The Discovery Cube Orange County, formerly known as the Discovery Science Center and the

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Discovery Science Center, is a science museum in Santa Ana, California, with more than 100 hands-on science exhibits designed to spark children's natural curiosity. Designed by the architect firm

Arquitectonica Arquitectonica is an international architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban planning design firm headquartered in Miami, Florida’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The firm also has offices in ten other cities throughout ...

with structural engineers Carl Johnson and Svend Nielsen, it has become a visual landmark due to its ten-story

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cube that stands over

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

History

In 1984, the Boards of the Exploratory Learning Center and the Experience Center joined to form the Discovery Museum of Orange County with the dual goals of teaching children what life was like in Orange County in the 1900s and creating a world-class science center. A funding feasibility study in 1989 indicated that county leaders would support the project. In the mid-1990s, prior to construction, a smaller "beta" version of the science center called Launch Pad operated in

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. The current facility was opened on December 17, 1998, in what had originally been a

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depot. Mark Walhimer served as the Vice President of Exhibits from 1996 to 2000 and oversaw the design, development and installation of the exhibits. In 2008 the Center became an affiliate within the

Smithsonian Affiliations Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational str ...

program. On September 29, 2012, it was announced that the center was seeking to expand its facilities. Phase 1, opened on June 11, 2015, features the new Discovery Pavilion and of remodeled space. Future phases include a Life Sciences Hall, Courtyard of Learning and Living, Environmental Pavilion, an IMAX theater, and a "

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" parking facility.

Discovery Cube Los Angeles

The center has also entered into a partnership with the City of Los Angeles to take over and operate the former

Children's Museum of Los Angeles The Children's Museum of Los Angeles opened to the public on June 11, 1979, and operated for 21 years. It was located at the Los Angeles Mall in the Los Angeles Civic Center. It specifically catered to children, with the purpose of educating, en ...

facility at

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, located in the northern San Fernando Valley. The city provided financing and contracted with the center in April 2012, and the center finalized federal funding in January 2013 to finish construction on the existing facility and begin building exhibits. The satellite campus opened on November 13, 2014, and is named Discovery Cube Los Angeles. This is also the site of the 1991

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beating.

Exhibits

The center is divided into several themed areas: Science of Hockey, Dino Quest, Rocket Lab, Air & Space, Eco Challenge, Dynamic Earth, Quake Zone, and the Showcase Gallery which houses traveling exhibits. Some of the available exhibits at the museum include Dino Quest, an interactive work which opened in 2006 and includes life-size dinosaurs; and Science of Hockey, which opened in 2009 and presents the various scientific aspects behind the game of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

with the help of the Anaheim Ducks franchise.

References

External links

* * {{Science museums in California Museums in Orange County, California Science museums in California Buildings and structures in Santa Ana, California Culture of Santa Ana, California Organizations based in Santa Ana, California Education in Santa Ana, California Science and technology in Greater Los Angeles Smithsonian Institution affiliates 1998 establishments in California Museums established in 1998