Public Programs
Public Programs
The Greensboro Science Center offers an array of captivating Public Programs that bring science to life in exciting and interactive ways. From fascinating Science on the Spots to mind-blowing OmniSphere shows, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Conservation Creation
Join our Early Learning Guide on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 am to learn more about the flora and fauna around us! There is a new theme each month, and a craft/project available for guests to get hands-on with their learning. From Crafting Corals to Sensational Spiders, there’s something for everyone in our early learning areas!
This month: Binturong Bonanza 🌸
This July, join our educator at the amphitheater in Jeansboro Junction in Friendly Farm on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30am to learn more about the elusive binturong, and what makes them so special. Guests will have the opportunity to find out how they can help protect binturongs, as well as create their own take-home seed bomb to protect local wildlife and pollinators!
Starry Safari
Embark on a celestial journey with Starry Safari every Friday, except the third Friday of the month, weather permitting. Explore the night sky with powerful telescopes in this outdoor experience. Dress for the weather and check our social media or website by mid-afternoon for cancellations due to clouds. Join us for an enchanting evening of stargazing and cosmic exploration!
Next potential showing: 07.12.24
Science on the Spot
Science On the Spot is a series of drop-in, interactive science demonstrations, and animal meet-and-greets that are open to all guests and included with your admission. Check next to the Membership Desk in the front lobby for each day’s schedule and location.
OmniSphere Shows
We Are Stars
What are we made of? Where did it all come from?
Explore the secrets of our cosmic chemistry and our explosive origins. Connect life on Earth to the evolution of the Universe by following the formation of Hydrogen atoms to the synthesis of Carbon, and the molecules for life.
Run time: Approximately 26 minutes
Recommended Age: 5+
The Sun - Our Living Star
The Sun has shone on our world for four and a half billion years. The light that warms our skin today has been felt by every person who has ever lived. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather, and all life.
The passage of the Sun’s fiery disc across the sky — day by day, month by month — was the only way to keep track of time for countless past civilizations. Don’t be fooled by the terminology; although it is a typical dwarf star, the Sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all the planets combined.
Discover the secrets of our star in this planetarium show and experience never-before-seen images of the Sun’s violent surface in an immersive full-dome format. Our team has worked with some of the most talented planetarium producers to bring you this visually striking planetarium show about the most important star in our lives.
Run time: Approximately 19 minutes
Recommended Age: 5+
Dream to Fly
Discover the mystery of flight with Leonardo da Vinci, the Montgolfier brothers, the Wright brothers, and other inventors. Experience the adventure and find out how this immense and challenging dream, for which mankind has strived since the beginning of history came true.
Dream to Fly is a poetic story about the history of aviation. The aim of the film is to present the development of aviation through the ages in an interesting and innovative way. It presents the milestones on our route to conquering the skies – both in terms of technological breakthroughs, as well as our perceptions of flying itself.
Rich full-dome visuals, beautiful music composed for the show, and a poetic narration make this show an exceptional artwork. The message to the viewers is to be open to new ideas and to pursue our dreams.
Run time: Approximately 35 minutes
Recommended Age: 7+
Black Holes: the Other Side of Infinity
Experience the cutting-edge production now featured in over 200 planetariums worldwide. This mesmerizing show uses high-resolution visualizations and data-driven simulations to bring the latest black hole science to life on the dome screen.
Audiences will be captivated by immersive animations depicting the early universe’s formation, star birth and death, giant galaxy collisions, and a simulated journey to the super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Narrated by Liam Neeson.
Produced by Thomas Lucas Productions in collaboration with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, NOVA, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, this show is supported by grants from NASA’s GLAST telescope project and the National Science Foundation.
Run time: Approximately 23 minutes
Recommended Age: 11+
One World, One Sky
Join Big Bird and Elmo as they explore the night sky with Hu Hu Zhu, a Muppet from “Zhima Jie,” the Chinese co-production of Sesame Street. Together they take an imaginary trip from Sesame Street to the moon, where they discover how different it is from Earth. They also journey to Zhima Jie to learn about the similarities in our view of the sky.
Run time: Approximately 28 minutes
Recommended Age: 3+
Adventure Theater Shows
Wednesday – Sunday: 10:30 am & 3:30 pm
Location: Deep Sea Drama Theater (SciPlay Bay)
Talk with Tai
Our Red Panda, Tai, is not just a big fan of bamboo, but he’s an ocean explorer, too! If you’ve never conversed with a curious furry creature who loves laughing and learning with everyone he meets, a “Talk with Tai” will make you believe! From the control console of his own personal panda yellow submarine, Tai talks live and interactively with GSC guests of all ages about ocean life, the science center and just about anything else they’d like to discuss, both under the sea and above it.
Duration: Approximately 15 minutes
Wednesday – Sunday: 11:30 am
Location: Adventure Theater 1
Indiana Bones and the Raiders of the Lost Archosaurs
In this hilarious, action-packed adventure, GSC villain Dean O. Saur’s nephew, Al, travels back in time to steal some valuable items from the past! With the help of audience members, GSC’s resident paleontologist Indiana Bones faces the daunting task of finding and returning the prehistoric pieces to their place in time, by way of a crazed wormhole! Dr. Bones faces a series of entertaining challenges as he travels back to the Cretaceous period, meeting plenty of awe-inspiring ancient animals along the way. Will Dr. Bones return to the present before an asteroid leads to extinction? Find out at Indiana Bones and the Raiders of the Lost Archosaurs!
Duration: Approximately 35 minutes
Wednesday – Sunday: 1:30 pm
Location: Adventure Theater 2
Kats: The Meerkat Musical
“KATS: The Meerkat Musical” has these adorable furry performers taking center stage in Adventure Theater 2. Audience members will be immersed in the story of one little meerkat pup and her family as they follow the songs these African animals sing about themselves. The theater magically “transports” audience members into the middle of the Kalahari Desert, home of these musical ‘Kats’. Guests of all ages will have fun learning about meerkats through interactive trivia games and special surprises.
Sing along and tap your feet to the beat of life that’s lived beneath the desert sands and under the African sun.
Duration: Approximately 35 minutes
Wednesday – Sunday: 2:30 pm
Location: Adventure Theater 1
Our Robot Dog
One of the GSC’s newest “animal” additions is a computerized canine, a robot dog named ARF-2D2. Starring in his own, all-new free public show, “OUR ROBOT DOG,” ARF-2 pits his computer-controlled abilities against those of biologically-based canines of flesh and blood. Using his 5 pairs of depth-sensing “eyes,” 3 sets of sound-sensing “ears,” and dozen motors, he can run as fast as a squirrel can scamper (11 mph) and weighs as much as a two-year-old toddler (26 lbs.). In this 35-minute show, he’ll dash, dance, fetch, beg, roil over, play ball and even artistically paint his way into your heart!
Duration: Approximately 35 minutes
2024 Evening Laser Shows
Our must-see evening laser shows combine your favorite music with an amazing laser light show that dances across the OmniSphere Theater’s 40-foot dome!
Showtimes are 7:00, 8:00, & 9:00pm. Seating is limited. Tickets are $7 each.
Please note: Once the show begins, no additional guests will be admitted to the theater. Please plan to arrive prior to showtime.
