Impression 5 Science Center is a dynamic, interactive space for families to play, create, and challenge their understanding of science. Our mission is to facilitate learners in scientific exploration through hands-on exhibits and participatory educational programming.
Explore Our Exhibits
Think Tank
Think Tank
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Think Tank
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Think Tank
Turn your ideas into reality inside this teen maker space with real tools, real challenges, and real outcomes! Think Tank is open from 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Youth Action Council
The Youth Action Council is an active community of teen influencers who help shape the Think Tank--its activities and its future! Students meet regularly throughout the year and work on making projects and contribute to ongoing research following “making spaces” for youth. Interested in joining the Youth Action Council? If your teen is between 9 and 14, please contact Micaela Balzer at balzer@impression5.org.
Embrace the universal urge to play and explore in a space created for young scientists ages birth to four years old. Here, you’re safe to roam, touch, crawl, climb, splash, read, create, and get to know science in a whole new way in a comfortable and supportive environment. Park your stroller, hang up your diaper bag, kick off those shoes, and enjoy a thoughtful environment for you and your little ones . . . complete with a family restroom, private nursing room, and snack area.
Amenities:
Family restroomNursing roomSnack areaStroller parking & diaper bag storage
Activities:
Water table (crocs and smocks available)Play structureClimbable steam engineSensory tablePuzzles, books, thoughtful toys, and more
Safety Procedures:
Shoe-free zone (crocs of all sizes are available for water table area!)Safe “smart” electrical outletsRigorous cleaning schedule with non-toxic cleanersDesignated snack tables/areas outside the room (to help with children with allergies)An adjoining nursing room and family restroom to change all diapers in a sanitary spaceDiaper changing in either the nursery room, or family restroom
Discover a world you can't see! In this exhibit, immerse yourself in nanoscale science by playing with magnetic materials, building a giant model of a carbon nanotube, comparing levels of static electricity, and more!
Explore the electromagnetic spectrum and compare different light sources, lenses, prisms and mirrors, and more! Step up to a life-size Light Mosaic to create your own colorful masterpiece then strike a pose with a Shadow Wall. See how plasma reacts to a conductor, experiment with primary colors, paint with light, and more!
Experience a day in the life of a naturalist! Explore natural environments found here in Michigan with a variety of tools and challenges to keep your problem-solving and inquiry skills sharp. Get a closer look at birds using our webcam or scoop up some pond water and magnify the amazing world within it!
Take engineering and building challenges to the next level with materials from blocks to magnetic tiles, panels to bridges, and more! What types of structures can you build? How will gravity, tension, and compression affect a structure?
Take a deeper look at the inner workings of the human mouth! Explore oral health with giant dental tools, get up close to real teeth under microscope, see MRI images to watch the mechanics of your mouth, visit the Smart Mart to discover how the food you eat affects your teeth in an interactive grocery checkout activity, and more!
Explore the wonder of kinetic and potential energy in this hands-on exhibit that allows you to perfect your pitching form and blast targets with an air cannon! Toss things around in the Play Space, then create the most aerodynamic airplane to launch before you hurl a tennis ball forty feet with a trebuchet!
Part outdoor education space, part art installation, part place to contemplate the universe, the Planet Walk Plaza brings us closer together and helps us create more meaningful connections to art and science within greater Lansing.
Our newest exhibit FLOW explores fluid dynamics with two stories of interactive components and activities! Build and test your own sailboat, explore the science of a vortex, power a giant flywheel that shoots a two-story geyser, play with water jets, and much more!
Experience something new each visit! Each year you can expect either a new permanent exhibit or a unique traveling exhibit to explore with your family.
Trains: Full STEAM Ahead
February 5 - April 7, 2019
Tiny trains bring huge smiles to your Science Center! Experience Capital Area Railway Society’s intricate and engaging HO-scale train display like never before, with over 300 fully-operational mini railcars weaving through an immersive environment! This exhibit will also feature new, hands-on components that allow you and your family to explore the science of locomotion.
Experience something new each visit! Anticipate new permanent exhibits or a unique traveling exhibit to explore with your family.
HANDS-ON EXHIBITS
Explore a self-choice, learner-directed exhibit environment that's designed for your entire family.
FIRST IMPRESSION ROOM
Embrace the universal urge to play and explore in a space created for young scientists ages birth to four years old.
THINK TANK
Turn your ideas into reality inside this teen maker space with real tools, real challenges, and real outcomes!
FUTURE & TRAVELING
HANDS-ON EXHIBITS
FIRST IMPRESSION ROOM
THINK TANK
UPCOMING EVENTS
Engineering Day
February 17, 2019
Michigan State University College of Engineering and Impression 5 Science Center present Engineering Day: A Day Engineered for Fun! Join us on February 17 from 12-4 p.m. for a day of exciting engineering activities and challenges with MSU Engineering clubs!
This fundraising event takes over your Science Center for a full weekend of special LEGO-themed activities and challenges. Unleash your imagination in our free-build area, play in our LEGO arcade, and much more during our annual FUNdraiser! Tickets go on sale starting January 31, 2019.
Event generously sponsored by MSU Federal Credit Union.
Date: Sat., March 2, 2019 — 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m Sun., March 3, 2019 — 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m
Join us for our annual event exploring the science behind modern transportation. How are roads built, and why is it important to understand soil composition and the materials we choose to build with? What does it take to design and construct a bridge that will not only hold enough weight, but stand the test of time, weather, water, and more? Explore these questions and also what skills are needed to do these important jobs to create an effective and efficient transportation system.
This event is free for MDOT employees and their families!
