Visit the Museum

4th of July: The Museum will be open on Saturday, July 4th.

More than you can see in a day!

With 65,000 square feet of indoor space and 13 acres of outside exhibits, you’ll discover something new and exciting with each visit to the Museum of Life and Science!

For more than sixty years we've been one of the Triangle's most popular destinations. We're happy to make arrangements for field trips and group visits. We're also a popular site for birthday parties, weddings and other private events.

What they're saying about us:

“Best Area Museum”
–Family Favorites, Carolina Parent, 2008

“One of the best places in the Triangle for parents and kids.”
–The Independent, 2008

“Best Field Trip Destination”
–Readers Choice Awards, Herald Sun, 2008

“Top Triangle day camp”
–Carolina Parent readers, 2007

A one-of-a-kind experience indoors and out

The Museum’s 70+ acre campus is home to hundreds of interactive exhibits, including one of the East Coast’s largest butterfly conservatories; a nature park with bears, wolves and lemurs; a giant radio-controlled sailboat pond; and a railroad – just to name a few.

Indoors at the Museum Sit inside a real Apollo Space Capsule, explore a full-scale Lunar Lander, touch a 13-foot tornado, or learn about the science of global communications. See more than 75 animal species of Carolina Wildlife and more!		Outdoors at the Museum Visit our award-winning Explore the Wild. It's a 6-acre outdoor exhibit the National Science Foundation proclaimed a "national model" as the first science center expansion linking people with plants, animals, and interactive exhibits in the out-of-doors.
	Magic Wings Butterfly House Enjoy a tropical paradise all year long where hundreds of butterflies frolic among tropical plants.		Catch the Wind Explore the important role wind plays in the natural world. Discover how people, animals and plants move with the air.
	Bayer CropScience Insectarium Get a bug’s eye-view of exotic insects and their predators from around the globe.		Explore the Wild Study Black Bears, Red Wolves, and exotic Lemurs close-up. Walk onto our 750-foot deck and look out over a 2-acre wetland habitat.
	Play to Learn Play is a child's main job. Play to Learn, features many playful learning opportunities for young children ages 6 and under.		Farmyard Visit the Farmyard animals – donkey, sheep, goats, chickens, pig, goose, turkey, a steer and more.
	Investigate Health! Perform hands-on learning experiments to discover the science behind health issues.		Ellerbee Creek Railway All aboard! Climb aboard the Ellerbee Creek Railway for an old-time train ride through the Museum grounds.
	Flip It, Fold It, Figure It Out! "Play with Math" through engaging activities with patterns, shapes, and sizes.		Lobllolly Park Just outside the Museum doors sits Loblolly Park, a play yard filled with all kinds of structures to entertain and delight.
	soundSpace: Hear Motion Let your movement create an orchestra of sounds.		Wetlands In the midst of Explore the Wild sits a lush and thriving natural wetland habitat. Use interactive activities to learn about the wildlife and plant life supported there.
	Other Indoor Exhibits Weather Carolina Wildlife Geology Aerospace Life's Devices