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The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on
Don Mills Road Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a v ...
just south of Eglinton Avenue East in the former city of North York. It is built down the side of a wooded ravine formed by one branch of the
Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...
located in
Flemingdon Park Flemingdon Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the city's North York district. It is part of the Don Valley East federal and provincial electoral districts, and Ward 26: Don Valley East (South) municipally. In 2011, it ...
.


History

Planning for the Science Centre started in 1961 during Toronto's massive expansion of the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1964, Toronto
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Raymond Moriyama Raymond Moriyama LL. D. (born October 11, 1929) is a Canadian architect.Ra ...
was hired to design the site. Construction started in 1966 with plans to open the "Centennial Centre of Science and Technology" as part of the
Canadian Centennial The Canadian Centennial was a yearlong celebration held in 1967 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Celebrations in Canada occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1, 1967. Commemorative coins we ...
celebrations in 1967. However construction was not completed in 1967, and the Science Centre did not open to the public until two years later, on September 26, 1969. The buildings and design were part of a broader change in Canadian architecture, and remain an example of the
brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
style. When it first opened, the Science Centre was a pioneer for its hands-on approach to science, along with San Francisco's Exploratorium and the
Michigan Science Center The Michigan Science Center (MiSci) is a Smithsonian-affiliate science museum in Detroit, Michigan. The mission of the Michigan Science Center is to inspire curious minds of all ages to discover, explore and appreciate science, technology, engin ...
in Detroit. Unlike a traditional museum, where exhibits are for viewing only, the majority of the exhibits at the Science Centre were interactive, while many others were live demonstrations (e.g. metalworking). The Communications room contained a number of computerized displays, including a very popular tic-tac-toe game, run on a
PDP-11 The PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sold ...
minicomputer. In 1990, it was revealed the Ontario Science Centre had signed a contract with
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
to design a children's museum. The Ontario Science Centre had agreed to boycott Israeli goods and services while under contract. The Ontario Science Centre later amended the contract to specify that all goods sold to Oman would be produced in North America. The centre's Director General Mark Abbott was later fired for knowingly signing the original contract. In 2001 the Centre embarked on a capital project called "Agents of Change", which focused on innovation and renewed about 85 per cent of the Centre's public space, including the creation of seven new experience areas. The Centre received $47.5 million in contributions from the government of Ontario, private sector companies, and individuals. The Agents of Change transformation was completed 2007, culminating with the opening of the Weston Family Innovation Centre and the Teluscape plaza. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, the Science Centre received $500,000 from the Government of Canada to promote
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an es ...
uptake among children and their families.


Grounds


Plaza

''Lotic Meander'' by Stacey Levy is an outdoor installation in polished and blasted granite and cast glass set into the solar terrace of the Ontario Science Centre. The work depicts the patterns of water as it moves through a stream bed. In 2007, the Ontario Science Centre unveiled the Teluscape Exploration Plaza, providing several interactive exhibits adjacent to the science centre's exterior main entrance.


FUNtain Aquatic Play

As originally built, the Science Centre had a large fountain area directly in front of the entranceway, located to create a traffic roundabout. The original water fountain has been rejuvenated to provide a more welcoming and accessible entrance to the Science Centre. The new plaza, named "Teluscape", was designed by Reich + Petch Architects and EDA Collaborative. It opened to the public on September 20, 2006, and is accessible 24 hours a day. The new fountain is also a
hydraulophone A hydraulophone is a tonal acoustic musical instrument played by direct physical contact with water (sometimes other fluids) where sound is generated or affected hydraulically."Fluid Melodies: The hydraulophones of Professor Steve Mann" In Wat ...
designed by installation artist Steve Mann. It is a hydraulic-action
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
which can be played by anyone walking into the space. Blocking the flow of any one of the 57 water jets in the fountain forces the water across to a corresponding organ pipe, where it makes a loud sound as the water is forced out through the speaking mouth of the pipe. The lowest 12 notes in each pipe division of the organ are visible as pipes arranged in a circle. The North Division consists of stopped ''hydrapasons'' (similar to diapasons but running on water rather than air), whereas the South Division pipes are open at both ends (sound emerges from the ends rather than from a mouth as with the North pipes). The North organ console consists of 12 water jets, whereas the south console consists of 45 water jets. The organ is supplied with water from three Pentair pumps, supplying water at a rate of , each by way of a diameter water line. Air is supplied from three Ingersol Rand four-cylinder air compressors, each having a motor. Since the instrument runs on both air and water, it may be regarded as a hybrid hydraulophone and pneumatophone, but because it is played by blocking water jets rather than air holes, it is principally a hydraulophone. The fountain must be shut down and drained to avoid freezing damage during the cold season. On November 21, 2007, the aquatic play facility was temporarily switched from water operation to air operation, effectively becoming perhaps one of the first pneumatic-play facilities, where visitors can frolic in a fountain of air jets. In this mode of operation, the fountain becomes a
wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...
. The hydraulophone may not be operational during the winter months.


