Editing Science Museum of Minnesota (section)

==Facilities==

===Omnitheater===
The Mississippi riverfront facility has a convertible dome [[IMAX]] theater. With both a wall screen for IMAX films and other flat-screen presentations and a rotating [[dome]] for viewing IMAX dome presentations, it was the first convertible theater in the northern hemisphere. The [[counterweight]]s for the system were so massive that they had to be put in place before the rest of the building. When it opened in 1999, the theater boasted "the largest permanently installed electronic cinema projector in the world", an advanced computer system to coordinate the theater's facilities, and a complex sound system to accommodate both viewing formats.

In summer 2019, the Omnitheater briefly closed to convert to digital laser technology. In October 2019, it reopened as the world's third-largest digital laser IMAX dome theater.

The museum is a leading producer of giant screen films, including:
*''Genesis'' (1978)
*''Living Planet'' (1979)
*''The Great Barrier Reef'' (1981)
*''Darwin on the Galapagos'' (1983)
*''Seasons'' (1987)
*''[[Ring of Fire (1991 documentary film)|Ring of Fire]]'' (1991)
*''Tropical Rainforest'' (1992)
*''Search for the Great Sharks'' (1995)
*''The Greatest Places'' (1998)
*''[[Jane Goodall]]'s Wild Chimpanzees'' (2002)
*''Tornado Alley'' (2012)
*''National Parks Adventure'' (2016)
*''Ancient Caves'' (2019)

The theater was briefly closed in early 2014 to repair a leaky roof.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25219382/science-museum-repairs-leaky-omnitheater-roof|title=Science Museum repairs leaky Omnitheater roof|date=23 February 2014|publisher=[[St. Paul Pioneer Press]]|access-date=2 January 2018}}</ref>

===Mississippi River Visitor Center===
Inside the museum's lobby is the [[National Park Service]] Visitor Center for the [[Mississippi National River and Recreation Area]], which is free of charge. Mississippi River exhibits and National Park Rangers are available to help people learn about and experience the river.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Timmons |first=Bob |date=2025-03-05 |title=Feds plan to terminate leases at Mississippi River recreation headquarters and visitor center in Minnesota |url=https://www.startribune.com/feds-plan-to-terminate-leases-at-mississippi-river-recreation-headquarters-and-visitor-center-in-minnesota/601231479 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=The Minnesota Star Tribune |language=en}}</ref> The visitor center is also equipped with resources to plan trips to any of the more than 390 national parks.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

<big>'''Center for Research and Collections'''</big>

The Science Museum's Center for Research and Collections staff maintain a collection of over 1.7 million artifacts, objects, and specimens and conduct research in biology, paleontology, anthropology, water quality, and climate change. They also conduct outreach with museum visitors, school groups, fellow researchers, and the general public. The museum’s collections are held in a storage vault. Items include dinosaurs and other fossils, preserved animals and plants, and cultural artifacts from extinct and extant civilizations. Researchers visit the vault to take advantage of the collection, but it is not open to regular museum visitors except during special events.

<big>'''St. Croix Watershed Research Station'''</big>

The St. Croix Watershed Research Station, in [[Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota|Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota]], is part of the Science Museum’s Center for Research and Collections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Croix Watershed Research Station |url=https://www.smm.org/scwrs |access-date=2022-02-01 |website=Science Museum of Minnesota |language=en}}</ref> It is the museum’s headquarters for a team of scientists who study water around the world.

===Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center===
The Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center (KAYSC) is an informal learning environment for young people.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center|url=https://www.smm.org/kaysc|access-date=2022-02-01|website=Science Museum of Minnesota|language=en}}</ref>

'''<big>IDEAL Center</big>'''

The museum is also home to the IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Leadership) Center,<ref>{{Cite web|title=IDEAL Center|url=https://www.smm.org/ideal-center|access-date=2022-02-01|website=Science Museum of Minnesota|language=en}}</ref> which has transformed from a primary professional development resource for educators in the state to a center that offers leadership development training to school districts, universities, and informal education organizations throughout the country.