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The McWane Science Center (formerly known as the McWane Center) is a science museum and research archive located in downtown 
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...
, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The state-of-the-art hands-on science center, aquarium, and 280-seat IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme ...
Dome Theater is housed in the historic and refurbished Loveman's department store building. It opened to the public on July 11, 1998.
On the lower level, the World of Water exhibit showcases more than 50 species of marine and freshwater aquatic life. There is a touch tank with different species of small sharks and rays. There are also shark teeth that can be observed under a microscope and different displays about water pollution.
The Alabama Collections Center (on the second floor) is the home of more than 500,000 items from the former Red Mountain Museum and Discovery Place. The center houses precious minerals
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed ...
, fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
, and Native American artifacts, the most noteworthy including the world's fourth-largest collection of mosasaurs; the Appalachiosaurus
''Appalachiosaurus'' ( ; "Appalachian lizard") is a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of eastern North America. Like almost all theropods, it was a bipedal predator. Only a juvenile skeleton has been found ...
(similar to Tyrannosaurus
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...
); and the state fossil of Alabama, the Basilosaurus cetoides
''Basilosaurus'' (meaning "king lizard") is a genus of large, predatory, prehistoric archaeocete whale from the late Eocene, approximately 41.3 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). First described in 1834, it was the first archaeocete and prehistori ...
(an fossil whale).
For smaller children there is the Itty Bitty Magic City exhibit (on the second floor), featuring a climbing structure, a water play area, an area specifically for toddlers, and an area with smaller versions of common buildings in a city. The model buildings are all made to help younger children learn skills, or to connect with their parents. One example is a model grocery store where children can learn about the main food groups while "shopping" with their parents. The exhibit opened on May 16, 2015, and was a remodeling of an older early childhood play place with the same name previously located on the third floor.
The McWane Science Center is named after the McWane family and McWane, Inc., both of which helped fund the center.
References
External links
IMAX venues Museums in Birmingham, Alabama Science museums in Alabama Natural history museums in Alabama Dinosaur museums in the United States Native American museums in Alabama Museums established in 1998 1998 establishments in Alabama NASA Museum Alliance Paleontology in Alabama {{zoo-stub