Building

Designed in the early 1960s, the original buildings incorporate
Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
designs. The building complex is made up of three main buildings connected by a series of bridges and
escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...
s, follows the natural contours of the Don River ravine, into which the Centre descends. Ontario's only IMAX Dome theatre opened in 1996. The Great Hall is an event venue at the Ontario Science Centre and is home to ''Cloud'', a massive, computer-controlled kinetic sculpture by Toronto installation artist David Rokeby, which consists of an array of blue and transparent squares that rotate in various ways to simulate the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. For most of the time since opening in 1969, the Science Centre has hosted a demonstration
amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
station. Formerly located in the Hall of Space, the station is now located on Level 4 of the Centre, next to the elevator. The station has the
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...
"VE3OSC", and licensed amateur radio operators volunteer there daily from 10 am to 3 pm.


Exhibitions

The Science Centre has hosted a number of traveling exhibits since its opening. In 1982, the exhibition ''China: 7,000 Years of Discovery'' broke all attendance records and attracted more than 1.5 million visitors.Ontario Science Centre: Major Moments
/ref> In 2003, the ''Strange Matter'' exhibition opened, and the ''Body Worlds 2'' exhibition attracted almost half a million visitors over five months when it came to the Centre in 2005. The exhibition ''Facing Mars'' ran in 2008. The Centre hosted '' Harry Potter: The Exhibition'', a collection of props from the film series in 2010. ''Leonardo da Vinci's Workshop'' (2011) featured physical models of da Vinci's inventions, built from drawings in his Codices. It also included interactive touch-screen digital reproductions of his Codices, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. ''Circus: The Exhibition'' ran in 2012. ''Game On 2.0'', a video game history exhibition, ran March 9 to September 2, 2013. In June 2014, the Centre welcomed ''The Science of Rock 'N' Roll'', which explores how advances in science and technology have revolutionized music. The exhibition features eight areas that comprise different interactive components, historical artifacts, informational walls, documentary videos and more. ''The Science of Rock 'N' Roll'' was followed by ''In Knowledge We Trust'', which ran October 4 to December 7, 2014, and explored the role trust plays in making us willing to share or use the knowledge we receive. During summer 2015, the Centre hosted the ''MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition'', based on the popular television series '' MythBusters''. On June 4, 2016, the Centre hosted a one-day exhibit promoting the Nintendo 3DS game '' Kirby: Planet Robobot'', which also featured activities pertaining to the ''Kirby'' video game series and a visit by a performer in a full Kirby costume. In 2017, to celebrate the
150th anniversary of Canada The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as Canada marked the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation. Planning Major p ...
, the Centre opened the exhibition ''Canada 150: Discovery Way'', featuring Canadian stories behind transformational inventions and innovations.


Permanent galleries and exhibits

The science centre has several hundred interactive and passive permanent exhibits, featuring geology, the science of
nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
(in the west wing),
astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...
science, how to play music and technology in the south wing,
human anatomy The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a head, ...
, communication and
bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, ...
, and some miscellaneous artifacts of science.


A Question of Truth

A Question of Truth is an exhibit that explores the methodologies, biases, and beliefs of scientific research. The exhibit provides visitors an opportunity to test controversial theories.


AstraZeneca Human Edge

The AstraZeneca Human Edge replaced the original
human anatomy The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a head, ...
gallery, opened in December 2013 with sponsorship from
AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...
. In addition to detailing anatomy, the exhibit explores the possibilities of the human body with activities to simulate the experiences of adventure-seekers, elite athletes, and extreme-sports enthusiasts. There are more than 80 exhibits in the hall, which were all developed and built by the Science Centre's staff with input from more than 120 neuroscience, physiology, bio-mechanics and sports medicine experts. The exhibit also features a climbing wall.


Cohon Family Nature Escape

The Cohon Family Nature Escape is an outdoor exhibit, situated within the
Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...
Valley to the back of the science centre. The exhibit features a giant
Baltimore oriole The Baltimore oriole (''Icterus galbula'') is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of 17th century L ...
nest, concrete wall canvas for moss graffiti, and a slide made from a fallen 125-year-old
eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, Canada west ...
.


