and nice trails are nearby. Overall, a very good location.

Architecture: Science North is composed of two aluminum buildings that are hard to describe the appearance of, but which look like snowflakes from above. There isn't really anything like them anywhere, and even after all these years they look quite good. It's experimental architecture done right. They are connected via a underground passage through Sudbury hardrock.

On the main one, there is also a giant glassed off area over-looking the lake, with circular ramps connecting the floors. In the space between the ramps, they have suspended the complete skeleton of an entire blue whale. At the bottom of the ramps is the exposed bedrock with a fault, showing a feature of Sudbury geology, and proving how the science center is really "in harmony with the land". I took this all for granted when I was a kid (it's fun running up the ramps!), but when I look back, it is truly inspired architecture for a science center.

Exhibits: There are informational exhibits, there is an IMAX screen, and a 3D movie theater (located in a cool underground cavern, with ponds). But more importantly, there are a lot of great interactive exhibits. They are divided into 3 floors - one for geology, one for nature, and one for the human body (with a bunch of other stuff mixed in between).

Here are a few notable examples of things there are on these floors. There is a big aluminum tub-like device where kids can play with sand and running water to learn about erosion and water systems. There is an area where you can play with Kinects and make vehicles that drive around a track. They have a bed of nails, a butterfly exhibit, multiple mini-theatres, and a nature exchange. The nature exchange is great - you collect things from the wild, explain them to the person at the desk, and you get points which you can trade for the cool items they have in stock (I once got a meteorite with my accumulated points). There are also science shows, where they do things with flying squirrels, dry ice, and all sorts of other stuff. They also have tons of animals from the local ecosystem - squirrels, beavers, snakes, etc.

Community: Science North is open to the public, but sometimes it does a lot of special events for the community. In addition to hosting tons of school trips and daycare trips, they do science camps (I got to program Lego robots in one of them!), and they host events. I was part of an Envirothon event hosted at science north, where you get to learn about wetlands, trees, conservation etc. While participating in this, I realized that Science North also plays a big role in the broader Sudbury Scientific community - they have some very nice conference rooms, and though I don't know if they do actual research at Science North, they did have some cool specialized conservation equipment that their staff members were able to show to us.

I don't know how much the science center costs the town, but I don't care - I'm sure it was worth it. The place was great for me growing up, and I think it did a lot for me. The fact that it is so accessible, and never overcrowded is a plus. SN iss something that Sudburians can be really proud of, because I don't think any town has something that is quite the same. The only thing Science North needs is for more Sudburians...

Spent the day here to get out of the rain while on a camping vacation. At first I thought the price was a little steep (we got the play all day passes-$35 for adults and $27 for kids), but as the prices included an Imax film and the planetarium show, by the time the day was over I felt it was money well spent. We took in both a film and did the planetarium. But the best part of the day was once we got inside the main part of the building. I expected something similar to the Toronto Science Centre-rammed full of kids, and line-ups to participate in stuff. I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't the case! There was tons of interesting things to see and do-I felt that it was a cross between a science centre, a museum and a zoo! Not only were there science-based activities, there was a whole floor with animals, reptiles and insects. There were young people called "bluecoats" all around the building, who were very engaging and informative. I was so chuffed by their enthusiasm that I somehow momentarily forgot that I was terrified of spiders and held a tarantula! My 6 year-old niece loved the points program, in which science-based learning earns you points that you can use to pick items like rocks and shells to take home with you. What a great initiative for kids. My only negative about the experience was that we took a break for lunch, and the "cafeteria" looked like it hadn't been cleaned all day, the empty tables were piled with garbage and dirty. We had to wipe a table down before we could use it. But overall, a great place for kids and...

What a phenomenal experience. So much to see and do here, we didn’t even get through it all.

Our dinosaur-obsessed kid asked if the staff could point out any more dinosaur relics on the floor. There weren’t any more on display, but they had a fossilized dinosaur egg and tooth in the office. They went and got it for us!

All the staff here are triple-A first class. I couldn’t believe just how warm, attentive, and willing each were to answer our questions and share even more tidbits of knowledge related to the animals, rocks, tarantulas, the mine, planetarium, exhibit, etc. They created an environment where there was no question too small or trivial (I.e. what is the pet name for a specific snake we fell in love with. The staff walked back, told us about “Fan” the fox snake, its life mate, and brought us around to show us their two son snakes).

My son had several questions during the planetarium live show, and each request was met with enthusiastic willingness to explore the topic of interest no matter how challenging or inconvenient it was to do so (black holes, supernovas, etc).

All in all, it was an amazing experience. We purchased an annual pass, so we’ll be back! And once again, bravo to the staff. You guys are worth your weight in gold (or the "nickel"...