Center of Science and Industry (COSI) has been a long-time favorite in our family. The kiddos and I have been visiting since they were toddlers. So when I told them COSI would be the first thing we’d be crossing off our Summer 2022 Bucket list I was a bit shocked when I heard complaints. Apparently, they feel it’s only for little kids. Boy were they wrong! To be fair I had a bit of a surprise up my sleeve.
We arrived around noon and made our way to the admission counter, and used our Imagination Station Membership to get in for free (Imagination Station and COSI are part of the ASTC Passport Program Participants offering a reciprocal admissions program…AND FYI-is you get a membership in JUNE you can get into participating local YMCAs TOO! ). Then we were off to their long-time favorites, the “Classics”… Ocean, Progress, & Planetarium!
Center of Science and Industry (COSI)
Address: 333 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215
Website: https://cosi.org/
Phone: (614) 228-2674
Hours: 10AM-5PM Daily
Admission: FREE for Imagination Station Members (Parking is $6)
Planetarium is FREE and shows are every ½ hour until 3PM (subject to change, always check schedule)
Ocean
Mighty Poseidon reigns over a mythical playground symbolizing the ancient stories of the sea. Explore the physical nature of water through laminar streams, eroding sand, and energetic waves. Ocean’s sparkling world of water will delight all ages.
Based on real ocean exploration technology, enter a research habitat and use real technology such as submersibles, sonar, and remote operated vehicles to explore the wonders of the worlds under the sea. Tie the power and majesty of the oceans to the world around us.
Progress
Generations of change in the blink of an eye! Travel through time and interact with the technology from 1898. Then turn a corner and find yourself generations later – in 1962 – in that same town.
In just sixty-four years, telegraphs gave way to television, Morse code to telephones, farmer’s markets to TV dinners. Stand on the corner of Hope Street and Fear Street in Progress and wonder: what will the future bring?
Planetarium
The COSI Planetarium—the largest in Ohio—features state-of-the-art digital technology that offers an unsurpassed glimpse of our incredible universe. The COSI Planetarium’s Digistar 5 projection system and 60-foot dome will transport you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, to undersea volcanoes and distant lands, and even into the human body. For all who wonder, who question, who dream, your window to the universe is now open at COSI.
Now Showing: Passport to the Universe
Fly beneath the rings of Saturn, float through the heart of the Orion Nebula, and plunge into a black hole during this captivating introduction to cosmology.
Passport to the Universe explores humanity’s place in the cosmos, bringing audiences on an unforgettable journey from Earth all the way to the edge of the observable universe.
After we visited the classics and enjoyed the nostalgia of going down memory lane I surprised the kiddos with the piece de resistance…MARVEL UNIVERSE OF SUPER HEROES!!! And they literally lost their minds! This was a HUGE “W” for this momma!
MARVEL UNIVERSE OF SUPER HEROES (This is an add-on, $15 for non-members, $13 for members, FREE for children 2 and under)
Exhibit includes 300 original artifacts, including some of Marvel’s most iconic costumes, props, and original art, much of which has never before been put on public display.
From comics to film, from Wakanda to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, this is the mightiest exhibition ever assembled. The exhibition features life-sized recreations of Marvel characters, exclusive original artwork, state-of-the-art interactive experiences, photo-ops, and more.
Highlights include:
- Costumes worn by Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Letitia Wright (Shuri), and Danai Gurira (Okoye) in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther (2018)
- Captain America costume was worn by Chris Evans (2015)
- Peter Quill’s Walkman with Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and the orb from Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, (2014)
- Arc reactor and Mark III Iron Man Armor from Marvel Studios’ Iron Man (2008)
- Black Widow’s costume and batons as worn and wielded by Scarlett Johansson in Marvel Studios’ The Avengers (2012)
- Thor’s costume and hammer as worn and wielded by Chris Hemsworth in Marvel Studios’ The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World (2012-2013)
- Marvel Comics #1 (1939), “The Sub-Mariner,” page 12 – the only known surviving piece of original art from the very first Marvel comic.
- The Pulse #13, page 9 (2006) – in Season One of Netflix series Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Luke and Jessica’s romantic relationship comes to an end. In the comics, however, they got married, and in the issue, this page is drawn from, their child is born.
- Matt Murdock’s glasses and cane as worn and used by Charlie Cox in Marvel’s Daredevil and Marvel’s The Defenders (2015-2017)
- Luke Cage’s bullet hole-ridden hoodie worn by Mike Colter in Marvel’s Luke Cage (2016)
The kids literally must have thanked me a half dozen times as we walked through the exhibit and took pics with their fave MARVEL character’s costumes, artifacts, etc. And to be honest, I really enjoyed myself as well, it was interesting learning about the history and creation are MARVEL.
BUT wait! Our visit wasn’t over yet….
Dinosaur Gallery
A 6-foot-long mechanical T. rex model that walks in place, illustrating how biomechanical studies have helped paleontologists learn more about the typical speed and gait of a rampaging tyrannosaur.
Spectacular displays of dinosaur casts, from the threehorned Triceratops to the dome-headed Pachycelphalosaurus, accompanied by details from the latest theories about how peculiar features including horns, frills, crests, and domes were used in life.
A 15-by-10-foot re-creation of the famous Davenport Ranch Trackway, displaying a collection of sauropod and theropod dinosaur prints, which was unearthed in Texas by scientists in the 1930s and 1940s.
The cast of a T. rex furcula, or wishbone, is once thought to be unique to birds but is now known to be present in some bipedal, meat-eating dinosaurs. The wishbone was once thought to strengthen the body for the demands of flight, but scientists today know it’s unconnected to flight’s origins.
This incredible new and permanent addition to COSI is included with Membership/Admission. You’ll never look at dinosaurs the same way again!
I also surprised them with an add-on…
Motion simulator ($4 for members, $5 for non-members)
This visit did not disappoint! I highly recommend a day trip to Columbus to visit COSI or perhaps on your way to another destination break up your travel with a couple hours of science exploration!
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 