Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)

Designed for science fans of all ages, OMSI features five separate halls, eight hands-on science labs, a real submarine, an OMNIMAX giant-screen theater and a planetarium. Over 200 interactive exhibits focus on subjects like global climate change, chemistry, the human body, technology and more.

For older children, Turbine Hall encourages building, engineering and problem-solving, and for kids six and under, the colorful Science Playground offers art materials, a cave to explore, water and a huge sandbox in which to frolic. On the five-story-high OMNIMAX theater screen, you can see blockbusters and nature documentaries that have been formatted for IMAX, allowing you to virtually soar over mountains and swim to ocean depths.

The USS Blueback submarine, the U.S. Navy's last non-nuclear, fast-attack submarine, spent 31 years prowling the Pacific before retiring at the OMSI. There are 45-minute general tours of the sub available daily, while 2-hour tech-focused tours are given on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month.

Kendall Planetarium, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, displays documentaries uniquely designed for its full-dome screens, starry spectaculars that illustrate the constellations and funky laser light shows with soundtracks that range from Led Zeppelin to Motown.

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Photo courtesy of user M.O. Stevens via Wikimedia commons