Museum of Flight
Seattle
Seattle’s Museum of flight is the largest independent, nonprofit air and space museum in the world. Visiting groups will discover more than 175 aircraft and spacecraft alongside tens of thousands of artifacts and many more rare photographs arranged in dozens of exhibits and experiences. The museum also boasts the Boeing Academy for STEM Learning, which it calls the world’s largest educational department in an air-and-space museum. The program features workshops for all age levels, from primary school through college, with experiences focused on aviation, space, robotics and engineering.
McWane Science Center
Birmingham, Alabama
The McWane Science Center was formed in 1998 when two existing museums merged to create an interactive science institution in a historic department-store building in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The exhibits cover a wide range of subjects that include Alabama dinosaurs, sea monsters and a weather lab. Groups can get their hands on sharks and rays in the World of Water Aquarium or see shows in the on-site Imax Dome theater. The museum is committed to STEM education and features a number of special programs and workshops for students, including opportunities for overnight stays.
Cosmosphere
Hutchinson, Kansas
You may not expect to find a high-tech air and space museum in an unassuming town in central Kansas. But since 1962, Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas, has been introducing students to the wonders of air and space travel through a combination of artifacts, hands-on exhibits and special programs. Groups will be immediately impressed by the Blackbird SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft that hangs over the museum lobby. Inside, galleries cover the development of human aviation and feature several artifacts used in space by NASA. Special programs for students include rocket building and launch workshops.