Forest Lane

Forest lane houses a number of trees and tree trunks from across Canada. The exhibit includes a 464-year-old Douglas fir, with markings on its
growth rings Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
denoting notable world events during the tree's lifetime.


KidSpark

KidSpark is a designated space for children eight and under to explore and learn through play. The exhibition was opened in 2003. The exhibition also has a
rolling ball machine A rolling ball sculpture (sometimes referred to as a marble run, ball run, gravitram, ''kugelbahn'' (German: 'ball track'), or rolling ball machine) is a form of kinetic art – an art form that contains moving pieces – that specific ...
built by
George Rhoads George Rhoads (January 27, 1926 – July 9, 2021) was a contemporary American painter, sculptor, and origami master. He was best known for his whimsical audiokinetic sculptures in airports, science museums, shopping malls, children's hospitals, ...
, and a music studio.


Living Earth

The Living Earth hosts simulated environments around the world, including rainforests, coral reefs, and caves. It was opened in 1993.


Science Arcade

The Science Arcade is amongst the oldest exhibits at the science centre, having been a permanent fixture in the building since its opening in 1969. The Science Arcade houses a number of "arcade-styled" games.


Space Hall and the Planetarium

The Space Hall was refurbished in the late 2000s and features meteorites from Mars and one of the few Moon rocks on public display in Canada. The Ontario Science Centre also holds Toronto's only operating public planetarium, since McLaughlin Planetarium was closed in 1995.


Weston Family Innovation Centre

The
Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia ...
Family Innovation Centre is an exhibit designed to encourage experimentation, and features exhibits that allow visitors to prototype a new type of shoe, and test their aviation abilities. The Weston Family Innovation Centre houses ''Pipe Dreams'' by Bruce Shapiro, a bubble art installation.


Science School

The Ontario Science Centre Science School (OSCSS) offers grade 12 University Preparation courses in STEM subjects: physics, biology, chemistry, calculus, and advanced functions. All students also complete an interdisciplinary studies credit in science communication while enrolled with the OSCSS. The credits are issued by either the Toronto District School Board or the Toronto Catholic District School Board, which also fund the program so it is available at no cost to students from anywhere in Ontario. While at the Science Centre, students earn practicum hours through volunteering and interacting with visitors.


Governance

As an Agency of the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Science Centre is overseen by Trustees appointed by the
Lieutenant Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...
, who selects not fewer than sixteen and not more than twenty-six trustees, and designates one of them as chair and another as vice-chair. Meetings are held four times a year, and Trustees serve for a term not exceeding three years but may be reappointed for one or more terms.


Affiliations

The Ontario Science Centre is affiliated with the
Canadian Museums Association The Canadian Museums Association (CMA; french: Association des musées canadiens, ''ACM''), is a national non-profit organization for the promotion of museums in Canada. It represents Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internat ...
(CMA),
Canadian Heritage Information Network , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Logo of Canadian Heritage Information Network.png , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = ...
(CHIN), and
Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...
. The Ontario Science Centre is a member of the international
Association of Science-Technology Centers The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) is a non-profit, global organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States, that provides a collective voice, professional support, and programming opportunities for science ce ...
(ASTC).


Cultural references

Ontario Science Centre was used by
David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation ...
as a location for his 1970 film '' Crimes of the Future''.


Media

Ontario Science Centre was featured on the ''
Rick Mercer Report ''Rick Mercer Report'' (also called the ''Mercer Report'' or ''RMR'') is a Canadian television comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 2004 to 2018. Launched in 2004, as ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report'', or simply ''Monday Report'', by ...
'' in 2016.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
In his CBC
news satire News satire or news comedy is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire has been around almost as long as journalism itself, but it is particularly popular on t ...
program,
Rick Mercer Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and '' Rick Merce ...
visited numerous scientists' exhibits, took part in a wildlife conservation show, and partook in a psychological fear study during a workshop there.


References


External links


Ontario Science Centre homepageOpening of Teluscape, 2006 Sept. 20th, including audiovisual recording of the water pipe organHow to play in/on the Science Centre's South fountain"Ontario Science Centre", part of ''Centennial Ontario''
online exhibit on Archives of Ontario website {{Authority control Brutalist architecture in Canada Crown corporations of Ontario Museums in Toronto North York Science museums in Canada Raymond Moriyama buildings IMAX venues Museums established in 1969 Science and technology in Toronto Buildings and structures completed in 1969 Science centers Association of Science-Technology Centers member institutions Amateur radio 1969 establishments in Ontario